Leek and the Peak District

Hello everyone, apoligies for my absence.  We now have access to the internet and I'm sending this post from Normandy where we are currently staying at a guest cottage belonging to Sharon Sortini from the blog My French Country Home.  It is lovely here and I'm sitting in the garden on a deck chair enjoying the dappled shade.  We have an enforced lazy day today as hubby has been off colour but on the mend.  Time to catch up with our visit to Leek and the Peak District.

In Leek we stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast in a semi-detached house, our room being on the second floor.  The bedroom was huge with a big bay window and a large ensuite bathroom and many little touches to may our stay very special.  We were spoilt each morning with wonderful breakfasts, so nice to have a tea cosy on the teapot.  Our host Hazel was a lovely lady, full of fun and fiesty and we guess she would have been into her 70's. 

Hazel's gorgeous front garden.

Our first morning in Leek started with rain which persisted most of the day.  We were meeting Louise from  Ramblings of a Roaching  and her partner Dave who had very kindly agreed to show us around while we were in the area.  It was decided that the weather wasn’t exactly good for exploring the Roaches so we decided to visit some caves in the area.  The first one we went to was closed due to the amount of rain the area has received in the past week.  This little stream in the village nearby is usually quite gentle, Louise and Dave had never seen this amount of water flowing in it.

 
We went onto another cave called Treak Cliff and enjoyed a tour showing the cave system and Blue John rock that is mined from the cave and only found in this area.  Here are some images from our tour.

 

After looking through the cave which was very wet and drippy we went for a walk along the old Mam Tor road.  We were rather cold by this time and decided to call it a day for outside activities. We caught up again with Louise and Dave in the evening and enjoyed a meal at a fabulous Italian restaurant in Buxton.

The weather the second day in Leek proved much more favourable for walking around the Roaches.  Before our walk we visited Pooles Cavern and viewed some wonderful formations.

After touring this lovely cave we warmed up with hot drinks and spied this squirrel through the window of the cafe.

After our enjoying our hot drinks we walked through a neighbouring woodland and up to Solomon's Temple on Grin Low hill.  Isn't that a great name for a hill?  Grin Low!!  Here are some photos of the woodland, Solomon's Temple and an enormous slug.

 

Before starting our walk on the Roaches we stopped at the Roaches Tearoom for lunch.  As we set off we stopped to have at Peregrines nesting.  A Peak Park Ranger had set up a couple of telescopes so that those interested could have a look.  Part of the pathway is closed near the nest until the chicks have fledged.

The highlight of staying in the Peak District (besides meeting Louise and Dave) was walking around the Roaches.  We had rather a steep stepped climb initially but after that the walk was easy and very enjoyable.  Words once again cannot describe the beauty of the area so I’ll let the photos do the talking.

The steps we climbed initially.  As you can see they were quite steep.

At the summit.

Can you imagine anything more spectacular than those amazing rocks and views?   At the end of the day we were quite tired but delighted to have walked the distance we did all the while enjoying spectacular views and wonderful company.  We were most appreciative of the knowledge Louise and Dave were able to share with us about the area they live in.  We didn’t want to leave as we could have spent many more days exploring this wonderful region of the U.K.  

Nest blog installment is all about Shrewsbury and staying with our relatives.

Anne  xx