1 00:00:04,750 --> 00:00:11,109 KATE MARTIN: Hello and welcome to the National Trust podcast in 2 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,829 this mini episode. I'll be talking with Paul Besley from 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,180 the Mountain Rescue team in the Peak District. 4 00:00:24,809 --> 00:00:27,870 PAUL BESLEY: I am a writer who specializes in the Peak District 5 00:00:27,879 --> 00:00:31,270 National Park. I'm also a ranger for the National Park and a 6 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,299 member of a Mountain Rescue team that's in the National Park. 7 00:00:37,169 --> 00:00:42,150 I've been walking here about 40 years now since I was about 14, 8 00:00:42,349 --> 00:00:43,740 When I did my first walk. 9 00:00:46,270 --> 00:00:52,389 A friend and I had got a little book from our school library and 10 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,959 it told us about a walk that went from Crowden to Edale 11 00:00:56,970 --> 00:00:58,000 across Kinder. 12 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,330 And so we thought that that's what we'd do. Kinder was the 13 00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:05,150 place that I wanted to go to because my brother had told me a 14 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:10,050 story about the climber had died on Kinder and I was fascinated 15 00:01:10,059 --> 00:01:15,110 by this. So from the very start, Kinder was a place of awe. 16 00:01:20,010 --> 00:01:22,910 So we set off from Sheffield from the Pond Street bus station 17 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,690 and we didn't really know what we were doing or where we were 18 00:01:25,699 --> 00:01:30,180 going and we didn't have a map and we just started walking and 19 00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:33,750 then a thunderstorm arrived it rained heavily. 20 00:01:36,059 --> 00:01:39,150 I didn't know it at the time, but it's a pretty standard dark 21 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:45,559 peak storm. So very black sky. It went very, very dark. It got 22 00:01:45,569 --> 00:01:49,959 very cold. The wind became really ferocious 23 00:01:52,449 --> 00:01:55,440 And you literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face. 24 00:01:55,519 --> 00:01:56,349 It was very terrifying. 25 00:01:56,349 --> 00:02:00,010 We was two, 14 year old boys walking along the wooded road 26 00:02:00,019 --> 00:02:03,779 with huge trucks thundering past them. We knocked on a house, a 27 00:02:03,790 --> 00:02:06,569 farmer's house to ask them if they'd take us in and they 28 00:02:06,580 --> 00:02:08,410 slammed the door on us because they didn't know what they were 29 00:02:08,419 --> 00:02:08,880 getting. 30 00:02:09,059 --> 00:02:13,289 So, so we were left to walk. So we hid in a telephone box 31 00:02:13,300 --> 00:02:18,399 outside the old youth hostel at Crowden until his- my friend's 32 00:02:18,410 --> 00:02:21,199 dad came and picked us up. 33 00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:24,460 And then like it often does in the dark peak, the storm 34 00:02:24,470 --> 00:02:28,619 finished and the sun came out and it was beautiful and there 35 00:02:28,630 --> 00:02:31,130 was steam rising from the pavement. 36 00:02:31,710 --> 00:02:36,259 It was a- it was a kind of a- a light that just illuminated 37 00:02:36,270 --> 00:02:38,899 everything and it made everything very, very vivid. 38 00:02:39,699 --> 00:02:45,339 And in some ways, it started something off. It started the 39 00:02:45,350 --> 00:02:45,929 walking. 40 00:02:51,750 --> 00:02:55,509 And then life got involved in the walking, stopped for a while 41 00:02:56,669 --> 00:03:00,360 and I came away from the Peak district because I was busy and 42 00:03:00,369 --> 00:03:02,889 I had a career and I was abroad a lot. 43 00:03:04,539 --> 00:03:08,570 And then I started walking again. 44 00:03:08,570 --> 00:03:12,720 And actually, if you just do things in small steps you can 45 00:03:12,729 --> 00:03:18,300 actually have some really good adventures. 46 00:03:18,300 --> 00:03:22,289 To learn to read a map and use a compass, took me about probably 47 00:03:22,300 --> 00:03:24,919 about a year and I took some lessons as well. 48 00:03:25,089 --> 00:03:29,360 And I, I walked with people that knew how to navigate and they 49 00:03:29,369 --> 00:03:33,330 asked me to navigate little legs for them. So I built up my skill 50 00:03:33,339 --> 00:03:37,779 level and I also started to understand exactly what the map 51 00:03:37,789 --> 00:03:39,699 was telling me. The contours are key. 52 00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:50,250 One of the things, why Kinder is so difficult and why it does 53 00:03:50,970 --> 00:03:55,199 require a great deal of respect is that it is subject to the 54 00:03:55,210 --> 00:03:55,589 weather. 55 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,179 So weather comes in from the west, it gets the weather first 56 00:03:59,190 --> 00:04:03,550 so the weather can change very quickly on Kinder and it can be 57 00:04:03,559 --> 00:04:04,940 covered in low cloud. 58 00:04:05,130 --> 00:04:07,449 So visibility can be extremely poor. 59 00:04:07,449 --> 00:04:12,160 In winter, if you end up with a white out- because Kinder is 60 00:04:12,169 --> 00:04:17,089 virtually flat. If you end up with heavy heavy snow you can 61 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:20,309 actually be in a situation where you can't tell the ground from 62 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:21,989 the sky and that's called a white out. 63 00:04:22,690 --> 00:04:26,260 And a white out is basically when everything looks just 64 00:04:26,269 --> 00:04:29,709 white. So there is no difference between the ground and the sky. 65 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,029 It's just like looking at a blank sheet of paper. So there 66 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,149 are no reference points, there's no up or down or anything and 67 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,559 negotiating across Kinder in them sort of conditions does 68 00:04:41,570 --> 00:04:47,869 require very, very good skills. And, nerve really to trust those 69 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,329 skills and that's where people go wrong. They forget they stop 70 00:04:52,339 --> 00:04:53,989 trusting the map and the compass. 71 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:04,799 The best way to enjoy Kinder is to go on a guided walk and go 72 00:05:04,809 --> 00:05:09,230 with the rangers and the wardens and let them take you up there 73 00:05:09,239 --> 00:05:12,299 and show you what Kinder's like in full safety. 74 00:05:12,309 --> 00:05:15,940 And that's the best way to start enjoying Kinder. And then after 75 00:05:15,950 --> 00:05:19,420 that, get yourself a map and compass, make sure you can read 76 00:05:19,429 --> 00:05:21,750 it, make sure you know how to use the compass and make sure 77 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:23,410 you know how to use both of them together. 78 00:05:23,679 --> 00:05:25,640 And then just have a walk up, Grindsbrook. 79 00:05:25,890 --> 00:05:28,839 Go to the top of Grindsbrook and then come back down, come back 80 00:05:29,109 --> 00:05:30,339 down, Grindslow Knoll. 81 00:05:30,350 --> 00:05:34,420 Down to Edale, have a pint in the nags head next week, maybe 82 00:05:34,429 --> 00:05:38,209 have a walk over to Kinder downfall. Do the mass chess pass 83 00:05:38,220 --> 00:05:41,640 walk, anything like that, but just take it in little stages 84 00:05:41,649 --> 00:05:44,329 until you feel confident enough and you'll just have some 85 00:05:44,339 --> 00:05:45,329 fantastic days. 86 00:05:48,929 --> 00:05:50,619 KATE MARTIN: Thanks for listening to this week's 87 00:05:50,630 --> 00:05:52,630 National Trust mini episode. 88 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,160 If you're interested in getting up to scratch on your map 89 00:05:58,190 --> 00:06:02,279 reading skills, sign up to one of the National Trust courses, 90 00:06:02,290 --> 00:06:05,239 head to nationaltrust.org.uk. 91 00:06:05,899 --> 00:06:09,480 Join us next week to hear about the myths that flow in the water 92 00:06:09,489 --> 00:06:14,089 of Kinder Scout Mermaid pools. Until then from me, Kate Martin. 93 00:06:14,119 --> 00:06:14,940 Goodbye.