as much as i love the city sometimes after a particularly long stint in london i get itchy feet and find myself in need of a change of scenery.

last weekend I hopped on a train and headed north, home to manchester.

normally a last-minute trip involves a family meal at a nice restaurant, a spot of shopping, a packed-to-the-brim fridge filled with tasty treats, not to mention a guaranteed good night’s sleep in my own bed.

being an urban girl i very rarely find myself in the countryside but after arriving home i was told my parents and their friends were off on a walk at the crack of dawn on sunday morning – would i like to go?

the promise of at least two dogs in the party was enough to guarantee my attendance and i had an early and alcohol-free saturday evening.

waking up at 7.30am on sunday morning hangover-free was an unusual, but thoroughly enjoyable experience indeed.

after just over an hour of driving we arrived at the car park and meeting point in bakewell (home of the tart) in derbyshire.

we were off on a 10 mile walk around the peak district countryside popping past chatsworth house, the stately home of the duke of devonshire.

despite looming clouds threatening to ruin our plans, the sunshine managed to break through and hold out for most of the day.

the walk was by no means easy, the steep elevations left everyone in our party a little puffed but the stunning views of the peak district at the summit of every hill was well worth the effort.

fairly early on in to the walk we meandered through the estate village, a small cluster of pretty stone houses with matching blue paint detail. all very charming indeed.

in the early 19 century the sixth duke of devonshire had the original village knocked down and relocated over the hill to its current position – apparently it had ruined his view from chatsworth house. how ghastly.

our own view of chatsworth house was somewhat spoiled by the seemingly thousands of cars parked in its garden – we had picked to go for a walk on the day of the annual county fair. had the walk finished here i would have been keen to stop and have a snoop around but as we were only at mile 3 by this point we soldiered on.

the views were simply gorgeous – lush green hills, meandering streams, colourful wild flowers and plenty of animals to keep me entertained along the way. i got a little bit snap happy as you can see.

having spent so little time in the countryside recently it really was a delight to soak up the nature and take deep long breaths of fresh air.

we arrived back in to bakewell tired but with a sense of achievement, at least i did anyway. the mood was further lifter thanks to a spectacular display by the red arrows, i like to think every group of walkers are rewarded with such a show, putting their skills to the test for fair-goers.

it was a fitting end to an utterly lovely day.

i still never got a tart though so will have to persuade andrea to whip me up a batch soon.