A Walkers Tale

Today I am back down in the south of England to finish off the South Downs Way .  Four weeks ago I had set out on the first of four days on the same trail - walking the South Downs Way from Eastbourne to Queen Elizabeth Country Park - and today I am back to complete the length of the trail.

Yesterday I had walked the High Peak Trail (or the Pennine Bridleway ) from Cromford to Buxton , and today the plan is to continue along the Pennine Bridleway  - before finishing up at Edale.

I have recently started ticking off sections of the Pennine Bridleway - and today I was heading off not just to tick off sections of this National Trail, but to also do a walk I had wanted to do for some time - along the High Peak Trail.

I had not planned to be walking today - and instead had planned to be having some rest - but with a bad front of weather coming in next week, it seems best to be out sooner rather than later. And so today I have brought forward my plans to tick off another section of the Pennine Way - walking from Bowes to Middleton-in-Teesdale - which for me is a fairly local affair. Here I am making use of the regular bus service that runs between Darlington and Barnard Castle - and from Barnard Castle I can get a bus out to Bowes, and then a bus back from Middleton-in-Teesdale fairly easily.

Today the plan is to walk the Pennine Way from Marsden to Hebden Bridge, having walked from Edale to Marsden on the previous day.  I stayed overnight in Huddersfield, and so it is a short train journey back to Marsden - before I set off up Peel Street (it should probably be called the High Street), where I am able to stop off at a local bakery to fuel up for the day. From here I head back through town, up the long series of steps to the path above Butterley Reservoir, and start following this reservoir round until it comes to a halt - and after that it is time to walk past Blakeley Reservoir.

Today the plan is to walk the southern end of the Pennine Way from Edale up to Marsden, and then on the following day I plan to continue on to Hebden Bridge. This is my second visit to Edale, having previously decided to start the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail at Edale - and so I'm already well aware that I will at the very least get a great start to the day's walking.