Castleton

Castleton - home for ten days

Castleton is a small village in the Peaks district, about 2 1/2 hours north of London by train, and, yes, it is a castle town. Its castle was built in 1080 by William Peveril, an illegitimate son of King William I.

Castleton lies in the Hope Valley and is surrounded by bare hills.

It is a very pretty village with six pubs and even more cafes.

 St Edmunds church was built in 1100.

 A stream runs through the village which used to have cotton mills.

Our house is just off the market square, which is actually a triangle.

 Our front door.

It is an old terrace house that has been  beautifully renovated. We have beams in the lounge.

 Mr White, whose name might also be Oscar the Grouch, visits each morning for a pat and some milk. I don't know who owns him, or thinks they own him, as he definitely thinks he owns whoever he wants, as long as you feed him and don't try to pick him up.

Behind our house we can walk up through Cave Dale, behind the castle. Cave Dale was formed by a collapsed cave. This is limestone cave country and there are a number of caves here that you can do tours through. But we won't bother, as we have good caves in Australia and we'd rather walk up the hills anyway.