Cave Dale, Mam Tor and some proper Milkshakes

Welcome back, Blog Fans.  You may have noticed the postings aren't coming out like clockwork.  Work is unusually hectic right now for both Kuk and me.  On top of that, we are putting the wheels in motion to return back to the States for good in December.  Lots to do.  Stress levels are certainly up.

That said, it would be absolutely criminal not to get out on a weekend like this one.  Sunny, blue skies and temps of 15C or higher (low 60s F).  The kids and I saw Kuk off to the airport and then we headed out ourselves.

The destination was Castleton (again).  We've covered the area fairly well, but two other ex-pat families went to Cave Dale in the last few weeks though so we thought we try it out.

Our previous two trips to Castleton specifically were raining so it was nice to get some sun.

Our previous walk (link) was the magenta line above whereas we tried the blue this time.  It involved heading south through Cave Dale, across some fields and then up Mam Tor before heading back to town.

As a reminder, we like this area.  Check out all the walks we've done in the vicinity.

 

Finally the stats before the photos:  5.9 miles in 2:43 with 2:22 moving.  (ahem, slightly faster than our normal pace -- who wasn't with us?).  We had a slow and steady climb at first.  The blip 2/3 the way through is Mam Tor.  Six miles is a nice walk for us now.  Long enough to feel like we've done something but it doesn't wipe us out (like the 9-milers).

On to the photos:

Good start.  Friendly cat in Castleton before getting too far.

 at the beginning of Cave Dale . . . still a slight chill in the shade, but the jackets would eventually come off

looking back after a partial climb -- that's some of Perevil Castle on the left.  We visited the castle and some of the surrounding caves two years ago (almost exactly) -- link.  We must like this time of year for Castleton as our previous walk was almost exactly a year ago as well.

 

and further up with a view through the dale and back to the valley where we started

some obligatory sheep shots for my buddy Jay

 lunch time (for the sheep -- the food truck just drove by)

 

must be hard going through life as BS (actually the sheep were all marked RS but this one had an unfortunate run on the R)

cows -- equal opportunity photographer

nearly there -- a short catch of our breathe before the final ascent

 a view to the other side and the snaking road that leads to Edale

 

kids in front of the Edale/Hope valley

back towards Castleton

 and one with the kids -- great weather, isn't it?

not a particularly glamorous shot of the Hope Valley but I wanted to compare/contrast it to one of my favorite photos from last year:

the blue skies are nice but its hard to beat the rainbow (from 2012)

 

back in the valley looking back to Mam Tor

We were feeling nostalgic and noticed an American diner themed restaurant in Castleton so we wandered in.  Kids had burgers.  Theme or not, I wasn't quite ready to go there.  (They met the kids standards, but glad I opted for chicken).

Side note:  Alex was like "Cool, they have an actual Juice Box".   Uh, Juke Box, Alex.  "oh"  :-)

But the real treat was "proper" milkshakes with, you know, ice cream in it.  (Most of the "milkshakes" here are flavored milk).  These were still a touch thin, but all and all pretty good.  A worthy stop.

So, a great day with my great kids doing what we like to do.  How many more of these, if any, will we get?

Have a great week everyone.

Hope to Edale: another fine day walking (and other bits and bobs)

Greetings, Blog Fans.  Apologies for the one week delay.  I ended up working last weekend and didn't get around to the blog.  I have enough for two this week but I'll stuff it in to one.

I'll lead in with our Sunday activity this week:

Superb weather (19C/66F, sunny) led us back to the Peak District.  Our starting point was Edale (north of Castleton) and a good 75 minutes away.  Nicole and I did our Kinder Scout walk from Edale a year ago but we (all) had different plans this time.

The walk was our first linear walk in the Peak District.  I felt we've built up our endurance enough to try walking from Hope to Edale (cyan with red arrows).  Take a look at the other walks we've done in the area -- 6 in total!  [Kinder Scout is to the west, Castleton/Mam Tor to the south, Ladybower and Derwent Reservoir to the north, Hathersage and Stanton Edge to the east.]

This was a haul:  9.5 miles in 5:10 (4:10 moving) with 2170' total climbing.  You can see from the graph above that we had two separate climbs of 800+ feet.  (Given Kuk's reaction at the end, the walk might have been 1.5 miles too long.)    Joking aside, the troops did well.  We've definitely stretched our abilities.

Once again, we misjudged the weather.  This time in the other direction though as we were quite warm.  Could have pulled those shorts back out but alas we were in long sleeves/trousers (pants) and got quite toasty.

So if we drove to Edale, how did we get to Hope?  This little guy.  We hopped on the train (£6.10 for the fam) for one stop.  How cool is that?  The only downside was on Sunday in runs infrequently so we didn't want to miss it, that's for sure.

Check out the blue skies.  This day was about walking out of the valley and then around on various ridges for some great views.

like this one (though we haven't climbed that much at this point)

monster stile to climb before catching our breath after the first part of the climb (it always talks a little while to get your mojo)

 fuzzy sheep this time

looking east past Heathersage (where Nicole and I walked 2 weeks ago) and on to the ridge line of Stanage Edge

zoomed in a bit to see Stanage Edge and Carl's Wark

 a look back down in the valley

 working our way towards Win Hill -- bonus look back at Ladybower Reservoir on the other side

taking a rest at the top of Win Hill -- great views from here

 Ladybower

 and another

The next bit was a little, um, brown -- looks like we are heading to the waste land.  Fear not -- just some Dark Peak moors

lunch time

 walking towards the lone tree in the area

 climbing up

 and another rest break at the top (more family shots this time!)

 across the valley -- Castleton would be on the other side (I think the lump is Mam Tor)

other than the prime "hills" we had the trails to ourselves for the most part -- that's why it was unusual to run into this group, presumably a walking club (or tour)

 still smiling (and a little backlit with the bright sun)

 cool rock

 and the dreaded path down -- it actually wasn't too bad.  Glad to have the poles and a knee brace though.

 a few last fuzzy sheep

I didn't include all the scenery shots, including Kinder Scout in the distance but the views were great all around (though there was a dry stretch in the middle).  Really proud of us doing this semi-challenging "walk".

We stopped off at the aptly named "Ramblers Inn" in Edale and enjoyed a well deserved refreshment at the end.  At least 2 passengers had a doze in the back on the way home so we must have done some good (fortunately the driver wasn't one of them).

Not sure how many more of these chances will get . . .

Bit and Bobs

I've got a few extra things to cover this week since I didn't report in last week.

School Awards

First off, both kids had their Speech/Award day ceremonies (for last year's efforts).  Both did really well last year and are off to a good start so far this year.

Alex received the award for Mathematics for his year (that nut didn't fall too far from the tree).  He's actually accepting a House award for something here as this photo turned out better. 

Nicole received an all around academic award given to the top 4 in her class (that's her head).  I didn't have the best angle for this one. 


Fun with Animals

Last Saturday my boss invited us back for his son's 5th birthday party.  He hired a animal group and thought our kids would enjoy it along with the others.  I've got quite a few photos of them even though it isn't their birthday!

 

 Alex doesn't think much of this one (a cockroach I think)

  a small golden (?) tarantula -- recall that Nicole held a big one two years ago (link)

now for the good stuff -- Alex gets to "hold" the lizard

 I couldn't pass this one up.  Kuk, as usual, liked asking questions and must have gotten a strange response

 bearded dragon (and cockroach eater) on Alex's chest

 small snake

 Nicole's turn

 and Nicole's magic to actually have a snake poo on her (or at least attempt to while she was holding it)

 a little big bigger now -- that's the birthday Alex on the right

 and a different one

 never knew Alex liked snakes so much (doesn't mean we are getting one though)

 on to some furries -- a chinchilla

 Nicole's turn

Heritage Trust Day at Rolls-Royce

Once a year, Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust opens its doors to the public.  The schedule fit, so I took the kids on Saturday.
 

look at that -- way in the back they had a cutaway/exploded view of a Model 250 (what I used to work on back in Indy).

 Alex was most fascinated by the 1/2 scale and spinning Trent 1000 lego

 Trent 1000 -- what I've been working on since I got here

 curvy fan blades

 hot section of the Trent 1000

and an RB211 for good measure -- the RB211 was the first 3-shaft engine that Rolls-Royce did and is the precursor to today's Trent family of engines.  It also caused the company to bankrupt in the early 70s which led to the government stepping in and splitting out the automotive and gas turbine businesses

speaking of automotive, they did have a few out front -- this is an early 50's model

So there you have it:  a nice walk on a glorious day and some bits and bobs from the last 2 weeks thrown in.  Take care everyone and have a good week.