August Bank Holiday, 2011, saw the first Twitter Peak District meet, at Monsal Head in the Peak District, known on Twitter as the #MonsalMeet.
This meet was set up to initially to celebrate the Peak Districts 60th Anniversary, by a fellow blogger and outdoor gear tester, Terrybnd and also Dave Mycroft from My Outdoors UK.
The idea was for a chilled weekend, socialising with others and to take a wander through the local hills and Dales, along with guest appearance from Terra Nova, Chocolate Fish Merino and Webtogs, and showing off their wares.
With that being a successful first time gathering of like-minded people, Terry, along with Dave, organised a second meet up, this time, camping at a small village called Crowdecote.
This year’s Bank Holiday meet, at Bridge End Farm, Crowdecote, was along the same line, but not celebrating any anniversary, well, none that I was aware of anyway.
Unfortunately, we only had Terra Nova show off their tents this year, but that didn’t dampen the weekend. I will say, some lovely tents were on display,
Many of us arrived on the Friday, pitching our tents at various times and varying amount of light, or darkness. As the evening progressed, we all introduced ourselves to each other, some old faces and some new.
 |
| Tent pitching in the dark! |
It didn’t take too long, once everyone that was arriving on the Friday had pitched and organised themselves, before we took an amble to the village pub, the Pack Horse Inn.
It was almost a takeover bid, we virtually filled the pub.
Among the chat and banter, we got to know each other well and started to discuss where we were going to walk the following day.
 |
| Inside The Pack Horse Inn, Crowdecote |
Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill seemed quite high on the agenda, a walk that Terry had done earlier this year, plus it was in nice walking distance from the campsite.
Eventually closing time arrived and we had to depart from the friendly hostelry and take a short wander back to our campsite.
Some of us headed for bed, while others continued the socialising well in to the early hours!
I think some found the apple juice (a fondly used definition for cider), was possibly a little more potent than it appeared….
I would like to convey, this was in no way a boozy weekend.
Still, all was nice and friendly and calm and me personally, I wasn’t disturbed once I’d gone to bed. But then, I had been up since 04:00am, starting arriving at work for 06:00am!
Saturday morning arrived; I managed to get a lie in! A rarity for me, even at weekends….
The last of our campers, Lee, arrived on the Saturday morning, pitched and his tent.
The general chat from last night continued, talking of our exploits over time, where we came from, our tents, gear and other things that backpackers and hikers generally share with each other.
I mustn’t forget, Terra Nova, we had a good look at the fine tents on display, spoke with the rep, whose name escapes me.
 |
| Our campsite |
Oh, and our intended walk for the day was
confirmed, Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill.
The morning was moving on, fast, we were so chilled
out; we never started walking until close on 11:00!
But hey, that’s what the weekend was all about,
chilled, relaxed and fun.
Now I had decided this was an ideal time to
downsize my rucksack, something I’d been considering for a long time, but never
successfully done.
My trusty Deuter 45+ Guide was given time off for
good behaviour and my Vaude 25 litre pack, bought for when I’m cycling, was
used.
I nearly managed to get everything I needed in,
apart from my coat, which was strapped to the rucksack in the end.
 |
| Crowdecote |
 |
| Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill, from Crowdecote |
The weather was superb, sunny, hot, dry, what more
could you want, along with great company and superb scenery.
We departed the campsite and headed in to
Crowdecote, following the lane in a north westerly direction, for Earl
Sterndale.
As we entered Earl Sterndale, we had to take the
footpath through the village pub, called the Quiet Woman.
 |
| The Quiet Woman, Earl Sterndale |
Needless to say, various comments were passed
amongst ourselves regarding the pub name. I’ll keep the remarks made amongst
the merry hikers, with the merry hikers….
Now, if like me, and the rest of us, we were
genuinely curious as to why or how the pub got its name?
Well, I found the following on the internet;
“The pub is reputed to be over 400 years old and was
in the occupation of the Heathcote family for over 300 years. The pub name is
unusual with only two others in the country. It is said to refer to a too
talkative woman who was decapitated as a consequence.”
Hmmm, nuff said there I think…..
Back to the walk.
We walked through Glutton Dale, crossed the road and headed for
Parkhouse Hill.
 |
| Glutton Dale |
For some people, hills are nothing but a mere mole hill in their desire
to get some proper mountain climbing in. Do not be fooled in to believing that,
there are a great many hills can be more challenging than some mountains!
 |
| Parkhouse Hill from Glutton Dale |
 |
| Chrome Hill from Glutton Dale |
First impression from the south east, it looks like any normal steep
hill. It has a grassy slope to ascend towards the summit.
 |
| Parkhouse Hill ascent |
 |
| Approach to the summit of Parkhouse Hill through a nettle lined path |
 |
| Parkhouse Hill Summit |
But fear not, this is no push over of a hill, it holds a nasty surprise
if you continue to traverse it!
We made the ascent, boy, it was hot, wrestled with nettles along the
ridge towards the summit, where we stopped to take in the views and have a
quick breather, before tackling our descent.
Tackle was no understatement.
It was a very steep descent with a narrow pathway and quite steep sides dropping away!
 |
| Looking down our descent route |
 |
| The start of our descent from Parkhouse Hill |
It was a very steep descent with a narrow pathway and quite steep sides dropping away!
Not for the faint hearted….
Once down to the ground level, we took a moment to look back at the
seemingly small hill with a big challenge to ascend and descend.
 |
| Looking back to the narrow spine that was our descent off Parkhouse Hill! |
From there, we headed off in a north westerly direction for nearby
Chrome Hill. Though again, another steep ascent, it wasn’t as steep as
Parkhouse Hill.
Once at the summit, we stopped for lunch, and again, taking in the views, particularly of the rain clouds heading our way from the North West!
 |
| Chrome Hill |
Once at the summit, we stopped for lunch, and again, taking in the views, particularly of the rain clouds heading our way from the North West!
A sharp shower descended on us, just as we were finishing lunch, so it
was waterproofs on.
 |
| Lunch on Chrome Hill summit |
We discussed our various options, whether to carry on or return. The
general consensus was to return back to the campsite. However, do we back track
up Parkhouse Hill or circumnavigate it?
We all agreed it was better to circumnavigate Parkhouse Hill.
By the time we had descended Chrome Hill, the shower had subsided.
We circumnavigated Parkhouse Hill to Glutton Bridge, through Underhill
Farm, where our route was blocked by a herd of cows.
Fear not, these were not out to cause menace, they were just waiting for
the farmer to let them in to the farm for milking time.
Now, generally, cows don’t really want to be milked, they only want
the food they will be getting, while the farmer gets the milk.
The farmer feeds the cows while they’re in the milking parlour (or byre on older farms) and while
they’re eating, the farmer gets the milk. Simple.
Anyway, one member of our group manages to gently move the cows away
from the gate and we then walk through calmly and relaxed.
We continued along the footpath, crossed the farm drive and re-joined
the lane in to Crowdecote.
Now on this part of the walk, there is a quite a serious problem,
especially at the time of day we arrived, sometime around 4:00pm.
 |
| The Pack Horse Inn, Crowdecote, provided vital refreshment for us |
The Pack Horse Inn as open for business as usual!
Needless to say, vital refreshments were obtained and consumed…..
Back at the campsite, we off loaded our packs and days walking kit,
ready to get lunch.
Some cooked their own meal, a couple drove in to Buxton to a chippy. I,
along with a couple of others, savoured the menu at the Pack Horse Inn.
I enjoyed the “Pride of the
Peaks sausages, creamy mash, caramelised onion gravy” with a vegetable side
order.
It was not long before we all met in the pub again, to discuss the
usual. The days walk, previous and intended walks among many other of the
normal pub type chat.
Once again, after the pub had closed, we returned to the campsite,
again, some of us socialising before bed in Dave’s big tent, sampling some more
of the apple juice.
As with all good things, they have to come to an end.
For many of us, it was the great packing up for home, while the rest
managed to squeeze another day’s walk in,
Me, I had to be back at work on Monday morning, so it was the great
pack up, dodging the rain drops.
Yes, the heavens decided to dump on us mid-morning. Luckily for me, it
was just my tent that was waiting to be packed away.
It was another fantastic weekend, great company, meeting old friends
and new, super campsite even though it was a little basic.
Now when I say basic, what I mean is you don’t get all the facilities of
glamping. There was a toilet with an outside wash basin, which was fine in my
book.
Back home, tent dry, all my kit cleaned and ready for the next outing,
sometime very soon, I hope.
Finally, happy rambling and thank you for reading,
Peak Rambler
PLEASE NOTE: NO FURTHER COMMENTS ARE PERMITTED TO THIS BLOG
Due to ongoing spam issues, I've had to stop allowing comments to be posted.
