We chose to make the most of the unseasonally warm weather by wild camping … in Derbyshire. We set out on Saturday afternoon from Edale and walked across the eastern end of Kinder Scout, dropping down to the A57, then up through Alport Dale, past Alport Castles and then northwesterly up the Alport River. We were heading for a waterfall high up on the river where the ground levelled out sufficiently to allow us to camp. For the few final kilometres, darkness was nearly upon us and we had to resort to the light of our headtorches.
We were just starting to wonder whether we would find a dry, flattish place to camp, when we came across the perfect spot; an island in the middle of the river, just below a pretty waterfall.
We pitched our tiny tent and cooked a delicious meal of gnocchi with bolognese sauce and cheese, followed by chocolate cake. After a spot of star gazing, we headed indoors and slept to the sound of the waterfall (Richard dreamt about a motorbike appearing from nowhere to our campsite, but when he awoke he realised that it was the waterfall!).
On Sunday, we packed up early and headed northwest to pick up the Pennine Way, which we subsequently followed all the way to Mill Hill. Next we skirted around the north of Kinder Scout (along ‘The Edge’) and then after about three kilometres we set off across the plateau, before heading down Grindslow Brook to Edale.
Great view 🙂
It was a lovely trip. Apart from the campsite, which really was exceptional, I also particularly enjoyed crossing Kinder in the bottom of the peat groughs. In places they were less than a metre wide with peat walls that were well over our heads! 😯
Also, that last picture is looking out to the delightfully named Featherbed Moss. The cars you can just see on the second ridge are on the top of Snake Pass. Alport Moor is in the far distance. :geek:
I love the sheep. It’s quite amazing to me how much “empty space” there is in Britain. And that people are allowed to tramp all over it and camp where they please.
Ahem. Feeling a little sheepish now. Wild camping, as it’s called here, isn’t “allowed” as such in England (although it is in Scotland). Open access land gives the right to walk anywhere on it, but not the right to camp. Above the highest farm walls and out of sight of buildings, wild camping is generally tolerated (although many parts of the Peak District are an exception to this), but you should ask permission first if practical.
Your wild camp looks great!