A few weeks ago I managed to get a couple of days off work and spend them in the Peak District, climbing up hills and looking at pretty views. It was great to be honest, watching the world from above.
Back in the full flow of things with work, and the time available to disappear to the big hills has depleted massively. I’m back to clutching for the odd hour before work or any other commitments I might have that day. However, I’ve spent a fair bit of time telling myself that the big hills, which are plastered over the internet with plenty of people on them, are not the only ones which can be enjoyed. A local hill can be just as much an escape as any of the high peaks, and if anything, more of an escape if the choice is that or nothing.
So, setting my alarm for half hour before sunrise, I headed out the front door and walked to my local hill. It’s roughly a 20-minute walk from the door to the summit (10 if I run!) and caps out at 128m…. Hardly a long ascent, but enough to get my heart beating and my legs going. The walk to the summit takes me through broad-leaved woodland, scrubland and various types of grassland, not much of which I see as there is still a thin layer of frost and snow frozen across the landscape.
The sloping grass that leads to the top oversees a quarry beside it, with winding layers of wall and gravel road, swirling to the deep base, just about visible if you bother to walk up to the fence along the crest of the drop. A couple of walkers told me a few months ago that a pair of falcons are nested in the quarry walls and are often seen flying between this quarry and another one a few miles away. Although, I’m yet to see them on any of my trips to the top of this, and there have been plenty. I have spent nights camped on top of this hill and mornings walking and running across it. Still, it has plenty of secrets I have not yet discovered for myself.
When I eventually reach the summit I am the only person there. Busier at the weekends in summer, usually I am alone when I sit up here, bar the odd dog walker who will brave the incline on their daily walks. From the top, I can sit and look out to see the quarry infrastructure in all its might, but beyond that, miles of flat farmland, a patchwork of fields and hedgerows. There is enough to sit and look at for hours, although I only have 20 minutes to spare before I need to set off and get home, bringing the round trip to just over an hour.
I can return to this hill as frequently as I like. Either to sit in solitude and enjoy the view or to explore all the crevices which I have not yet had time to do. It’s a fair trade for an hour of my time.
Do you have a hill you can go and explore which can be accessed within 20 minutes? Just because it’s local and small, doesn’t mean it cannot be interesting and exciting.
Watch my walk to my local hill here…
Get Up Go Outside 