Monsal & Manifold.

Hello! Thanks for all the comments. I've not replied yet as we've been away again (my last post was one of those scheduled ones). More about that later but first I've more Peak District photos to share. I do have rather a lot of photos, but for anyone reading my blog they're quick to skim through and you can pause at the ones which may be more interesting. Personally, I like to see other people's photos of places they've visited as I use them for future holiday ideas.

Anyway, we took the bikes with us on holiday. The area we were staying in has several cycle trails created from old railway routes which are ideal for family cycling.

The first trail we attempted was the Monsal trail. We parked in the car park at the old station above Bakewell. This is the route that has lots of tunnels, they were quite fun though rather chilly!You pass high above the valleys and there are some lovely views. Having said that, this was our least favourite trail, not that there was anything wrong with it, just that the others were nicer (and less busy). We were excited to find out there was an icecream van at the end of the trail, but disappointed when we got there to find no cones, just overpriced pre-packaged icecreams and I'm sure the one I chose was out of date (I coudn't find a sell by date on it but it had London Olympic packaging on it (3 years ago!) and the icecream was all icy and strangely crunchy - I didn't eat it.)

The next trail was the Manifold Valley trail. It was really hot and a bit thundery the day we visited. This trail goes along the bottom of a valley so there are different types of views to be had, still lovely though. We made the climb to visit Thor's cave and enjoyed the high views from there while eating our picnic. We cooled down on the way back by stopping at a pretty riverside farm cafe for cake (better than Ilam but still not the best of the holiday) and some very welcome cold cans of drink. Some of us even went for a refreshing paddle in the river.

We preferred the Manifold Valley trail to the Monsal trail but it still wasn't our favourite. I'll tell you that one in another post as I think that's probably enough photos for now...