April 4, 2015, by Gemma Coleman

Escape to the country

 

Deadlines are hurtling towards you. Summer seems like an unreachable mirage. And yes, you just really can’t be bothered to clean the kitchen anymore. The answer? Escape to the country: Peak District edition. Because sometimes, you’ve just got to get out of Lenton…

 

My dad and I stayed at the foot of Kinder Scout, the Peak’s most popular walking route, and things could not look more different to the concrete jungle that is Nottingham. We stayed in a quaint little village, which had a line of people snaking out along the cobbled streets from the butcher’s, muddy- boots- and dogs- welcome kind of pubs and not a Sainsbury’s local in sight.

 

We walked for six hours (all that trekking to uni finally coming to good use) through sunny meadows, squelchy bogs and finally, wintery winds when the hand-warmers came out to play at the top. Highlights of the walk were getting to practise my map reading and compass skills (still shockingly poor) and eating. This is my favourite thing about going walking- the fact that snacking doesn’t actually count. Being allowed to eat whatever you want is one of the unwritten rules about hiking. Three packets of Jaffa Cakes to yourself? Completely justified. Eating a family-sized bag of foam bananas in two minutes flat? Gotta keep your energy levels up. Slabs of rocky road at five- minute intervals? All part of the exercise routine.

 

In the evenings, we played Scrabble mainly because the wifi didn’t work (classic bed and breakfast), but also because I am generally just a massive nerd.

 

A weekend away was much needed! If this sounds like something you’re interested in (particularly the walking) then why not try out Ramble Soc? See: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UoNRamsoc/

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