Climbing and Walking in the heart of the Peak District.

The Peak District is famous for a range of outdoor opportunities. Castleton, Hathersage, Chatsworth and the Derwent Valley reservoirs are all within easy reach of the snug little village of Bamford.

Loving the countryside, the range of opportunities for recreation and its centrality, our climbing and walking group often convenes in The Peak District. This time we took over both The Homestead and The Cheesehouse (which we referred to affectionately as ‘homestead and cheese’). It really is in the heart of the Peak District, with the iconic attractions of Castleton, Hathersage, Chatsworth and the Derwent Valley reservoirs within easy reach, whilst still being part of a snug little village. Homestead is the larger one, housing 22 people in 3 rooms. With its large communal kitchen and adjoining day room, we adopted Homestead as our base. The smaller Cheesehouse, sleeping 4, was a good overflow and extra shower room for when certain un-named individuals were hogging the bathrooms.

The bunkhouses are on a working farm. The younger members of our group were charmed by the constant activity as cows, working dogs, fowl and other livestock were perpetually bustling about their business.

I said earlier that we loved the range of opportunities for recreation. Various members of our group hired bikes from an outdoor shop in nearby Hathersage; climbed the excellent and popular routes on the nearby ‘Edges’; ran across the moor tops and edges; and walked the wooded reservoir edges of Ladybower.

In the evenings, we cooked up huge pots of delicious stuff and shared them out in the communal ‘day-room’. With bottles open and stories flowing, for many this was the best part of the day. Afterwards we explored the local pub, The Angler’s Rest, which is unique in my experience by being communally owned and run by the village.

Find out more about Homestead and Cheesehouse