Bradwell, Derbyshire Holiday
Saturday 18th March 2017
We got packed up and were on our way just after 12. We got to Sutton Scotney Services and decided it was lunch time. We stopped one more time for a leg stretch on the way and we arrived about 17.30 to Bradwell. We are staying in a little cottage called Elder Bank.
We got ourselves unpacked and then walked down to Co-op to do some shopping. The cottage was quite cold and after trying to get the heating to work and failing we lit the fire and decided to make some dinner. We had a restful evening and looked at what we wanted to do for the rest of the week.
Sunday 19th March 2017
This morning looked brighter than we expected. We had decided to have a fairly relaxing day as we plan to go caving tomorrow. We had looked at where we could ring for morning service and Castleton looked the best option. We were still unable to get the heating to work so Tim contacted the owner who said her husband would try and get it sorted at some point in the morning. We made a packed lunch and set off out for the day with our waterproofs and walking boots. We drove into Castleton and had a walk round. We located the church but it was locked as we were early, further down the road we found a bakery for some bread and a pub that was doing a roast for lunch - we popped in and reserved a table for 13.30!
I fancied having a visit to one of the local show caves. We had decided to pay a visit to Blue John Cavern which was not far out of Castleton. We headed up there and walked to the hut. There were 13 people on our tour, it took around 50 mins.
Back on the surface the weather had dried up a bit so we decided to walk up Mam Tor. By the time we had parked up near an appropriate route to take up it had started raining again! We debated for a couple of minutes if we should go up or not and then decided we should give it a go! We put on our over trousers and anoraks and set off.
It was very windy and wet at the top! After a look at what views we could see we head back down the hill feeling ready for our roast dinner! Back at the car we both found that our waterproofs were maybe not quite as waterproof and they had once been! We had a chance to dry off while enjoying a very good lunch in a warm pub.
Next we called into Hitch and Hike to get some waterproofing spray on out way to have look at Stanage Edge. The rain had started up again so we abandoned that idea and went for a walk along the Derwent Reservoir in the hope that we would get some protection from the trees!
Back at the Cottage we found that the heating was still not working. We had only been back a couple of mins when one of the owners appeared to tell us that he had called the emergency line and was waiting for a response. We said we would just light the fire, he said he would refill our wood basket if we needed him to. Not long later a young lad appeared at the door with a fan heater for us! Once we got the fire going we hung up the wet waterproofs in the bathroom and put the fan heater in that direction to speed up the drying process.
We have decided to go caving tomorrow to P8 also known as Jackpot.
Monday 20th March 2017
This morning it was still drizzling when we got up. We decided we would still go for a caving trip to P8. We got our caving kit ready, checked the survey/cave information and set off.
We pulled into the lay-by near Perrfoot Farm and went and found the farmer to request permission to go down the cave. After getting kitted up we set off walking across the fields to the cave in the rain!
We arrived at the cave and took the upper entrance. Once in the first chamber we tried to take a few passages but couldn't find a way through. We decided to go back to the surface and see if there was another entrance near by in case we had got the wrong entrance! There were no other entrances and I had memories of previously taking the wet entrance on our last visit. We went and had a look at the wet entrance and decided it was not a safe option. There was a lot of water flowing in that was making it impassable.
We had a think about what we would do instead today. In the end we decided that we would head back to the cottage and get cleaned up and then see what the weather was doing. The forecast claimed it was going to dry up around 14.00! Even though we had only done a small amount of cave we were both very muddy. We un-kitted and washed the mud off in the stream before walking back to the car. Not a very successful trip but we had at least learnt how bad the entrance gets!
Back at the cottage we hung up our wet kit and got ourselves showered and warmed up! While we were sat having lunch the sun decided to make an appearance! We got the map out and planned a route for a walk.
It was a nice walk in the sunshine.
As we got back from our walk the owner of the cottage came to tell us that the boiler had been looked at and needed replacing. They have arranged to do this tomorrow morning at 8.30! They had also very kindly filled up the wood and coal supplies for us.
This evening after dinner we had a look at the weather and climbing options for tomorrow. We also looked up were we can get a cooked breakfast from as it is easier if we get up and go in the morning before the boiler people come!
Tuesday 21st March 2017
This morning we got up early and got our climbing kit ready. We decided to take kit for both outdoor and indoor climbing just in case the weather turned bad on us and we didn't want to return to the cottage as the boiler was being replaced today.
As we were just leaving the boiler man was just arriving! We set off to Hathersage in search of some breakfast. We ended up a the Pool Cafe - they did a very good full english breakfast which would set us up well for the day. The weather was looking good though it was a bit windy. We decided to head up to Stanage Edge and see how we got on. We parked up and go everything ready, we got halfway up and realised it was going to be too cold for us to climb so we turned round and went back to the car to come up with a plan B.
We decided to give Rivelin Edge a go. Once more we parked up, got our bags on our backs and set off walking up anther hill! As we walked up through the trees it was definitely feeling more sheltered. Once up at the crag we set about working out where we were and where we wanted to start.
We began with a route called Angle Crack
We got our climbing kit on and got ready to climb. Tim began to lead the route when the weather suddenly changed - we had soft snowy hail thrown at us for 10 mins! Eventually when it stopped Tim was able to finish the climb and I followed up.
Next we moved on to Layback Crack
A nice climb except for ending up in a gorse bush at the top! After a stop for some lunch we moved onto a route called Tree Crack.
A nice route with a tricky finish but for me everything was just an inch or 2 out of reach! Next we headed to Birch Buttress to climb a route called Birch Crack
To finish with Tim set up a top rope so we could have a go at a coupe of the harder climbs in the same area.
In the end we had a good days climbing. We got back to the cottage around 5 to find the new boiler had been installed and the cottage was warm! We were meeting my aunt and uncle this evening for dinner at a nearby pub. We left the cottage around 6.30 for the Ladybower Inn, Jen and Tony arrived just as we were ordering drinks. We had a lovely evening and the food was very nice.
The weather weather doesn't look good for tomorrow so we need to find some wet weather options!
Wednesday 22nd March 2017
This morning it was raining just as the forecast said. It looked set in for the day. We had a think about what to do and came up with a plan. We set off to Buxton and had a walk up through the town. We found a bakery to have a bit of early lunch and then headed to Poole's Cavern Show Cave.
The trip was lead by a caver who gave lots of information. A much better tour than we had at Blue John on Sunday. From Buxton we drove to Chesterfield to go ten pin bowling! We had fun playing 3 games and Tim actually won 2 games! On our way back there was a dry spell so we stopped off at Curbar Edge to see what the climbing looked like. We didn't have the book with us but looking at the climbs it seemed as though most of them were high grades. The dry spell didn't last long as it began raining again!
Back at the cottage we had dinner and lit the fire. It has been a very chilly wet day. The forecast for tomorrow is looking good and has been getting better the last few days. We plan to walk up Kinder Scout tomorrow.
Thursday 23rd March 2017
Today we woke up to a cloudy but dry morning. We decide to go for Kinder Scout. We packed our bags with the map, some lunch, plenty to drink and waterproofs and a compass just in case! and set off for Edale.
We parked up and set off. The path started off being really civilised!
We continued to follow the stream up the valley and saw a Kestrel sitting a tree!
A bit further on we struggled to find where the path had gone! We decided to follow the stream and hope the path joined us again!
Eventually we found the path again and we didn't get wet feet in the process! It must've gone higher and we missed it!
A bit further up we could see where we were going to have to go to end up on the top of Kinder Scout.
We continued to follow the stream all the way to the top.
Once on the top we set off on the path around the edge. It was very windy which made walking interesting!
Once we got to the top of the hill in the photo above we looked at the map and realised Tim had had a slight map reading error and we had actually walked onto Grindslow Knoll! We headed back down and found the path we had meant to be on! Further on we crossed a ford.
Up the other side of the ford we followed the path past some interesting weathered grit stone rock formations and Crowden Tower.
We managed to find somewhere vaguely sheltered for lunch. After that the path turned very boggy with peat. We had to take many path diversions trying to avoid sinking up to our knees!! It was much nicer going on the sections where slabs had been laid.
Eventually we made it across to the Pennine Way. We took a small diversion up to the trig point.
The path back down was much more sensible and we made very quick progress.
We took the route down Jacob's Ladder
From here we only had a couple of miles to go through Upper Booth and back to Edale.
The obligatory sheep photo!
Finally we made it back to Edale and the official start of the Pennine Way.
In the end this is the route we took.
We enjoyed the walk and feel like we have earnt our dinner this evening!! The local chip shop is just down the road and we have been able to smell them numerous times. We felt it was worth trying them out!
Friday 24th March 2017
The weather this morning was sunshine and blue skies. We decided last night that we would go to Froggatt Edge for some climbing and then in the evening go to Tideswell for their ringing practice.
We packed our bags and set off to Froggatt via a local bakery that did breakfast baps! We parked and started to walk out to the climbing area.
We initially had some navigation issues, we droped down over the side and couldn't see the main cliff edge! After a little searching and the Tim read some of the guide book text we realised we had dropped down too soon! Back on the top we carried further along the main path and everything made sense with what we wee looking for!
We located different sections of the crag and decided where were going to climb first. We started in an area called Downhill Racer and chose a route called Slab Recess.
A nice climb to start with. We next tried a climb just a little further along called Trapeze.
The sunshine was glorious and it was so sheltered, we stopped for some lunch and a look through the book to decide where to go next.
We next went to Chequers Buttress and climbed a route called Solomon's Crack.
Next we moved onto Toady's wall for a route called Heather Wall.
This had been my favourite climb of the day until when abseiling back down I slipped and swung on the rope catching my hand between the rope and the rock, which resulted in skin loss and me bleeding a fair bit on the rock!
After getting to the bottom of the climb and having blood dripping everywhere and all over both hands Tims fleece was the only thing to hand to wrap my hand in and apply pressure! Tim made his way down and helped me to clean the wounds up the best we could on the hillside!
This unfortunately ended our days climbing. We packed our kit away - well Tim did! While I was applying pressure to my hand Tim had to help me get out of my harness and gt my climbing shoes off and walking boots back on! It was a painful walk back to the car. On the way back to the cottage we called at coop for some first aid supplies!
Back at the cottage Tim cleaned up my hand and covered the wounds. This evening my fingers are still painful, bruised and swollen. Luckily this happened at the end of our holiday! Tomorrow is home time. We have had a lovely holiday.