We have just returned from a great week in the Peak District. Having been as far as Nottingham many times before, we somehow had never seemed to make it as far as the Peaks. We rented a lovely cottage in the village of Baslow which we used as our base for the week. Although the weather was grim at the beginning of the week, including some snow, we still managed to get out on some great walks. The highlight of the week however was the Thursday when the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun shone. Having attempted to do the Tissington Trail earlier in the week only to find it was snowing, we made the most of the break in the weather.
The Tissington Trail is a purpose made cycle track and footpath on what used to be the Buxton to Ashbourne railway line. What surprised me however was that it has been open for recreational purposes since the early 1970's. We cycled up hill, climbing something like 700 metres over the 13.5 miles from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay where we stopped for lunch. The track does continue a bit further from there, and also joins the High Peak Trail, but we'll have to leave that for another day.
Road bridge crossing the Tissington Trail
Road bridge crossing the Tissington Trail
Tissington Trail, just north of Tissington station
Tissington Trail, Hartington signal box
Back home now it's back to business as usual. We've just about unpacked everything and I even managed a short 10 mile bike ride today, albeit in the rain. This is part of my attempt to be able to get into a suit that I need to wear to a family wedding at the end of March. I fear however that my wife and one of the kids is at this very moment at the village market buying cakes.
And probably the most exciting news since being home is that I finally attracted a Goldfinch to my bird feeder. I did try and get a photo but managed to scare it off in the process.
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