DESTINATIONS UK & IRELAND | PEAK DISTRICT
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The writer’s daughter, May, on the Dovedale stepping stones; her son, Zac; Thorpe Cloud hill PICTURES: Cathy Toogood; Shutterstock/Cally Robin
Selling tips
E Tell clients that they will be with like-minded travellers and there are plenty of opportunities to socialise, including on walks, during meals and through arranged activities. On our trip, there were as many grandparents travelling alone with grandchildren as parents.
E Reassure clients who are new to walking holidays that there are different levels of walk offered every day and walks are not compulsory.
E Under-11s currently go free on UK family trips with HF Holidays.
E Guests can relax as experienced walk leaders will plan routes and factor in time for lunch stops and coffee breaks, and all meals are provided.
part in the entertainment, which ranged from skittles and the gala show to a kids’ treasure hunt. Then each morning we’d meet our group to explore the local area. Guided walks each day range from three-mile “family walks” to tougher routes of around 12 miles. With some of the youngest children on the trip, we’d assumed we’d mainly do family walks with perhaps one longer adventure – but after Zac enthusiastically signed us up for a seven-mile walk on day one (he’d heard there was an opportunity to feed ducks along the way), we stuck to longer walks and both children, impressively, clocked up more than 21 miles in three days. Children are rewarded for their efforts with
certificates, signed by the walk leaders, detailing the number of miles they have covered by the end of a trip.
WILD MOORS AND WILDER WEATHER As well as setting off straight from The Peveril of the Peak on foot, we were picked up on day three and driven to the Cat & Fiddle Whisky Distillery near the borders of Cheshire and Derbyshire to begin a six-mile walk to the spa town of Buxton. On a fine day, this walk over wild moorland and Burbage Edge would be a real treat, crammed with knock-out views over a patchwork of russet and emerald landscape. But, unluckily, as we stepped off the coach, we were greeted by horizontal hail, relentless rain and
44 21 JULY 2022
33Spurred on by our walk leaders, we all felt a sense of achievement as we removed layers of mud back at the house
wind that whipped our faces. Despite these conditions, all of the children completed the full six miles and were smiling by the end, discovering the sheer joy of holding cups of steaming hot chocolate to thaw their hands. Similarly, on a walk the following day to Ilam Park, the weather was temperamental, alternating between beautiful blue skies and torrential rain and wind. But, while the adults in the group huddled eating packed lunches, the children simply kept warm by playing tag around the park’s pretty Italian Gardens. If we’d tried to persuade our children to do these walks with just us, it would have been a disaster. But, spurred on by their peers and enthusiastic walk leaders, we all felt a sense of achievement as we removed several layers of mud from the children back at the house. And looking back, my children remember fun, freedom and new friends, not hail and rain. Would they do it again? “Definitely, Mummy, there are lots more caves to discover,” says May. “And more mud,” adds Zac. TW
BOOK IT
HF Holidays’ four-night Peak District family trip starts from £679 per adult and £59 per child over 11, with under-11s travelling free. Prices are based on travel in April and October 2023 and include full-board accommodation in HF Holidays’ country house hotel, experienced family-friendly leaders and all transport to and from walks.
hfholidays.co.uk
travelweekly.co.uk
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