Review of ‘Walking Weekends - Peak District’, by Mark Reid

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.

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.

Review by Julie Bunting