My head might be back in Norfolk, trying to work out whether I have done all the prep I need for Christmas, but my heart is still wandering the hills of the Peak District.
It was a somewhat spur of the moment visit. We went to the Midlands for a wonderful family wedding on Saturday. Mark told me that I might get to see some hills in Stafford, which is where we were staying, but that wasn’t the case. As a result, over breakfast the following day, he suggested driving an hour in the opposite direction to home to get to Buxton where there were guaranteed hills.
What’s the big deal about hills? You might ask. Well, as Noel Coward once famously said “very flat, Norfolk”. We do have some hills but nothing like the rolling peaks I find so fascinating. Who knows when we’d be close to hills again so we decided to take the opportunity.
There was some squealing at the first sight of snow (and that was just Mark). Thankfully I had packed Freya’s cold weather gear (although she had six layers on her top half so I think I might have gone a bit overboard). I, on the other hand, arrived without any socks on, which a quick rummage in the bags sorted out.
After a swift visit to Poole’s Cavern (photos to follow on Sunday), we trekked up to Solomon’s Temple. Also known as Grinlow Tower, I was amazed that you could still climb to the top of this Victorian folly (I don’t know why, really).
The 20ft high Grade II listed structure, which was rebuilt, on an earlier structure by Solomon Mycock, in the late 1890s, stands on top of a Bronze Age barrow at 440m above sea level.
As you can see, the views from the top are well worth the 20 minute walk – even with a six-year-old moaning about “hurty legs” (you can tell we are not used to hills). Sadly, it was nearly lunchtime by this point and we had a long drive ahead of us so we couldn’t spend too long admiring them.
After The Rain 
I would have sqealed at the snow too
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I was quietly glad it was there and not where we live though 🙂
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The views were with the walk and your photos are beautiful – 😊
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Thank you. I’m missing those views now.
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Haha, I too would have squealed at the snow but not in a good way, I’d just be and whose bright idea was it to come here. It’s funny isn’t it how much we take for granted what is on our doorstep. There’s no way would you find me near Buxton this time of year, it’s freezing enough where I am. So cold and damp for so long that I’m suffering quite a lot of twinges of sciatica. Lovely photo’s but for me that’s the best way to look at those views – on someone else’s photo’s.
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How funny! I must say I was quite pleased that the snow hasn’t made it here (yet). It was noticeably colder there. As we drove (five hours) home the temperature gauge in the car gradually rose.
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