More of the Moors, Please...

After a day walking about the Dark Peak section of the Pennine Ranges, I have come to the conclusion that Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights fame was on to a good thing: to wander about the moors is actually a pretty nice occupation, thank you very much. While Emily Bronte scripted Heathcliff and the moors as having brooding and mysterious qualities, our experience was quite the opposite. Bathed in brilliant sunshine, the upland moors between Manchester and Sheffield were a canvas for all things green, lush and earthy.

A train from Manchester ferried us up to Edale, a tiny hamlet of stone buildings with a church and a few pubs. A myriad of walks, strolls, hikes and rambles emanate from Edale - it was just a matter of us deciding how energetic and adventurous we felt. True to form, Kel and I settled on the 'ridiculously-fit-and-overly-ambitious" option, a 19-kilometre epic that nearly circumnavigated the entire valley and, fittingly, ended in a beergarden.

Our walk included a scramble up a narrow rocky gully, an encounter with a pair of red-grouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Grouse) and the spectacle of a nervous mountain biker flipping over his handle bars during a tricky descent. After a week working in the urban jigsaw of the city, the sensation of open space was delicious. Although we were by no means alone in our wanderings, there were a few moments of solitude which have been burned into the memory banks.

The Edale area sits within the Peak District National Park, which itself is about 30 minutes drive for millions of Northerners. You'd expect the place to be overrun with people, given its location, but I felt much more at ease here than in Chester. The landscape is not as physically imposing as the Blue Mountains or the Barrington Tops, but shares some of the 'rounded' hilltop characteristics that can be found in the Snowy Mountains. The dry stone walls are a treat, and the farm pastures particularly verdant for anyone who has grown up in an arid climate. To paraphrase Arnie Schwartznegger: "we'll be back".