Rolls-Royce Derby Band’s fourth annual (not)Butlins social weekend went to Priestcliffe, in the heart of the Peak District, organised this year by Tim and Janice. Heavy snow had fallen on the Thursday night, with around five inches on the ground in the High Peak, so we were a little apprehensive about the road conditions for the drive up. However, all the gritted routes had been well cleared by Friday afternoon and the farmer had helpfully ploughed the one mile of lane from the A6 into Priestcliffe, so the journey was straightforward (except for Will and Jane, who inadvertently and unsuccessfully attempted one of the smaller lanes into the village!).
Our accommodation was the luxurious ‘Broadway Barn’, a very smart barn conversion sleeping twelve in six bedrooms. Jeff and Helen prepared baked potatoes for dinner and the rest of the evening was spent chatting over a few drinks.
Predictably, both the nearby parkruns were cancelled, so I led our own improvised 5K run from Priestcliffe in the morning instead. Jeff, Helen, Will, Jane and Tim joined me on the perfect crunchy snow with enough give in it for the shoes to grip well but enough firmness not to be hard work or get wet feet. We followed a track and footpath down into Miller’s Dale, turned west up the Monsal Trail for a while, then picked up another footpath back to the barn. A perfect morning with the beautiful snow all around and clear blue skies overhead. We enjoyed coffee and bacon sandwiches for second breakfast to warm up on our return. The others had popped out to the farm shop at Chatsworth for their breakfast.
In the early afternoon, we set off in three groups to the Angler’s Rest in Miller’s Dale. I led an 8km route with Jeff, Will and Tim via Blackwell and Chee Dale with its famous stepping stones along the bottom of the cliffs in the narrowest section of the gorge. The stepping stones were, thankfully, not icy, but the same could not be said for some of the other sections of path traversing on sloping ledges above the river – great care required and luckily none of us fell in!
Another group walked down by a more direct route, while some others drove. We gathered for a drink in the cosy hikers’ bar, then the long-walk group walked the 2km back up the hill to Priestcliffe just before dark.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3200432
Jeff and Helen cooked lamb burgers and jam sponge for our delicious dinner, accompanied by a few more drinks and some games and more chat in the evening.
Sunday was a wet day, so there was no temptation to head out for another walk. We had a leisurely start, cleaned and tidied the barn, packed our bags and were on the road by 10am, the remaining ice on the road now mostly turning to slush. We headed to the café at the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton for morning coffee and cake, then went our separate ways.
Back in Hilton, the snow (only ever about two inches) had almost entirely melted and I felt virtuous after running a half marathon around the local lanes in the late-afternoon once the rain had stopped! A good end to an excellent weekend with friends in a lovely part of the county!
You can find a few more of my photos here.
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