13/04/19 - Inn Way to Peak District Summary

Distance of the Inn Way to the Peak District - 89
Days completed in - 6
Pubs Visited - 31 visited out of the 51 promised in the guide.  Just a handful closed down permanently and several not open on Monday/Tuesday.   Three Stag Heads in Wardlow Mires only open at weekends - and that looked a real experience (see day 4)
Geocaches - 49
Timeframe - 08/04/19 to 13/04/19
Previous Inn Way Summaries - Yorkshire Dales, Lake District and North Yorkshire Moors.



My fourth annual Inn Way and I struck lucky.   Its the weather that can make or break these trips and I had a full week of blue skies and the only drop of water to land on my head was in the Monsal Tunnel.

I could have saved weight in the Osprey by ditching the waterproofs.

The walking on this route is spectacular and provides a great feel for the area - the wild edges of Stanage, Curbar and Froggatt, the gentle Country Houses and then the magnificence of the Hope Valley.   Absolutely terrific walking.

It also felt a lot less isolated than previous Inn Ways - especially last years North Yorkshire Moors.  The nightly locations had multiple entertainment options - including twin chipper Tideswell and the pub crawl that can easily be fashioned from a night in Castleton.

A wonderful experience.

As with all undertakings - there needs to be a roll of honour.

Best Walk - Day 3 - Just gets better and better - Complete Lathkill Dale, drop down to the River Wye and then climb for stunning views over the Monsal Trail.
Best Pub - Day 2 - The Bulls Head, Youlgrave.   A Tuesday night and it felt like the entire community had come out.  Football was on the TV, the darts team were preparing for a tricky away game and various other tourists were dining in the back room.   Proper pub banter.
Best Pint - Day 4 - Theakston Best Bitter at the Peak Hotel, Castleton.   Up untill Castleton, the beer was middling.   Castleton addressed this, with every pub offering high quality product.   Price range over the week £3.30 (Cock and Pullettt, Sheldon) to £5.40 (Peacock, Rowsley).
Best Meal - Day 6 - Unusually, no pies were harmed in the production of this walk.   Apart from a lunchtime Pork Pie in Eyam.   Once again, few menus offered anything exotic, so I was delighted with the last day Balti at Sangams in Hathersage.
Advice - I chose to not follow the order in the book and start at Hathersage - where there is a train station or long term parking available if you book a ticket on line from the Derbyshire Dales website.  No issues with accommodation. 

Each leg of the walk has been detailed on a separate blog, available at the link;

Day 1 - Hathersage to Baslow - 13 Miles
Day 2 - Baslow to Yougrave - 12 Miles
Day 3 - Youlgrave to Tideswell - 16 Miles
Day 4 - Tideswell to Castleton - 15 Miles
Day 5 - Castleton to Hayfield - 12 Miles
Day 6 - Hayfield to Hathersage - 18 Miles

The Photo Album on Flickr