Castleton: Peak District, Derbyshire

Hello All!

Well, exams are over and I have had a week off already, and I have another week yet before the new semester starts. Things got quite boring in Tapton very quickly whilst everyone was either home or revising, so on Friday I decided to go out for the day to the Peak District, and got the bus to Castleton.

The bus journey was absolutely LUSH in scenery - I went through little towns such as Bamford and Hope, and the only eyesore was a cement factory of the way out of Hope right in the middle of the valley. How disappointing to see it. Ick.

Castleton proved to be totally beyond my expectations... it was AMAZING! It was this little country village complete with pubs, tea shops, river, castle and caverns. I went up to Peveril Castle (or the Castle of the High Peaks) to have a mosey, and it was delightful! It was an old Norman castle which was used as a centre for local government rather than for military purposes, and later for hunting, as a prison and a place to keep livestock. The castle had fabulous views of Mam Tor (the opposing hillside) and the Hope Valley. It was an absolutely freezing and blustery day, but the view was spectacular.

After posting a post card home I retired to a tea shop for a cream tea, then set off on a walk around the village, stopping in the second-hand bookshop and the visitor's centre. Then I took a walk around the back of Peveril Castle. This little walk led me straight out of the village, and not back around to the other side like I envisioned. This resulted in me sliding down a hill and twisting my ankle in the process to get back down to the village in time to get my bus home! I stopped at the Peak Cavern (quaintly nick-named 'The Devil's Arse') on the way to have a little look, but I didn't go in, cos as a student I could only afford one tourist attraction!

The day was JUST what I needed, a lovely day out of the zoo for the caged globetrotter!