Julie and I will be hiking from John O’Groats to Land’s End in the UK during the northern summer of 2022. The journey of nearly 2,000 kilometres will take about two and a half months, a week or two longer than when I hiked the other direction in 2010. We will stay in B&B’s, hostels and pubs, so will not be carrying camping gear, though we will each have an emergency bivvy sack just in case we can’t find somewhere to stay.

John O'Groats to Land's End - Day 038 - Strines to Bakewell

Day: 038

Date: Friday, 08 July 2022

Start:  Strines (after bus from Sheffield)

Finish:  Bakewell

Daily Kilometres:  28

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  1122

Weather:  Mild to warm and mostly sunny with a cooling breeze.

Accommodation:  AirBnB

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Home-baked muffins (courtesy of Dave’s nephew, Harry)

  Lunch:  Cheese & pickle roll/Ham & cheese roll

  Dinner:  Fish & chips/Chicken nuggets & chips, chocolate trifle

Aches:  Dave - still a few niggles.  Julie - nothing.

Highlight:  The English summer has arrived!

Lowlight:  Not a big deal, but our bus back to the trail from Sheffield was running late (to the point we were wondering if it had been cancelled) then, when it did arrive, the driver accidentally overcharged us for our tickets (eventually sorted out), then, despite us pressing the button for our stop in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t stop until we started yelling, and we had an extra 700m to walk back up the busy road.  Despite all this he was a very affable and apologetic fellow.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were able to sleep in a little, given the first bus from Sheffield back to the trail didn’t leave until 8:05am.  Before it’s scheduled arrival time, we wandered up to the main street and bought some drinks for the morning and eventually caught the bus back to where we finished yesterday (see above).


It was a beautiful sunny morning, if a little hazy, and the early hiking involved a gentle climb across moorland to Stanage Edge, a long spectacular rocky escarpment with great views over the Derwent Valley and the villages below, and to the mountains beyond.  Although occasionally rocky, the walking was easy and enjoyable.  As the morning wore on, we met more people out enjoying the day - walking, running, mountain-biking and rock-climbing - and some students who were on their Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition and were keen to tell us about it..


After Stanage Edge, we dropped down to pass through the woodland of the National Trust’s Longshaw Estate where many people were picnicking and walking before climbing back for more escarpment - Froggatt Edge, Curbar Edge and Baslow Edge - where we were constantly tempted to stop, walk to the precipitous edge, and admire the views and take photos.


Eventually we dropped down again, this time to the village of Baslow, where we bought a late lunch and ate it on a pleasant little green in the middle of the village.


Our final seven kilometres took us through the vast parklike grounds of Chatsworth House and then past the huge and historic stately house itself (mentioned in “Pride & Prejudice”) before we climbed over our last hill of the day and descended to our accommodation in Bakewell where we checked in just before 5:00pm, very much looking forward to a day off tomorrow.


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