A few days ago I was up on the top of Mam Tor above Castleton shooting the surrounding area over Hope Valley and the neighbouring Vale of Edale, a difficult task as the area is very popular with hill walkers. It was quite late in the afternoon and I thought that I had finished for the day but before I headed back to the car I noticed the sun's rays pushing through the dark gloomy blanket of cloud that had been helping to keep it cold all day along with the chilling wind. I decided to wait a while and take some shots of the sun's rays casting their light over the surrounding countryside.

I soon realised that the blanket of grey cloud I was expecting to ruin any chance of a good sunset wasn't dispersing and their was a gap between this cloud and the horizon. Hoping that the cloud would stay where it is I thought I would wait a little longer to see what develops. It would be about an hour or so before the sun reached the horizon so I was in for a bit of a wait. Fortunately, I still had half a flask of soup left which kept me warm and my dog, Poppy, kept me occupied by insisting that I kept throwing her sticks to chase.

Almost an hour later, with temperatures plummeting, I was the only fool left on the tor, everyone else seeking the warm sanctuary of the local pubs no doubt. But I was in luck - the grey cloud still hadn't shifted and a beautiful sunset developed right in front of me and this is the result (above). Frozen feet and almost no feeling left in my fingers it was a worthwhile wait and a successful end to the day.

Last weekend I was walking around Castleton when I discovered an entrance to Cave Dale which I just had to investigate. What I found was this wonderful hidden gem of the Peak District (left). Absolutely full of photographic potential, I spent the rest of the day here walking through the gorge over frozen rocks and through 3 foot snow drifts. No, I didn't know they were that deep until I stepped on one and suddenly sank up to my waist. All part of the fun though. Poppy couldn't believe her luck, pouncing through the deep snow like some gazelle, I hadn't seen her enjoy herself like this for a long while. Another enjoyable and successful day with some good shots and a grubby dog to take home.

I can't but sometimes help ask myself the question "Why?" When I decided to head back down from Cave Dale I came across a family who were on their way up the gorge. The family consisted of husband and wife, presumably, with two young children and who I assumed was the childrens' grandmother. It was in a narrow part of the gorge and the ground was very treacherous with sharp rocks and ice underfoot, the tough going clearly obvious to them as the grandmother was virtually on her hands and knees to climb up the gorge. The mother was carrying a couple of those plastic sledges so I assumed they were looking for a hill to sled down. Nothing wrong with that you may say but the father was carrying the youngest of the children who looked around three years of age and they were all wearing just ordinary trainers as footwear and no walking poles to give additional support. If the father had slipped on the ice, the child he was carrying would have had a long fall to the rocks below. Now bearing in mind it was getting late, past 4 o'clock, with less than an hour of daylight left, by the time they had found somewhere they would be walking back in the dark. As I say, why? when there are plenty of easier hills to access. No excuses for stupidity I guess.

On a lighter note, I'll leave you with this sign I came across near Crowden Clough.

The sign says 'Easy Path to Picnic Site' - I think I'll stick to the long route.