"The White Peak Way began life in 1982 as an 80-mile circular walk based primarily on youth hostels."
Thus begins the official, and only, guide to the White Peak Way, written by creator Rob Haslam, and printed by Cicerone in 1990. As far as I know there have been no updates to, or reprints of, the guide since that time. None-the-less, the lure of the area is strong, and the prospect of another multi-day circuit (see our account of the Inn Way to the Peak District elsewhere in these pages) really 'peaked' or interest.Fortunately, with a little judicious online searching it is still possible to track down copies of the guide, and there a a few online references and a couple of GPX logs, or tracks, for downloading to help you find the route. While not the most colourful or inspiring publication, and with several sections well and truly out of date - notably 'Planning and Accommodation' - the route description was good, with most of the paths still in use, and easy to follow on the ground.There are no fancy extracts from Ordnance Survey maps sitting alongside the route description, but each Stage of the walk is accompanied by a hand-drawn map with pertinent features annotated.
In preparing for the walk, I created Memory Map tracklog for each day and converted them to standard '.GPX' files.
Using Memory Map, I also produced altitude profiles for each day's walk
During the walk I also recorded our actual route using the View Ranger app which I have found to be much more intuitive to use than Memory Map while 'out-and-about' ... and a whole lot more stable. The whole experience feels much more customer focussed - and Ordnance Survey mapping is also considerably cheaper.
Please feel free to download zip files of the tracklogs, profiles or routes.
Most people will have to make their own travel arrangements for reaching the start of the walk, and for getting back home. We chose to travel by train, as usual, and chose Hathersage as our start-and-end point as the links to Peterborough were relatively straightforward.
Online Booking
Planning travel by public transport is so easy these days.
Check out the Cheap Train Tickets article on Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert website for tips on getting the best ticket deals. This suggests lots of ways to reduce the cost of rail travel, but using a combination of booking early (12 weeks seems to be optimum, but any time before you travel will likely bring a saving), and utilising 'split ticketing' will bring the cost of tickets down significantly.
Invest £30 to buy a Railcard (we have a Two Together card) and you will get a further third off the price of your already discounted tickets.
It's a no-brainer - use these options to their full potential !!
The internet is your best friend. There are so many websites to help you find, check customer reviews and book accommodation of all types.The following table shows details of the places we stayed. I have included NGRs for each one, and a zip file of POIs to download - there is nothing more frustrating after a long day's walking than struggling to locate that desperately-longed-for hot shower!
(At the time of writing, there is great interest in a new phenomenon - 'what3words' - for locating any point in the world to within three metres using just three words. Watch this space ....)
On this walk, all of the accommodation was top-notch. The amount of space and facilities on offer varied, as did the price. Some provided an evening meal, others did not but all were very comfortable and we were always welcomed by very friendly and helpful hosts. We would certainly recommend every one.
Little John HotelStation RoadHathersageHope ValleyS32 1DDtel. 01433 650225WebsiteNGR: SK 22990 81430
One Castle Street B&B1 Castle StreetBakewellDE45 1DUtel. 01629 815548WebsiteNGR: SK 21899 68667
Bulls Head HotelFountain SquareYoulgraveDerbyshireDE45 1URtel. 01629 636221WebsiteNGR: SK 21075 64281
Yew Tree FarmAlstonefieldDerbyshireSK17 8HRtel. 01335 310377WebsiteNGR: SK 12981 55554
Charles Cotton HotelMarket PlaceHartingtonDerbyshireSK17 0AL tel. 01298 84229WebsiteNGR: SK 12751 60363
Angler's CottageMiller's DaleBuxtonSK17 8SNtel. 01298 872326WebsiteNGR: SK 14214 73350
Causeway House B&BBack StreetCastletoneDerbyshireS33 8WEtel. 01433 623291WebsiteNGR: SK 15075 82992
WHITE PEAK WAY PAGES Photo Album Recommendations
White Peak Way Home Page Day 1 - Hathersage to Bakewell Day 2 - Bakewell to Youlgrave Day 3 - Youlgrave to Alstonefield
Day 4 - Alstonefield to Hartington Day 5 - Hartington to Millers Dale Day 6 - Millers Dale to Castleton Day 7 - Castleton to Hathersage