Ilam Hall - Monday

After visiting the Isle of Wight in 2023 and 2024, this year saw us return to Ilam Hall in the Peak District. Ilam is located near Ashbourne and sits in a beautiful valley just along from the very famous Dovedale. Ilam Hall is a grand Victorian gothic mansion that was given to the National Trust some years ago. It has been used in TV and film and it sits in 84 acres of National Trust parkland.

We left on the Monday morning at 8:15am, with our coach driver Tim taking us the 190 miles from Shoeburyness to Ilam. After a 45-minute stop at Newport Pagnell services, we were on our way again. There was lots of excitement and singing on the coach. Some good, some not so good…

Shortly after 1:00pm, we pulled up to the grand gates and the long driveway to the hall. Around the corner, and there it was… our home for 4 nights. It looked magnificent in the sunshine. We dropped off our things and after a quick briefing we walked over the fields to Dovedale, heading in the direction of Thorpe Cloud – a large hill that overlooks the valley. Although not a mountain, Thorpe Cloud is still very imposing. We all had an ice cream and then we walked alongside the river to the stepping stones. The stepping stones are very popular with tourists and we had a turn of crossing them too. We then began the ascent up Thorpe Cloud. The path starts off with a gradual climb but soon becomes steeper. At the very top of the hill there is a little bit of scrambling which makes for good fun. The children all did an excellent job – and were soon realising why I had recommended that they do some walking training before the residential. The views from the summit were gorgeous and then it was time to come back down and complete the loop. With some tired legs we then retraced our steps back to the hostel. All in all we walked four miles.

Once back, we went up to our bedrooms and then had dinner. After dinner, we unpacked properly and then enjoyed a superb night outside in the fresh countryside air. There was football, tree climbing, badminton, chatting with friends and much more. Exhausted we retired to our bedrooms for the evening and were soon fast asleep.