OUT & ABOUT : THE HIGH PEAK HIKERS.

Sometimes the best thing a man can do in life is to go for a nice long walk, me, I'll happily do it if there's a nice pint at the end of it. A while back (March I think it was) we put the Connoisseur 'Beat a Storm' cags to the test, going up in the hills of windy Derbyshire in a bit of drizzle. I stuck on a bouncy pair of Oberons, a heavyweight Pendleton tweed shirt with a vest to stop a velcro like situation occuring underneath, a Daks scarf and the cagoule in it's resplendent orange like that of mashed carrots on a Sunday dinner. My accomplice for the day wore his in brown, with a slight unintentional but intriguing shimmery cola sheen, yeah cola, that's what we wanted, it reminds us of the seventies. A good look, like teachers conducting a field trip, geeky and functional. Timeless cool.
We set off with no real purpose other than some exercise, fresh air and some drinkies, which unfortunately in New Mills was a bit disappointing, the millennium bridge carved through our little jaunt, this great and intriguing construction is a bit like a really safe and secure version of the one in the Temple of Doom, it's a little bit daunting, but there's no hot rocks (unless you bring your own) and a load of bad Indians with painted heads who can pull your heart out. But it does stretch over water with a large crevasse/drop below. Surrounded by the scenery of New Mills and the beginning of the Goyt Valley, situated in the Torrs, the Millennium walkway links New Mills Newtown with Stockport and Manchester and New Mills Central towards Edale, the Hope Valley and Sheffield.

I'm just going upstairs, I may be some time. Pph.



Anarchy in the High Peak!




Even Barry's been there.


Olly 'n Polly.




She'll carry on through it all...


Not to be mistaken with the huge Millennium footbridge in the capital, which it wouldn't - but I'm making a point. You know, that rickety one that goes over the Thames at St Pauls to the South Bank?
This though, does have connection to that London, albeit a sad one. Architect and local lad Stan Brewster a chartered civil engineer of Derbyshire County council was killed during the pitiful bombing of Edgware Road in the London bombings of July 2005. The construction now lies in his memory.







As the rain started to fall the pub started to call, the cagoule held up well - a true reinterpretation of one of our favourite classic, simple garments. With updated 'technology', as updated as you can get with this basic jacket, it's certainly more weatherproof and practical, and no sweaty back even under all that tweed. This wasn't intended as a shameless plug, it isn't. But look out for three new colours of this anorak in the coming weeks, they didn't hang around for very long last time. CD