6 weeks off work. What was I going to do? The first 2 weeks kind of took care of themselves. I did sod all. When you are given the opportunity to watch Test matches in their entirety, you take them. I wore out 3 sofas. Bliss....

My best pal, Steve and I had talked of going up north for a break for the last few years, so I took him to task on going this August. He agreed and we booked 3 nights at the Four Seasons in Castleton. Derbyshire's Peak District was my playground as a kid. I was out there every week, doing one thing or another. It was a great place to find yourself. Discovering my passion for music whilst spending weekends out there made for great teenage years. The scenery is epic. There is such a great vibe there. Now on the slippery slope to 40, I find myself wishing I lived there. Maybe one day....

We set off early on Tuesday morning, aboard the 9.46 from Tame Bridge, via New Street and Sheffield, arriving at Hope station at 12.30ish. The weather looked unconvincing. An aluminium lunch - a 4 pack - was going down nicely. Steve and I had recently discussed writing a series of comedy sketches based on his experiences working in the Dum Dums and as a roadie / tour manager in recent years, combined with amusing encounters we had witnessed. We discussed it all in depth, agreeing that there are stories that simply must be told. We found ourselves literally crying with laughter at some of the possibilities. Our last project, a 25 minute film for our good friends wedding as part of our best men’s speech had been a real labour of love so, we figured, 'Let's do more!!!'... It is coming together nicely and the next step is to bring in a scriptwriter friend of ours and bulk it out a little.

One of my favourite comedy moments of the last few years was Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon doing a similar thing when they too headed north on a tour of restaurants. Titled simply 'The Trip', the pair spend a week bickering, swapping impressions and enjoying some beautiful food in beautiful surroundings. If you've never seen it, do so.

We may not have experienced L'enclume in Castleton but it does have its fair share of pleasant pubs and a fantastic little bistro called '1530' where we ate on the last night. Well worth a visit, as was The Castle. Both meals were prepared, cooked and presented perfectly. Sadly, The George didn't quite make the grade. Under-cooked pasta, over-cooked chicken and stomach cramps were top of the specials board...

Our guest house was the perfect abode for a few days away. A spacious room with views of Castleton's only council estate made for a great place to wake from a restless nights sleep. Anyone who had windows open as far away as Stockport must have heard Clarke snoring. Breakfast was always taken at the very last minute, cooked by our hosts own fair hands. In fairness, the breakfast, the room, the welcome they gave us and the overall service they provided was brilliant. We shall return...

The days were spent partaking in physical exertion of differing sorts. A six mile cycle to Ladybower reservoir certainly got the blood flowing. We made light of the 7 mile walk around Ladybower, finishing in around 2 hours. The Derwent Dams have always fascinated me. We used to do a sponsored walk there when I was at school. Ladybower was built during the WW2 to provide water for Sheffield and Nottingham. Sadly, two villages were destroyed to accommodate the dam. Allegedly, people refused to leave their homes, even as the water started to fill the valley. The remains still lay beneath. Until recently, people used to swim out to the church spire that could still be seen protruding from the dam when the water levels dropped. The area was also made famous by Barnes Wallis, the creator of the bouncing bomb that was used to destroy German dams in the Ruhr Valley during WW2. A friend of my Mum took her daughter’s German pen-pal there and explained the story in graphic detail....but I think she got away with it! The area reminds me of Endor, the forest moon from ‘Return of the Jedi’. Plantations of conifers and ferns line the sandy shoreline. On a bright clear day the area sort of shimmers enigmatically. In winter, everything is equally beautiful, haunting and spooky in certain areas, usually very quiet. A well earned pint in the Ladybower Inn was quaffed at a fair old rate before we tackled the bikes once more. As we collected them from their moorings, a gate at the Dam wall itself, two Spitfires thundered above us at a phenomenal speed, just as I was explaining the Dambusters connection to Clarke. I don't think he could have looked any less impressed... 25 brisk minutes later, we had covered the 6 miles back to Castleton. 20 miles in total, in under 3 hours. I felt like I could have done more, so suggested we tackled Mam Tor the following day.

After the usual late breakfast, we were off. I hadn't tackled this route in a few years but remembered how much it hurt last time. I kept quiet and told Clarke it was an easy stroll, often walked by families with young kids. We picked up lunch - 4 bottles of Corona and 1 sandwich to share - and made our way to the bottom of Winnatts Pass. The initial climb up the right hand side is exceptionally steep. You are literally climbing at some points but we reached the top in good time. Clarke, carrying the rucksack, cursed me every step of the way. His eternal moaning paused momentarily while he sucked on a beer, only then to launch into a tirade about the amount of shit he was standing in...

A ten minute break and we were off to find the path to Mam Tor, with Clarke more interested in the sheep and their sexual activities than the topography I was anxious to introduce him to. The ascent to the top of Mam Tor is fairly straight forward. A well constructed limestone path makes for easier walking and we were at Trig point in no time. We were joined by a few families and a group of chaps who were hang gliding from the eastern face. It looks great fun but I have no head for heights. Clarke watched them for a few moments, only to sarcastically declare their efforts as 'fascinating'....

We descended the Tor and followed the path onwards towards Lose Hill. Stopping for our second beer we decided to take the next path we find that would bring us round and down into Castleton once more. As is often the case, I got caught short and nipped behind a tree, only to be greeted mid-cascade by a man walking a German shepherd. I had already mentioned to Clarke that, due to the vigorous climb and the colder wind we had experienced, there wasn't much to see...The Castle Inn provided us with numerous beverages and the chance to reflect on another great day.

The last day was spent in the beer garden of The Castle Inn after a steady walk around the whole village. I picked up a 'Best of Iron Maiden' guitar tab book for £1 from an unmanned brick-a-brack stall outside a pretty cottage close to Peak Cavern, which Clarke quizzed me on as we fought wasps for much of the afternoon. The bus back to Hope train station was bang on time and the journey home passed without incident. I was left feeling, as I always do, that I'd left the place I perhaps should call home.