Hiking - To the Top

We had been told that the weather later in the week would be nice and that was correct. I don't think it rained at all yesterday and it didn't rain today. We didn't have anything that needed to be done today so we decided to do some hiking/walking.

The area where we are staying has footpaths and over 30 miles of trails in the national park. We saw some cards about the various walks with this warning, "Walking might result in a healthier body."

Our first stop was the castle. We have driven past the ruins a few times. If you were in the car with us, we sound like tourists, "look there is a castle".

This is from the town level. Why is it that castles are built up on the top of the hill?

This did have an admission. We need to consider an English History membership to get in to some of these places free.

We made it to the top. This was mentioned in the Domesday survey, Peveril Castle is one of England's earliest Norman fortresses. The keep was built by Henry II in 1176.

We were able to go in the keep.

The Norman Keep which dominates the site is 40 feet square and 60 feet high, and was built under the orders of Henry 2nd about 1176 at a cost of under £200, but the only action it ever saw took place 40 years later in 1216 when the Barons revolted against King John.

Here is the view from the top. You can see the village as well as the surrounding valley. It was a nice clear day so we were able to see quite a distance.

Standing up on the hill Bob spied another mountain that he wanted to climb.

We drove to the edge of Winnats Pass and parked there. Then we found a footpath and began our climb. There are public footpaths through the area marked with a sign.

He made it to the top. We all did but this is just a great photo of him conquering the mountain.

I took a break along the way. Climbing with Miss K does mean that you take a few breaks. We are working her up to walk and climb but it will take some time. I am proud of her for doing as much as she did. I am also proud of her brother for carrying her down part of the way.

We did decide that if we are going to do more hiking we want to buy hiking boots.

You can see road down there. We have driven through the pass a few times. There is a sign as you begin to be careful of sheep in the road. We did have to slow down yesterday and allow the sheep to pass to the other side of the road.

These cute lambs were in the field next to where we were climbing.

We walked across the street to the cavern here and took a tour. It was an lead old mine that was filled with water and so the tour was in a boat. Miss K was not sure about it at first it was dark but she did enjoy it. The tour guide makes all the difference and we got a great tour guide, Connor. Sorry no photos of that it was just hard to get photos of a dark cave.

It was a fun day. Bob said that he had enough hiking for a year. I am sure he will be ready for a hike in a few days. We did stop and get ice cream.

Beth