DAY 312 Thursday 17th JULY 2008

Hartington, Peak District (Miles to Date: 33300)

Whilst we are used to transatlantic travel it never gets to be easy, especially the overnight flights. We arrive at Heathrow in the early hours of the morning (about 7.00am) and it is the usual zoo in Terminal 3, and it is a over an hour after landing before we pass through baggage claim, immigration and depart the terminal building. The fun is not yet over as we have to pick up our rental car, which is another bus ride and then we have a long wait whilst we sort out the rental. By the time we finally hit the road it is almost 2 hours after landing and the children are absolutely exhausted.

The next stage of our tour takes us up to Leighton Buzzard to spend a couple of days with Mark’s parents and then on to Belton-In-Rutland to stay with Karen’s old friend Angela. We also stop in Stafford to see Karen’s sister Mandy, her partner Des and nephew Charlie. These have been quite relaxing days which are most welcome after our recent travels.

It only a short drive from Stafford to Youlgreave, in the splendid peak district. We are staying in the Youth Hostel in the centre of the small village of Youlgreave. Surrounded by glorious countryside, the ancient village of Youlgreave winds its way carefully along a narrow limestone shelf, between two of the area’s loveliest valleys. Bradford Dale to the south drops sharply down with pretty little cottages and their gardens clinging to the side of the valley; a little further away to the north on the other side of the hill is Lathkill Dale, considered by some to be Derbyshire’s finest dale. The long, narrow village street runs for about one and a half miles along almost the only level ground available; the footpath being lost altogether by the church, where pedestrians, who do not want to run the risk of getting run over, walk through the churchyard. As with most small villages there is a fine selection of pubs to choose from and of course we have to sample each.

The weather is wet and chilly, which is not that unusual but we had hoped for better. Most people come to the Peak District to visit the great outdoors so it is a little disappointing to have inclement weather. Fortunately not too far from Youlgreave is the old industrial city of Rotherham, once the centre of the steel making industry but now many of these mills lay dormant and the city is somewhat depressed. Taking advantage of the situation one of these vast half mile long steel mills has been turned into a hands-on science centre. Magna Science Adventure Centre has four pavilions cleverly suspended in the surroundings of the dark interior of the steel mill and as you move from pavilion to pavilion you pass amongst the eerie skeletal remains of the mill. The four pavilions pay tribute to the four elements; air, earth, water and fire. The Air Pavilion, resembling a giant zeppelin, is suspended 45 feet up in the rafters of the building. The first exhibit is a large fan that slowly ramps up and down, and at full power it gives you a real sense of being in a gale. There are air cannons to make patterns, examples of man’s early attempts at flight, a gyroscopic chair and exhibit on the air in our own bodies. The Water Pavilion is a wonderfully lit giant steel wave like structure and houses a selection of interactive games and challenges that exploring nature of water. There are water cannons and flowing water channels to build ducts and dams in. As you might expect with all this water around it is hard to stay dry. The Earth Pavilion, appropriately in the bowels of the building ,is filled with hands-on games and attractions, The centre piece of this pavilion are a set of real-life earth movers complete with buckets in which you pick up quarried materials and drop them into hoppers in a race against time. The Fire Pavilion is a perfect place to dry off after the water pavilion. At the core of the pavilion is a five-metre fire tornado that periodically leaps up from the floor. You can make cables glow red hot, paint heat patterns with your hands and race with an electromagnetic crane, feel the flow of heat and watch crystals as they melt. In addition to the pavilions, 'the Big Melt' is undoubtedly one of Magna's most breathtaking features. Heard and seen from almost every part of the building, the show is set around the original Arc furnace, unused since the days of Sheffield's booming steel industry.

After a couple of nights at Youlgreave we move a few miles to the Youth Hostel at Hartington. This is another quaint Peak District village and has special significance to us as this is the place where Karen and Mark met some 13 years ago, whilst both staying at the Youth Hostel. The hostel is a magnificent manor house standing in its own grounds and dating back to 1611. The main buildings’ common rooms have oak panel walls, stove fires and squishy sofas and there is an award winning restaurant. We are booked into a family room which has two bunk beds, which is simple but comfortable. We are still having horrible weather, and have to go into Buxton to the charity shops to buy some extra clothes for warmth. Nearby to Hartington is another place close to Karen and Mark’s heart (this is where they first kissed) is Dove Dale, a three mile stretch of the river Dove between Thorpe and Milldale. Our trail starts at the famous stepping stones near Thorpe and winds its way up the river through glades of tree and past rocky outcrops. The river is relatively calm this time of year but there are rapids and some areas where it widens and opens into deep still pools. On a hot day one might be tempted to swim or wade, but today is definitely not one of those days. It is not as rainy as it had been for most of our time in the Peak District, but it was switching between sunshine and drizzle. Despite the so-so weather it is still a magical place to be.