70 Saturday 29 May 2021 Treak Cliff Cavern

 We  were  going  to  Buxton  but  Poole's  Cavern  was  all  booked  up. There  was  space  available  at  Treak  Cliff  Cavern, Castleton  so  we  chose  to  go  there  instead. We  bought  GM  Wayfarer  tickets  as these  are  eligible  for  travel  to  Hope.

Our  first  train  was  slightly  delayed  at  Bolton  but  we  still  had  plenty  of  time  to  spare  in  Manchester  so  we  had  breakfast  at  The  Mill  in  the  food  court  at  Piccadilly  station.


 The  Sheffield  train  was  much  fuller  than  I  expected , most  of  whom  disembarked  at  Edale.  We  got  off  at  Hope, the  next  station  on  the  line.



We  caught  the  bus  to  Castleton  and  went  to  Ye  Olde  Cheshire  Cheese  Inn  for  lunch. I  wasn't  very  impressed  with  my  choice  but  Simon  was  happy  enough  with  his  steak.  We  had  a  brief  sit  down  in  the  market  place  then  slowly  made  our  way  up  to   Treak  Cliff  Cavern admiring  the  scenery  as  we  went.


The  climb  to  the  mine  from  the  road  was  steeper  than  I  expected.  We  had  a  short  wait  before  our  pre-booked  tour  slot  came  round.




Simon  downloaded  the  self-guiding  tour  app  on  his  phone  and  we  were  off. The  coolness  of  the  cave  gave  a  welcome  respite  from  the  heat  but  it  was  quite  arduous  in  the  cavern  with  a  lot  of  steps  and  low  roofed  passages  to  negotiate. The  reward  was  some  spectacular  scenery.






The  exit  was  higher  up  on  the  hillside  with  a  wonderful  view  of  the  Hope  Valley.



We  returned  to  the  main  building  where  Simon  was  shown  how  to  polish  a  piece  of  blue  john  which  he  was  then  allowed  to  keep. We  bought  milk  shakes  from  the  cafe  then  started  our   long  return  home. I  felt  quite  ill  in  the  heat  and  had  to  lie  down  in  the  grass  by  the  road  for  a  short  time.

We  weren't  very  lucky  with  our  connections. We  waited  half  an hour  for  a  bus  to  Hope  station  then  50  minutes  for  the  train  to  Piccadilly  then  another  40  minutes  for  our  train  from  Victoria  but  eventually  we  got  home.







  

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