Review of Mark Reid's book Walking Weekends - Peak District, by Julie Bunting
This review is by Julie Bunting, and was published originally in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 18th December 2006), and is reproduced with Julie's kind permission.
WALKING WEEKENDS - PEAK DISTRICT
Mark Reid, in his own words a 'walking and pub expert', combines his twin expertise
in this new guidebook on ways to make the most of walking weekends in the Peak.
Importantly, he gives advice on overnight accommodation and the pleasures of
forgetting about the car for the weekend. Mark points out how visiting walkers boost
the local economy and he is donating a percentage of profit from book sales to
conservation projects within the Peak Park.
Walking guides come from all angles but the difference with this one is that it has
whole weekends in mind. It offers 24 circular walks from 12 of our prettiest villages,
the broad suggestion being one for Saturday and a different one for Sunday. Walking
enthusiasts from Wetton, for example, can take a couple of days amongst the very
different scenery around Hayfield, while ramblers from Edale could discover the
more southerly charms of Youlgrave.
The author provides ample overviews of each area and mentions likely walking
conditions, shops, cafes and every pub along the way. If there are no facilities along
the route, he says so, otherwise he makes a note of fish & chip shops, Youth
Hostels, campsites, Post Offices, toilets, bus services and more. His routes include
either Five Valleys or Seven Dales in a Day and take in such curiosities as a
dragon's back, places where ghosts hang out, Roman baths, a Russian Cottage and
an Indian railway! To complete every walk would take nearly 220 miles, from the
shortest twin-pack at 16 miles to the longest at 37 ... coincidentally, the average cost
of using the guide works out at only 37p per walk.
As Mark points out: 'By spending a weekend in the Peak District staying, eating,
drinking and walking locally, you can forget about carbon footprints, as the only
footprints you will leave behind will be muddy ones!'
Illustrated with maps, line drawings and some good colour photographs, Walking
Weekends - Peak District is published by InnWay Publications at £8.95. On sale
locally or to order quoting ISBN 1-902001-12-5.
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[Created 13 Dec 2006. Last updated 24 Oct 2008 - 11:02 by Rosemary Lockie]