Home now after a really good weekend away in the Peak District. Was a rather last minute decision to go away, but Justin, Haig and myself left on Friday evening after work and drove up to Castleton in the Peak District. We arrived up there sometime after midnight and made our way to Rowter Farm campsite. with it being pretty late, dark and cold - it didn't take us long to setup camp and get some sleep.

None of us had been up to the Peak District before, so after getting our bearings sorted, we headed down into Castleton village for a look around. We decided on a tour of Speedwell Cavern, one of the four show caves in the village. "Speedwell Cavern consists of a horizontal lead miners' horizontal passageway leading to the cavern itself - a limestone cave. The lower part of the passageway and the floor of the cavern are permanently flooded, which results on it's unique feature: the visitor makes the journey into the cave by boat (originally legged through by the guide, but now powered by an electric motor)."

After the cavern we grabbed a pub lunch and set off around the area for a walk to Peveril Castle, which was built around 1080. The castle consisted of a small square keep, which is still standing, and curtain walls. Traces of other buildings are visible within the walls, including the site of the hall that would have been the main accommodation. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, we were too late to go into the castle.

By now it had been raining most of the day, the wind was picking up and we were pretty soaked through - so thought it best to head back to camp. By the time we got back, the rain had briefly subsided and since we had taken a few disposable barbeques with us, we managed to get a fire going and get a few boerewors rolls in each, despite the cold and pretty wet conditions. As we said... either stubborn or stupid, not quite sure.

Sunday we packed up camp and took a drive to Ashopton, a nearby village. We parked the car and took a walk up Win Hill, which took us about an hour and a half. We spent sometime up the top, including lunch, before heading back down to the car. Nothing nearly as high as other peaks, but a decent view from the top and a good walk up and down.

We left the Peak District area late afternoon and got home around 9ish this evening. Peak District ticked, next up sometime is the Lake District. But probably closer to the summer than to the winter!