The Dambusters Challenge was long, committing, and intimidating, mapped in winter for “maybe June.” Nine hours later, 37 km and 1180 m of ascent done. From steep climbs to calm reservoirs, quiet moors and shaped tors, what sticks isn’t the distance or climbs but the feeling: exploring new areas, sunshine on my skin, endless views, and that sense of being fully alive. That is what I remember most.

After weeks of grey skies, a sunny day in the Peak District was too good to waste. Starting from Whaley Bridge, this walk delivered two more Ethels, a beautifully positioned trig on Sponds Hill, a shiny toposcope pointing to distant peaks, and an intense standoff with four very large cows. The only thing missing? The elusive Ladder Hill trig.

Blue skies, brutal gusts, and the stubborn streak that carried me through nearly 8 hours of the Edale Skyline.

A solo circular walk from Grin Low to Oliver Hill, featuring Solomon’s Temple, panoramic views, spontaneous route changes and the quiet freedom of hiking alone.

Clockwise Edale Skyline in January was a choice. 31.6 km, 1,306 m, 3°C (feels like -4), five hours of fog and savage wind with no views until km 20. Hope Station to Lose Hill wasn’t a warm-up, the Lose Hill trig was being hogged, Brown Knoll was bog theatre, and Kinder Low tried to exfoliate my face. Somehow it turned into a PR by 3 minutes. Unplanned. Unhinged. Loved it.

A cold winter solo walk in the Peak District, starting from Winscar Reservoir and crossing frozen moorland, empty edges, and invisible summits. The route took in South Nab trig and the Ethels of Britland Edge Hill, Dead Edge End, and Snailsden Pike End, all requiring careful navigation rather than visual cues. With solid ground underfoot and very few people around, the day became about precision, movement, and quiet focus, from bleak moorland to the drama of Ramsden Clough.

A fog soaked November hike in the Peak District that turned bad weather into atmosphere. I set off from Tittesworth Reservoir and climbed the Ethel Gun, then wandered across the Roaches and over to Hen Cloud. Mist hid the world and revealed the landscape in a new way. Drizzle, silence and rock shaped the day, proving that visibility may disappear, but imagination and wonder certainly do not.

A violent-wind, bright-sky day in the Peak District ticking off four new Ethels: Mt Famine, South Head, Eccles Pike and Chinley Churn. A route from Hayfield with cow stand-offs, Highland cows, an overgrown “path”, a missing trig ripped out by a farmer, and a winter-grade wind that felt more like February than late October. Finished cold, feral and satisfied. Still convinced the Peak District is my endurance training ground and still full of surprises.