Peak District

A quick memory from last summer: sometime in August/Sept/Oct (okay one of these) I went on a road trip (hee via train) to visit my cousin up in Sheffield. On the agenda was generally to catch up, to sightsee around town, and to check out Peak District! A lot of my friends had gone there and it looked beautiful! At the time, I had wrapped up my summer working in Brighton, and was prepping to go back to Malaysia, so it felt like a good opportunity to see a bit of UK before I left.

A random fun fact: I was born at the St Josep's hospital in Sheffield, and I have never gone back since I was born. Technically, this this trip would be my inaugural step to my birthplace.

When I was growing up in Manchester, my family did a lot of road trips and camping excursions. We went all over the UK, but somehow I never recalled going to Sheffield. The closest we got was to Lake District, which my parents swear is one of the most beautiful places in autumn, when the leaves turn bronze and gold. Lake District and Peak District are quite near to each other so the idea of going there felt surprisingly comforting.

To Sheffield there's a direct train straight from London St Pancras, stopping right in the city centre. It's a quaint university town, with everything you need within 20 minutes, and some of the most friendly people you'd ever meet. There's plenty of halal food for the muslims and the student community is one of the largest in the UK. There's also a bus network but for the most part, the people I know there either walk or have a car to drive around. The pace is so much more chilled and cheaper than London... it was weird to see everyone smile and walk leisurely as opposed to the masses of hunched up scowling faces darting around the tube hahaha.

We left for Peak District early in the morning just to make the most of the day. Basically it's a national park in central England and you can cycle there, join for guided tours, go rock climbing and even volunteer. To be fair, most of UK is actually the beautiful rolling green countryside and it's a treat to just drive around! Peak District is beautiful in all seasons I think - I can just imagine the vast blanket of white snow in winter, or the fiery browns in autumn (as long as it's dry, it's good). We went towards the end of summer and endured the dazzling sun, a cold wind, and some rain on the way down, so I guess that's UK's weather in a nutshell.

Our program was to have a leisurely walk and a nice picnic. My cousin Hannah brought us to Bamford Edge to some of the most beautiful views! The best way to get here is by car from Sheffield's city center (About 20 minutes) although there are bus services that stop at certain stations nearby. We got to park right at the wooden gate by the side of the road. It wasn't high season but we met a couple of hikers on our path too. Our route was about 20-30 minutes walk one way, nothing too long as we just wanted to do some sightseeing rather than an exercise. The hike wasn't so steep although the paths aren't marked so well. At the end of it all we ended up at a very crazy rock cliff that overlooked the Ladybower Dam and it was so beautiful! We sat under the sun, took some photos and generally enjoyed the magnificent view. Ahh so much love.