Edale

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Off to Edale for breakfast and hike of Kinder Scout.

"Kinder Scout has long been a daunting place for walkers. There’s no easy way to scale the flanks of this brooding hump, and when you finally, painstakingly reach the plateau, the moorland that greets you appears bleak and unrelenting. For many , that’s the charm of moorland. The ascent of Kinder is the first stage of the Pennine Way, one of Britain’s most popular long-distance paths. And there is a good case for arguing that Grindsbrook Clough, the original route of the Pennine Way, which inched its way up Kinder, is as tough an ascent as anything between Derbyshire and Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. Very impressive to see the spectacle of The Woolpacks, Crowden Tower and other improbable stone features. This is a moonscape of isolated, freakishly curved stones, fashioned and polished by the weather. Huge weathered stone columns, boulders and pillars appear to have fallen from the sky. Their shapes are like props from sci-fi movies: resembling fossilised giant snails, oversized upturned teeth, roots pointing skywards, and mini asteroids."

Stopped off at Nag's Head for a beer before heading back to hostel.

Enjoy Bill Bryson's attention to details. We headed to Hayfield to see the plaque commemorating the civil action leading to all the public footpaths in England. And then to the Derwent Reservoir, site of WW2 dambuster bomb exercises.

The mass trespass of Kinder Scout, also called the Kinder mass trespass, was a notable act of wilful trespass by ramblers. It was undertaken at Kinder Scout, in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England, on 24 April 1932, to highlight the fact that walkers in England and Wales were denied access to areas of open country. Political and conservation activist Benny Rothman of the Young Communist League of Manchester was one of the leaders of the mass trespass.

The 1932 trespass began at Bowden Bridge quarry near Hayfield. It proceeded via William Clough to the plateau of Kinder Scout, where there were violent scuffles with gamekeepers. The ramblers were able to reach their destination and meet with another group. On the return, five ramblers were arrested, with another detained earlier. Trespass was not, and still is not, a criminal offence in any part of Britain, but some would receive jail sentences of two to six months for offences relating to violence against the keepers. Commemorative plaque at Bowden Bridge Quarry, unveiled in 1982.

Met a couple guys that gave us directions to Derwent Reservoir, and they suggested a pub for dinner, Yorkshire Bridge Inn, Ladybower Dam in Hope Valley.

Coniston YHA

http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/coniston-holly-how?utm_source=google&utm_medium=maps&utm_campaign=google-places

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