I managed to escape the corporate shackles of the NHS last Wednesday and make it up to the Peak District for a quick run.

It rained all morning, which didn’t enthuse me particularly, but a text from Ben and Ben revealed they were travelling up to get some climbing in so I thought I’d catch a lift with them. The rain heading up the M1 continued to cast doubt on the wisdom of climbing, so they decided on Birchen as a destination on the basis that it had lots of chimneys to squirm up in the wet. The rain had cleared by the time I set off, and I left them gearing up as I set off along Birchen Edge.

From Birchen I took the scenic route across Baslow, Curbar and Froggatt Edges as far as the Grouse Inn. Having forgotten my map, I relied on half-forgotten paths to get me up to the top of White Edge, where I startled a group of red deer. I’ve no idea how long there have been deer in the Peak, but I don’t recall seeing them before! A little digging has subsequently revealed that there’s a study to track their movement, and they’ve even been visiting people’s garden in Curbar! My trip back along White Edge was generally uneventful, but not having been up there for several years now I’d forgotten how long it was and how spectacular the outlook was.

Dropping back to the end of Birchen, I retraced my earlier steps and got back to the car shortly before the two Bens returned with tales of falls on size zero cams and untying from ropes while perching on ledges. My route ended up being a shade under 10 miles, done in 1h 40m because conditions underfoot can only be described as a quagmire. A quick drink in the Robin Hood rounded the day off nicely, the only possible improvement being if I’d ordered the rather delicious-sounding chicken, bacon and leek pie.