This page give further event details of the hiking weekend away - Hiking weekend away - Hartington Hall, Peak District with local firework display, to help you to prepare for the weekend. This is to be read in addition to the event details on Meetup

The starting and ending date and time are shown in the event details on Meetup.

What we’ll do

Spend a weekend hiking in the Peak District National Park. Leave early Saturday morning, hike Saturday and Sunday, return Sunday evening. Stay Saturday night in the historic YHA Hartington Hall

Normally we would leave Friday evening for a Peak District weekend but for this particular weekend, we are making an early start Saturday morning and should arrive at Hartington around 11:00 a.m.

COST AND PAYMENT

The cost of £21 includes:

  • One night bed only budget accommodation @ £21.00 per night. Anyone with individual membership of YHA England and Wales pays £18.00 per night but the discount can only be claimed at the time of booking.

There is no additional South Hikers event fee for this weekend.

Not included:

  • Breakfast or other meals
  • Transport

TRANSPORT TO HARTINGTON HALL

  • Train or coach to Buxton then bus High Peak 442 to Hartington village then walk 500 metres up hill (No Sunday bus service but organisers can drive you to Buxton Sunday by prior arrangement.)

  • Own car or car sharing, 146 mls each way plus 11 - 13 mls each way to Leek or Buxton for firework display. For car sharing, the suggested contribution to the driver at our standard Group rate of 7.5p per passenger per mile is 318 mls @ 7.5p = £23.85 return for each passenger plus a share of any parking cost.

CAR PARKING

There is free car parking at YHA Hartington Hall.

ACCOMMODATION

We stay at YHA Hartington Hall, a 17th-century house in the care of the National Trust. There is free Wi-Fi at Hartington Hall

MEALS

The price for this weekend includes one night accommodation bed only. You can either have breakfast for an extra charge or you can prepare your own breakfast in the self-catering, communal kitchen.

You can prepare your own packed lunch in the self-catering, communal kitchen or you can order a YHA packed lunch.

Evening meals are available at Hartington Hall but as we plan to go out to a firework display Saturday evening, we shall probably eat out somewhere such as a pub meal. Alternatively, you can prepare your own evening meal Saturday evening in the self-catering, communal kitchen after we get back from the firework display.

There are no shops nearby to buy food for Sunday breakfast, Saturday and Sunday packed lunches or Saturday evening meal if you prepare your own. You will need to take all food with you.

ARRIVAL TIME SATURDAY

Reception at Hartington Hall opens 15:00, closes 23:00. When we arrive Saturday morning, we probably won’t be able to check in for Saturday evening so we shall probably need to check in after the hike on Saturday afternoon.

As we weren’t booked in Friday night we don’t have a right to go into the hostel and use the facilities Saturday morning although if we ask then they will probably give permission.

In any case, you will need to take some form of ID, (see below).

HIKING PLANS

These are the hikes that are planned but the plans may be changed if necessary, e.g. due to adverse weather conditions.

Saturday

On Saturday, we start and finish the hike at Hartington Hall.

We follow the River Dove down Beresford Dale and Wolfscote Dale then we take the Tissington Trail and part of Biggin Dale back to Hartington. This is 14.5 km (9 miles) and it is a based on an 18 km hike that I have done previously but I have shortened it a bit to allow for a later start.

Saturday’s hike is all on footpaths, bridleways or shared footpath and cycle path (watch out for cyclists!). There are some hills with 333 m of ascent and descent

Sunday

On Sunday, we plan to drive about 3 miles to Hulme End in the Manifold Valley. I have a hike planned that I have done before. It goes up onto Ecton Hill then down to the Manifold Valley and back to Hulme End near the river.

Sunday’s hike is all on footpaths, bridleways or shared footpath and cycle path (watch out for cyclists!). It is 10 km (6.4 mls) and there are some hills with 333 m of ascent and descent. It is quite exposed on the top of Ecton Hill (369 m) so you will need adequate windproof clothing and waterproofs to put on if it rains (see below).

Before leaving for home on Sunday, we may have time for afternoon tea at the tea shop at Hulme End.

Maps

If you want to bring Ordnance Survey maps to follow the routes, I suggest O.S. Explorer OL24 The Peak Distirct, White Peak Area.

PLACES OF INTEREST

YHA web page for Hartington Hall

Firework Display

There are two firework displays within about 15 miles or less.

Buxton and District Lions Club

“The Buxton Annual Firework Display and Hog Roast” to be held on Saturday 3rd November 2018 at Buxton Cricket Ground off Park Road, Buxton SK17 6SG. Gates open at 6.00pm with the firework show starting at 7.15pm. Tickets available on the night at the gate £10.

See Buxton and District Lions Club

Leek Rugby Club

Leek Rugby Club (Maple Grove), Maple Grove, Cheddleton, Leek, Staffordshire, ST13 7BF This is not actually in Leek but in Cheddleton, about 2 miles SW of Leek.

Leek RUFC bonfire and firework display at the Club on Saturday 3rd November. Gates will open at 6pm and the bonfire lit at 7:30pm. There will be a BBQ and hot drinks served outside with 2 bars inside the newly revamped Clubhouse. No sparklers allowed.

Free entrance with donations greatly accepted to support this community and Club event.

See Families Online and Facebook

What to bring

For the weekend

Overnight bag or rucksack with wash kit, night clothes, change of clothes. Towels are not provided at YHA accommodation. For further details, please see South Herts Hikers Info Page ‘C’ Staying in YHA Accommodation.

For the hikes

Hiking boots with good grip (footpaths may be steep, slippery or muddy in places), suitable outdoor clothing for weather conditions including an extra layer to put on for outdoor stops and a waterproof jacket in case it rains. Drink and packed lunch essential. Further details on South Herts Hikers Info Page ‘A’ Lowland Hikes

Most of the hikes are in valleys where it is fairly sheltered but the first part of Sunday’s hike goes up a hill. Although it is not very high at 369 m it could be wet and/or windy up there. Please see also Info Page ‘D’ - Hill and Mountain Hikes. You only need to look at sections 1.1 and 1.2 as this is Southern Peak District rather than the more rugged Northern Peak District and we shouldn’t have winter conditions at the beginning of November.

Important to know

Mobile phone coverage

Mobile network operators quote figures for network coverage such as 98% but this is a percentage of the population, not a percentage of the land area, which is much less. In rural areas where we like to go hiking, mobile phone network coverage can be patchy and in some places non-existent. This is caused by hilly terrain, deep valleys and few mobile phone masts on the tops of the hills in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty!

Even where there is mobile coverage, it may only be outdoors, not inside a building with thick stone walls and it may only be GSM (2G) not 3G or 4G. This means that the Meetup app or anything else that requires fairly fast Internet access may not be usable if it only has a GSM data service available.

The Meetup app only works when it has an Internet connection, otherwise you can’t even read previously received messages. We recommend that the most reliable form of mobile phone communication on a weekend away is SMS text message. The event organiser will give a mobile phone number to everyone on the weekend.

ID Required

You need to bring a suitable form of ID, see Section 3 of YHA Booking terms and conditions section 3.

Details last updated Mon, 20 Jan 2020, 12:23 PM