Heading down the Roman Road in the moonlight night we turned off to Hurdlow and the Royal Oak Bunkhouse. The pub was a wintry scene with snow all around, warm coal fire and a full Derbyshire breakfast..
Heading down the Roman Road in the moonlight night we turned off to Hurdlow and the Royal Oak Bunkhouse. We rolled up in a wintry scene with snow all around.
Earlier that day we had traveled to meet up with the Boston Rambers who were on a trip to Ashbourne in the Peak District. It was proper winter weather as the walking group headed off though a big tunnel under the town of Ashbourne and out to rolling fields. We walked 2 miles to the old station and village of Thorpe. Leaving the trail we headed across meadows dusted with snow. Lingering high in the mist was Thorpe Cloud one of biggest hills in the area. Some of us climbed Thorpe Cloud and others skirted around the edge to reach the famous stepping stones.
The river was in flood so we headed for the bridge and crossed to the car park. After lunch we followed the river Dove though a lovely valley passing farms and nice stone bridges. Latter we climbed out of valley to arrive back on the Tissington Trail which we followed for about a mile back though tunnel to Ashbourne. A lovely walk of about ten miles. In Ashbourne we headed to a tiny dog friendly café. Jaffa has some dog biscuits, Aunt Jane had homemade cake and I had warm pancakes with maple syrup. Ashbourne church was lovely in the dark with the lovely stained glass windows lit up, then many antiques shops were shutting up and it was time to head off to the Royal Oak Dog Friendly Bunkhouse for our night’s sleep.
We were shown to a downstairs room at the bunkhouse, the beds were comfy and the room warm. We overslept, woke up too late for our day’s walk. Luckily the Tissington Trail passes right outside the pub so we walked along the lovely snow covered cycle track and back for about hour before returning to Royal Oak for breakfast brunch at mid morning.
Sat next to a lovely warm coal fire we enjoyed a really nice full Derbyshire breakfast, followed by toast and jam. After breakfast Jaffa the dog and I decided to walk the other way down the snow covered Tissington Trail, while Aunt Jane stayed reading the paper in front of the fire. Jaffa and I returned after a few hours to dry out in front of for with a few more drinks. We chatted to some holiday makers and locals and before we know it the day had flown by and it was late afternoon. Time to head East and home though the snow covered landscape. I can recommend the Royal Oak bunkhouse accommodation for the lovely staff and the friendly atmosphere.
You can find out about the Royal Oak Bunkhouse and here is a maps showing Independent Hostels and Bunkhouses in the Peak District.