|
Journal: |
It turned out to be a rollercoaster day. I woke at 3:30am
to hear light rain on the tent which gradually became heavier.
When I woke again soon after 6am it had stopped and, despite a
tiring day and late night yesterday, I forced myself to get up and
pack up before it began raining again.
It was a very grey day, with low cloud and misty patches, but
still clear enough to see the rolling hills, farms and stone fences
stretching out before me. I realised last night, after reading
the guidebook and briefly getting online (poor reception) with my
laptop, that I was facing a number of problems for the day.
Firstly, I was running out of cash (should have topped up in
Uttoxeter) and my credit card is virtually useless in shops over
here because you require your credit card PIN, which I do not have
(signatures not accepted). My debit card works in ATMs, but
not for purchases. According the guidebook, I won't see an ATM
until Hathersage, 40km away, meaning I won't have enough money to
pay for a B&B until I get there. That, of course, assumes that
I can find a vacant B&B room given that it is a long weekend and I'm
in the heart of tourist country. I tried the Youth Hostel in
Hathersage and it is fully-booked. Another problem is that my
wireless provider sent me a message last night saying I only had one
day left. Of course, they won't let me renew online with an
Australian credit card, so I'll have to find an agency where I can
renew it with cash I don't have. Finally, the guidebook tells
me that after Hathersage, I may not be able to buy any food for a
day or more anywhere along the route, or find accommodation.
Ideally, having camped out last night and given the weather expected
today, I would find a B&B tonight and camp again tomorrow night,
carrying enough food to see me through a day or more.
Despite all this stuff going through my head, I knew I was in for
a day travelling through some special countryside and was determined
to enjoy it and work out a way to solve the problems. I was
walking by soon after 7am across sodden pastureland and before long
had an amusing little incident where my path took me down a fenced
farm track leading to a farmyard at the same time as all of the
dairy cows were returning to the fields in the opposite direction.
The lead cows began backing up and soon there was a major traffic
jam. I could see that they would all spill back into the dairy
with the farmer wondering what the hell was going on! In the
end, I climbed over the fourstrand barbed wire fence into the
adjacent field and then reclimbed it when I got the the farmyard.
Problem solved. My route then took me along a rail-trail
before descending through Gratton Dale and emerging on the banks of
the beautiful River Bradford in a picture postcard scene of smooth
water, a few ducks and swans, tree-covered valley walls and a
well-maintained path along the edge. I followed it downstream,
meeting some early morning walkers until I reached a bridge and
ascended steeply to the seemingly austere village of Youlgreave in
steady light rain. The old stone buildings, grey skies, wet
pavements and raingear-clad stoic English holiday-makers made for a
pretty miserable scene. There wasn't many options for a
cash-poor walker, so I bought a fruitcake and half a dozen
Snickers/Mars Bars as supplies for tomorrow (in case I didn't get
another chance) and found a bakery where they micro-waved a pastie
for my breakfast. There was nowhere dry to sit down so I ended
up eating it standing up on the footpath in front of a house
sheltering under an overhanging tree, pondering my next move.
Another problem was that I had not had a chance to mark up my
maps with highlighter for the day's route, which always helps me
orient myself. I set off again, in steady rain, and travelled
a few kilometres before again looking at the map and realising that,
without adding distance, or missing anything significant, I could
detour via the small town of Bakewell and solve some of my problems.
This I did, arriving soon after 11am, and found it to be a very busy
little tourist town, even in the rain. I found an ATM, tried
two outdoors shops to see if I could buy a second pair of Thorlo
inner socks (unsuccessfully), and landed at a pub just before noon
where I ordered some lunch and tried by phone to add time to my
wireless plan (unsuccessfully...no non-British credit cards).
After lunch I found a newsagent who would top-up my wireless plan
for cash and solved that problem.
I then climbed steeply out of town to cross one of the limestone
ridges then descended to the beautiful village of Edensor and the
huge Chatsworth House set in magnificent parklands at the base of a
treed hill. Even in the rain it was impressive and, from afar,
I could see lots of tourists walking the grounds. My route
travelled through the adjacent lush green Chatsworth Park for some
distance to reach the village of Baslow, where I arrived at 3pm.
Unintentionally, I was now quite some distance ahead of schedule
and, knowing that accommodation would be hard to find, decided to
start looking. No luck at the two hotels there.
The route then ascended quite steeply to the moors at the top of
Baslow Edge. On the right was misty moorland and to the left a
steep drop-off down limestone cliffs to the green valley below and
hills beyond. It was quite spectacular and a lot of people
were out enjoying it, despite the conditions, many of them on
mountain bikes and some running. I was a bit envious because I
was sure they would be going home to hot showers and a comfy bed,
while I was most likely going to be camping in the rain again.
The route for the rest of the afternoon followed the edge of several
more "Edges", dipping down to shallow valleys between. I
passed two more Inns, neither of which offered accommodation.
To get to Hathersage, I would have to drop down to the valley and
then climb back up again tomorrow. Or I could just camp up
high, if I could find somewhere, and then give Hathersage a miss and
just continue on tomorrow. But that probably meant three
nights camping and three days and nights wearing the same clothes.
I was already pretty rank. I began the long descent into
Hathersage about 5pm and, to cut a long story short, tried three
hotels, the youth hostel and a B&B, without success. There was
one more hotel on the way out of town back up to the ridge, so I
bought some more supplies for tomorrow and headed out of town.
The pub had "No Vacancies" in its window, so I resigned myself to
camping but went inside to get a quick dinner before climbing the
ridge. After ordering a drink and whilst looking at the menu,
I asked the barman whether it was true they were booked out.
He went away to confirm and then returned to say they had one double
room left, due to a late cancellation, that would normally be £75
but he would let me have it for £45. I could not believe my
luck, and the day ended on a good note, although still quite a late
night. I'm now a full day ahead of where I need to be to meet
friend, Keith, in three days time, but that will give me an easy
couple of days after some long ones, and let me have a sleep in
tonight. Almost certainly I will be camping tomorrow night,
but at least the rain is forecast to stop.
|
