Dark Peak Hikes

Doug Brown

Softcover

ISBN 10: 185058883X ISBN 13: 9781850588832

Publisher: Sigma Press, 2010

Including 30 walks from 5 to 35 miles on less frequently used routes, this guide is for experienced walkers who enjoy the wilder areas and seek out the unusual features of Kinder Scout, Bleaklow, Black Hill and the Eastern Moors.

Review:

ANY book which offers yet more walks in the Peak District has to be different and Dark Peak Hikes, published by Sigma Leisure, certainly is that. Author Doug Brown makes It clear at the outset that the walks are designed for people who: enjoy the challenge of wandering 'off the beaten track' (the book's sub-title), have a reasonable degree of fitness and experience, and know how to use the, Global Position System or a personal navigator (available from most outdoor shops). The Dark Peak is in the northern part of the Peak District and Doug Brown exploits the new Right to Roam areas created under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act. The walks are arranged in five sections, with familiar names Like Kinder Scout, Bleaklow and Black Hill being included, each with an extra dimension. Walk 33, Joe Brown's Map Reading Course, is some 17 miles long and not something to be tackled lightly. But those who knew Joe during his time at the Whitehall Centre on Long Hill will appreciate that this is no run-of-the-mill stroll. He does in fact offer navigational challenges to discover even more aircraft wrecks, memorials, Bronze Age barrows, Iron Age forts and remnants of an industrial past. His final walk, by way of compensation and a little humour, offers no challenge. It is The Two Inns Trail from Edale station, is one mile in length, runs between The Rambler and the Nag's Head in Edale village. We are advised to allow five hours to complete this walk, with the advice 'not to miss the train!' You may think that your stock of books on walking in the Peak District is complete but a glance at this will suggest that it is worth the £7.95 cover price or entering The Review competition below. --Warrington Advertiser