Hope, where we are currently camped, is only a couple of miles from
neighbouring Castleton which was recommended to us as a beautiful village by another caravanner on
our Lincoln campsite. Braving sporadic drizzle and winds that were a bit blowy, we donned waterproofs this afternoon and set out for a looksee.
We had already walked into Hope this morning for a spot of shopping and found the greengrocer, Spar, and the farm shop. There's a post office and a deli too and we will definitely be visiting the farm shop again! This afternoon we turned left by the church, out into sheep fields and along by Peakshole Water, a pretty and winding stream. The well-worn footpath followed the stream initially before heading away through more sheep fields. There are adorable lambs everywhere at the moment so I apologise for including another sheep photo - there will probably be one in each post for a while! Here, just outside Castleton, five lambs were trying to all stand on a tree stump that was only big enough for four so they kept tumbling off in various ungainly leaps.
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| Room for one more? |
Castleton is indeed pretty and has an inordinate number of pubs. I guess this is a sign of how busy the area gets in the high season. We enjoyed a wander around and spent some time in their
Visitor Centre which has an informative little museum alongside the usual display of regional products, leaflets and
Ordnance Survey maps. We learned about local geology and saw a thousand-year-old stone representation of the
goddess Brigantia. Outside the centre were several concrete squares indented with the
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Judy Leden stone outside
Castleton Visitor Centre |
name and footprint of a famous person linked to the area. I'm not sure the footprints were genuine as a couple dated back hundreds of years, but I did discover today's inspirational woman among them:
Judy Leden MBE is a hang glider and paraglider pilot who has won three world championships and also crossed the English Channel in a hang glider!
After the (obligatory, surely?) purchase of what later turned out to be lovely Lemon Drizzle Cake for me and a huge Malteser Slice for Dave - I forget the name, but that's another shop we will return to - we started homewards on a different path around the other side of the village. Stone step stiles are a feature here, as well as many little wooden gates. These steps were actually on the edge of Eyam Moor, photographed on Monday's walk but we went over others today.
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| Stone step stile on Eyam Moor |
The walk back was dry with warm sunshine trying to get the better of blustery winds. I've got a few more photographs to post here ending with how our lovely
Farfield Farm CL looked on our return this afternoon. It doesn't get much better than this!
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| Apple blossom buds |
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| Oak apples - there's a local Oak Apple Festival day |
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| Loved the shape of these logs |
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| Farfield Farm CL campsite |
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