July in UK, normally sunny, but now a mix of rain and sunny intervals..

It is a gamble to plan an outing and surviving it without getting drenched ... yet, myself and abhishek made the plan for a day out in Peak District... a national park about 230 Kms north of London..

Having had a long week, we desparately wanted a getaway from London and so boarded the Megabus bus at 11.30PM on Friday night.. actually, after a 30 min delay.. and soon the passengers settled in their own dreamworlds, snore zones or ipod tunes...

After a 4.5 hour journey, we got up at around 3, with the vast stretches of farms and meadows rushing by, welcomed by a sleepy sun and misty clouds..

Reached Meadowhall Interchange bus station at around 5, located in Sheffield, a city on the outskirts of the national park..

Our journey needed us to shift to the Sheffield rail station to board the 6.30AM train.. so with ample time in our hands, we decided to walk the stretch, admiring what Sheffield has to offer ...

We soon understood two main aspects of the city.. firstly, the name was derived from River Sheaf running through the city.. and secondly, the deep industrial roots, as prevalent from the array of industries we passed.. unmanned on a saturday, a ghostly industrial city..

After about 1.5 hours of walking.. we reached Sheffield City Center, right on time.. to board the train to Hope (Derbyshire) Rail Station...

Hope Rail Station sits just on the border of the national park.. and is closest for a nice stroll..

We got off the train, onto a station with two platforms, two tracks, no waiting passengers, no welcoming committee, no station master, no ticket vending machines, no gates to swipe/slide our tickets... surprised.. we stood there, admiring the shift in the landscapes.. planning our next step.. or hike..

We then walked north .. to Landbower reservoir.. a lengthy walk i should say.. about 6 Kms.. which took us through farmland.. valleys.. age old houses in excellent condition.. and ofcourse awesome views of natural beauty...

We finally reached the reservoir after about 1.5 hours... slightly disappointed by the low water level, but spirits compensated by the location, the peace.

We had to take the same route back, a tiring but downhill walk of 6.5 Kms to Hope rail station... still enjoying the sun peeking in between clouds.. watching the sheep and cows discussing about two strange animals in their code languages.. maa and moo...

With the iphone and the GPS at my finger tips always, we felt confident and safe that we wont get lost, as it would take a few kms to see a living soul in these parts ...

We had to cross Hope rail station again, on the way to Castleton ...

Castleton, a small village located on the western part of Peak District, is not known otherwise, but for its famous caverns, a national heritage...

On the walk from Hope to Castleton, we stumbled upon a Coffee and Cake party in a old school dating back 1800's where seniors re-united with a charitable cause .. to collect money for having a emergency health transport facility.. for the sake of the elderly and the sick in the village.. as the nearest hospital is an hour away...

We were invited with much excitement by the hosts, who found us the only folks in 20's and 30's... we were shown pictures of the schools early days.. the schools dean, and were explained the early days in Hope and Castleton, and how these small villages gained popularity and got inhabited, when Frith, an industrial steel magnet, setup his retirement house in these parts.. still now followed by many .. as it is a safe haven for a peaceful retired life...

We then moved on, walking about 4 kms to Castleton, the sheeps increasing in numbers.. the farms widening in area.. and we were just a dot in the map...

We first went to Peak Cavern.. it is also called the Devil's Arse because of the strange horrifying noises from within created by the spiralling water flows inside.. the entrance of the cave is the largest in Britain and we were taken in as part of a small guided tour.. a journey through the depths of the cave, and the famous belief that the Men in Tights, along with Robinhood hid in these caves as outlaws... an one hour tour.. which was worth the hike..

After the tour, we went in search of a small restaurant to have a quick snack and settled for some fish and chips.. a heavy meal, compared to the London lunch..

We then moved on to Speedwell Cavern, walking between the valley .. a short 15 min walk only.. to visit what is called the Bottomless Pit... here we took another one hour tour with our guide, an enthusiastic and funny teen Ben... the tour led us into a miners passageway.. which is always flooded... in a boat.. for about 10 mins.. as we swayed our helmeted heads left and right to avoid the low ceiling..

Enroute, we are shown the various parts of the passageway, where miners in the 18th century had to work in horrific conditions..
At the end of the passageway, we alight and walk into a cave to see the Bottomless Pit. It is a deep vertical shaft, now about 11 metres of rock spoil dumped earlier by miners. Actual depth of has been estimated, from the amount of spoil placed in the shaft over the years,
at around 150 metres, which if taken into consideration, would make it qualify as the deepest.
A different caving journey, unique and entertaining, we came out after a 450 m ascent of steps.. satisfied and happy that our day has really turned out well..

Then, we tried hiking up a nearby hill, to get a view of the area around us.. and the sheeps were there already on the top.. lazily munching away grass.. oblivious to our presence..

We then took the long walk back to Hope and the train to Sheffield..as we had to catch our train back to London at 6.45PM..

We reached the bus station at about 6 .15 and saw the information screen to see that our bus would be departing only at 7.15.. so we went in search of McD.. what to do.. we are just addicted to burgers and pizza's...

We came back and waited for our bus at 7.15.. but 7.16, 7.17, no bus.. and 7.18, reference to our bus is also gone from the screen.. confused and worried, we check the information counter, who mentions that there is another bus service with the same bus number starting from the same counter.. critical information of who the service provider is not given in these screens..

We got our confused thoughts back.. and pulled back ourselves, and booked the next available bus.. the next day.. 2.30AM..

we just had to wait for the bus till 12 within the bus station... and after it got closed, in the bus stop outside.. in the chilling weather, trying to sleep.. and rest our dead tired legs...

By the time we caught the bus, we were so much in need of sleep and rest, we slept instantly, waking up about 4 hrs later... city.. buildings.. noise.. home.. sweet home...

hope you had a nice journey!!!