May - our favourite month in the UK for getaways, with 2 public holiday Mondays giving us lots of opportunities for short trips around the UK!

So, the first one of the month took us out to an area about 3 hours drive north west of London, known as the Peak District, a great area for hiking.

We set off on Saturday morning and after some minor traffic we arrived in the area just in time for some amazing lunch at a small, hidden away vegetarian/vegan cafe in Matlock, a town just on the edge of the Peak District national park. After lunch we headed straight for one of the main tourist grabs of the area, Chatsworth House, apparently (Ant was told) the inspiration for the setting for Pride & Prejudice! The perfect fields of green that encircled the huge grounds of the Manor provided us with plenty of space to stroll around and observe the grazing sheep with their little spring lambs, and even a huge pack of deer (photos taken especially for you Ray).

After Chatsworth we headed to a nearby pub, highly rated according to our quick search of the net, and just managed to get a table on a very busy long weekend night. Pie night it was with both of us smashing our way through a huge pie with chips & veg before rolling our way back down the hill and home for the night. Our accommodation for the trip was a self contained cottage converted from an old barn hayloft, complete with fireplace, huge bath and double bed upstairs in the loft. Location wise we were set on a small green hill about 15 minutes out of the famous town of Bakewell but with no neighbours as far as we could see from our outdoor setting at the front of our cottage.

The next day was our only full day in the area, so after a solid breakfast of homemade muesli we headed into the town of Bakewell to explore and hunt for tarts, slices and puddings! Next stop was the tiny town of Over Haddon, where we visited a highly rated tea house overlooking the countryside, which was basically just the couples kitchen and back garden open to customers! While chatting with the owners they explained about a popular 1 hour round walk that followed the town's river winding through the valley, so after our coffee and cake we headed off on our first minor trek of the trip.

Next stop was the tiny but very popular town of Castleton, where we visited a castle from the 17th century which was unexcitingly more of an administrative base than a battle worn castle. Afterwards we drove to a nearby car park and made the short walk to a very popular and nice viewy ledge known as Mam Tor. More walks followed with a forest path alongside a huge reservoir and dam wall, and a hike up to the aptly named 'Surprise View' peak where, not so surprisingly, we got a great view of the surrounding valleys! By this stage we had crammed in a huge day and being about 7pm at night, we headed home where Nat whipped up an amazing roasted cauliflower, sage & almond risotto and we watched the sun disappear over the lamb-speckled rolling hills surrounding us.

Monday morning signalled our final day of the trip, and after checking out of our lovely accommodation, we drove approximately 30 minutes to Staffordshire to do one of the most popular Peak District hikes - known as The Roaches. This was a 2 & 1/2 hour round trip walk that took us along these rocky formations up and down the hillside peaks with more great views of the surrounding valleys. While not particularly high intensity like we hoped (as some preparation for climbing Mt Snowdon in a few weeks time) it was a great walk with fantastic views, lots of fresh air and many smiles and hellos from friendly English hikers.

After the walk it was (sadly) time to start heading home. We made one final stop at a very English country pub for one final English meal and a game of pool, and then we were on the long slow journey back to London. Only a few weeks until our Wales / hiking Mt Snowdon trip though so stay tuned!! And check out the photos!