Walking The Pennine Way When I Was Eleven - Stage 1 (Edale to Red Brook)


Start: Edale

Finish:  Red Brook

Distance Covered:  6 miles

After making our preparations the summer holidays arrived and we were ready to go.

So it was that on Saturday 14th July 1979 my parents, sister and myself set off from our home in Nottinghamshire at 2 o'clock.  At around half past three we reached Edale and at 3.55 said goodbye to my mother as we began our epic trek along the Pennine Way.

My father had decided that it should be a gentle introduction to the walk so the first day was a relatively easy six miles.  The previous year we had walked across the plateau near Kinder Scout.  I remember it being a real struggle going over the peat cloughs and heather and hadn't been relishing the prospect of renewing the acquaintance.  The return visit wasn't anything like as difficult and I think we must have avoided the worst of it.  It was still quite testing terrain to face first up and after two hours reaching the Kinder plateau it took another two crossing marshy ground.  On the way we saw lots of sheep and a golden plover. Not being used to rucksacks my shoulders were soon aching.  We descended steeply to a brook (Red Brook) and set up camp there at 8.15.

My dad pitched the tent, a two-man (or one man and two children) tent roughly tipi-shaped with an inner and outer layer.  It didn't seem cramped and I don't remember having any trouble sleeping throughout the walk.  The camp was close to the brook on a flat piece of ground with a steep slope to the other side providing shelter.  We had a gas cooker which dad used to heat up some tomato and beef soup that we had with sandwiches, I was hungry by this time.  We'd brought a tennis ball to play with which my sister managed to throw into the brook at one point but I rescued it.  Dad had also brought a radio which kept us entertained and in touch with the outside world.

It had been a pleasant day weather-wise but the sunny evening brought out lots of midges which bit us and were annoying.  We stayed up until 10.15 and I was asleep half an hour later.  Our adventure was underway.

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