# Happy Birthday Peak District



## belboid (Apr 17, 2014)

63 today, which is why they have a Google doodle.







Britain's first National Park, and still it's second best.

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/apr/17/peak-district-marks-63rd-birthday-with-google-doodle


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2014)

It looks older


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 17, 2014)

I moved here a few years back, it's definitely a nice part of the world. Think I may finally settle somewhere. 






http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/15-peak-district-photos-take-3423696/gallery-image/14


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## neonwilderness (Apr 17, 2014)

Dillinger4 said:


> It looks older


That's what life in the north does to you


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2014)

Happy Birthday Peak District.  

I live next to it in Manchester and I love the area - one of the best NPs in my view. Vast, mostly unspoilt and wild, and largely unclogged with tourists. I love how I can walk for mile after mile and not see a soul. 

And Kinder Scout and the Mam Tor Ridge are wonderful.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 17, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Happy Birthday Peak District.
> 
> I live next to it in Manchester and I love the area - one of the best NPs in my view. Vast, mostly unspoilt and wild, and largely unclogged with tourists. I love how I can walk for mile after mile and not see a soul.
> 
> And Kinder Scout and the Mam Tor Ridge are wonderful.



That's because you know the right spots! I'm betting places like Mam Tor will be rammed this weekend and Buxton town center was a nightmare this afternoon and I only wanted to pick up a few bits and bobs.


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> Happy Birthday Peak District.
> 
> I live next to it in Manchester and I love the area - one of the best NPs in my view. Vast, mostly unspoilt and wild, and largely unclogged with tourists. I love how I can walk for mile after mile and not see a soul.
> 
> And Kinder Scout and the Mam Tor Ridge are wonderful.



You know, I am constantly amazed about how close proper wild beauty is from Manchester. There is the Peak District to the south east, the moors to the east, the forest / trough of Bowland to the north, and the lake district a bit further north, the Yorkshire dales to the north east, North Wales and Snowdonia to the south west, formby and the sefton coast to the west...

All within about an hour of Manchester (more or less, mostly much less). Considering how fucking dirty and ugly a lot of the north west is, it is fucking incredible that there is so much so close.


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## neonwilderness (Apr 17, 2014)

Dillinger4 said:


> All within about an hour of Manchester (more or less, mostly much less). Considering how fucking dirty and ugly a lot of the north west is, it is fucking incredible that there is so much so close.


I occasionally visit Buxton and I'm always surprised how quickly things change from urban to rural once you get past Stockport


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2014)

neonwilderness said:


> I occasionally visit Buxton and I'm always surprised how quickly things change from urban to rural once you get past Stockport



Definitely. Buxton is lovely. Even how quickly the land turns completely wild 5 minutes outside of Buxton to the east at the top of the moors. It is like another planet. 

My absolute favourite is going north out of Manchester. The contrast after going past Blackburn or Burnley, over the Ribble into the Forest of Bowland is astonishing. And it is always completely empty. Most of the tourists seems to go to the national parks like the Lakes and the Dales and miss that bit of countryside completely.


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## tufty79 (Apr 17, 2014)

beautiful place. I lived in hadfield for a bit and sometimes go back for a scamper on the hills


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2014)

I don't know about the rest of you but I am going to have a Bakewell tart to celebrate


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 17, 2014)

Dillinger4 said:


> I don't know about the rest of you but I am going to have a Bakewell tart to celebrate



In Bakewell they call them a pudding.


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2014)

This is pudding:


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2014)

Global Stoner said:


> That's because you know the right spots! I'm betting places like Mam Tor will be rammed this weekend and Buxton town center was a nightmare this afternoon and I only wanted to pick up a few bits and bobs.



On one of my walks I didn't see a soul for mile after mile for a damn good reason - I'd got lost on the top of Bleaklow in low cloud.


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2014)

Global Stoner said:


> In Bakewell they call them a pudding.



I'm sure there are plenty of tarts in Bakewell though.


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2014)

Dillinger4 said:


> This is pudding:



No, that's dog food. :vom:


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 17, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> On one of my walks I didn't see a soul for mile after mile for a damn good reason - I'd got lost on the top of Bleaklow in low cloud.



It's a hard place to nav! Went up there for dedicated navigation practice, doing pacing and bearings and still got of track.


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## BlueSquareThing (Apr 17, 2014)

I have mixed feelings on the Peak District.

On one hand it is pretty and the trespass was massively important. On the other hand I did once get hideously lost on Kinder and ended up nearly walking over the downfall.


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2014)

neonwilderness said:


> I occasionally visit Buxton and I'm always surprised how quickly things change from urban to rural once you get past Stockport



That's true.  I go down the mainline out of Manchester through Stockport every day and one minute your trundling through Cheadle Hulme, look down at your phone or book, and the next minute you're in open countryside with lovely little lambs gambolling across the fields.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 17, 2014)

It's a bit harsh that it's been totally gorgeous all week and now the weather for the weekend doesn't look so great (it's raining at the moment). Still I went for a bike ride down the Mainifold valley, past Thor's Cave yesterday with work and it was amazing. So close to me and I'd never been.


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 17, 2014)

Global Stoner said:


> It's a hard place to nav! Went up there for dedicated navigation practice, doing pacing and bearings and still got of track.



It is a bastard of a hill, and very aptly named. I got to the well-known rocks on top on the PW, but must have taken a wrong turn.  Realised I was lost and tried to retrace my steps but it all looks the bloody same!  The thing that stopped me either still being up there surviving by eating peat or walking off one of the very steep edges was the remnants of an old fence that I'd passed, and thankfully was faithfully plotted on the OS map.  So with the aid of the map and my GPS I managed to follow a stream off the tops and into Longengdale.  It took me miles off course, and I was absolutely knackered and muddy as hell by the time I reached Royston Vasey (never remember whether it is Hay or Hadfield).


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## tufty79 (Apr 17, 2014)

it's hadfield. not sure if it's still around, but used to see bab's cab driving about now and then. the local shop by the train station's got a massive scrapbook of league of gentlemen stuff, and seem more than happy to get it out if asked


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2014)

farmerbarleymow said:


> No, that's dog food. :vom:



dog food too good for you?


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## stavros (Apr 22, 2014)




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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 22, 2014)

Matlock is the last place I'd have wanted to be this weekend.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 22, 2014)

.


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## farmerbarleymow (Apr 22, 2014)

Just had a wander through the pictures on the Mirror article, and this one is gorgeous.  Beautiful late afternoon golden sunshine.


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## Sprocket. (Apr 23, 2014)

Having been to most of the National Parks and walked a fair few miles in them over the years we always come back to the Peak District as our fave.
It's under a hour from home to Castleton and we camp a few times a year at Laneside in Hope.
Love it.


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