Peak District

I decided to try and collate some of my Peak districty stuff in one place, particularly public transport info. This’ll probably not be of interest to most people I know, cos you don’t live in the area *L*.

Public Transport

Public transport is a great way to get to and from your walk route for several reasons:

  • If you go on a long walk or bike you’ll be tired and and may have sore les, which is no fun driving back. If you’re particularly tired it might even be dangerous, to yourself and others.
  • It’s good for the environment.
  • It enables you to do linear walks… get off the train or bus at once place, get back on elsewhere. No need to get back to where you left the car.

Walk Routes:

  • Station to Stop – this site is great, written by a Nottinghamshire resident who likes to walk in Derbyshire and only uses / used public transport to get there (this is my exact situation too). I’ve done the Padley Gorge route, combined with the Burbage Rocks & Stanage Edge route, as one ends at Fox House and the other starts there. I didn’t need a map for the routes, as the explanation is very clear and easy to follow.
  • walkingbritain.co.uk This site has many more walks, which usually are circular and intended for car drivers. Many of the walks start and end at Hope Valley Line (Dore, Grindleford, Hathersage, Bamford, Hope, Chinley, New Mills Central) train stops, however, so are still suitable for a public transport-ee. I think that people submit their own walks here, so some may be more reliable than others. A map is a must.

Publications:

(These are just the ones that I have, but this will grow.)

  • OL1 – Dark Peak map – The Ordinance Survey - Covers the area around the Hope Valley train line
  • Peak District (Collins Rambler’s Guides) – this guide suits car drivers more than walkers, as the routs often start in obscure places. I marked 3 or 4 good public transport routes.
  • Cycling in the Peak District: Off Road Trails and Quiet Lanes – I’ve done one of the routes in this. It was reliable and easy to follow, as long as you don’t get confused between rights and lefts like me. If they says you’ll need a mountainbike for a route, heed their advice. Route 10 from the book said that any old bike would be ok on this route. I had one stretch that was quite hard on my big bike, which has pretty slick treads. Any harder and my bike wouldn’t have been suitable.

Other:

  • Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, has some great biking routes and maps.
  • Ordnance Survey “Get a map” – If you’re in an area without a map, you can search and print the area you want to see with this. A real bought map will show a larger area though – the size of the maps provided by the OS online is quite small.

Kit

I take a lot of kit with me when I go out on a long walk, less on the shorter walks.

  • My Spot page – This is a GPS unit that I take with me on most of my outings. It has no display or receiving capabilities, just sending. As long as it has a clear view of the sky, it sends messages clearly and regularly, so anyone can track me. As well as the auto-tracking messages it sends, it can also send a “help” message to predesignated people, and it has a “911″ button in case things really hit the fan. When it sends that 911 distress call it’s accompanied by my exact co-ordinates so I can be rescued as efficiently as possible… If you do mostly forest walking or potholing / strange underground rugged things where the Spot can’t see the sky, however, the Spot isn’t for you.
  • My GPS – a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx – GPSses are lovely little devices. I don’t think they’re essential unless you’re the type who is exceptionally good at getting lost, but they’re handy. I tend to program mine with key waypoints when I’m going on a walk, and when I did the C2C, I downloaded a route from ‘tinterwebs. It’s kind enough to beep every time you pass a waypoint on a route so you know you’re on course without checking the device. It records elevation and where you’ve been, reports on speed and total distance covered. Mine has a microSD card slot and a long battery life. It can be dropped and it’s waterproof. This GPS sure ain’t no sissy!