During August 2012 I had a four-day holiday camping in a one-man tent (see picture) at Upper Booth in the Dark Peak area of Derbyshire - I had chosen the campsite because it is the nearest to the wilderness of Kinder Scout. On my first full day (Tuesday 7th August 2012), I started along the Pennine Way quite early, because the weather forecast had said rain might be moving in before lunchtime, and I took all my wet-weather kit with me including waterproof trousers and gloves, and had my walking boots on. There was some low cloud already on the plateau (see picture), but by the time I got to the white pillar with a trig point at the top of Kinder Low (see picture and map below) it had cleared at least temporarily and visibility was good. Shortly after this, I switched my phone on (there is no reception in the Hope Valley where the campsite is) and got a text message saying that my sister’s first grandchild had been born the previous night, so I sent a reply of congratulations and also phoned my wife at work to let her know. I continued on the Pennine Way along the western edge path with a view of Kinder Reservoir (see picture), to Kinder Downfall and investigated the path that is marked on the map following the Kinder River eastwards. I had tried this path the previous year from the other end at the top of Crowden Brook, but had not been able to follow it and ended up bog-hopping across open country to get back to the Pennine Way. The rain was coming down already as I followed the bed of the Kinder River (see picture) and I decided it was likely to be too wet to safely follow this route, so with some disappointment I went back the way I had come. The wind was now very strong, blowing from the west over the ridge, and there was a lot of moisture in it, but I was keeping pretty dry inside my waterproofs. I found a rock with a slight overhang just a little way from the path that was sheltered from the wind and rain and got out my lunch. While munching on my corned beef rolls, I heard a strange noise which at first I thought was the wind whistling through the rocks, but as it got closer I realised it was a small child crying. Then in the mist I saw a couple with two children walking along the path in the wind and rain. A young boy was walking, and a small child was being carried by the man in a back-pack and was crying with the cold. They had anoraks but they were the thin variety and not completely waterproof. They passed by on the path and disappeared into the mist, but I could hear the crying for some further time as they headed towards Kinder Low. I wasn’t even sure whether they had seen me huddled under a rock. I finished my lunch and headed up the path after them, which was my way back anyway. As I got towards Kinder Low, I heard the same crying again, but this time it seemed to be away from the path. The path is very indistinct here, the ground is dry and dusty with all the peat having been eroded away, and the only way to follow the path in places is to look for cairns, small piles of stones built by the path, but in a mist or low cloud they can be difficult to spot. I knew where I was, and where I was heading, but I went towards the crying sound and very quickly found the family. The lady saw me and clearly was looking for help; they had lost the path and didn’t know which way to go. They were heading for Hayfield, but I didn’t find out where they had come from or why they were out in such weather without suitable clothing or a map. I guided them back to the path and walked ahead of them for the next mile or so, over the top of Kinder Low and past Kinder Rocks. I didn’t walk with them, I didn’t need to because I could hear where they were, but they were clearly not familiar with the path at all, they wandered off it a couple of times, and I had to guide them back. Eventually as we headed down the other side, where it was more sheltered from the wind, the rain started to ease, so the crying subsided a bit, but I was concerned how cold the child must have been. When we got to the fork in the path where I was going left towards Edale, I directed them to a gate where they had to turn right to take the path down to Hayfield at Edale Cross. The gate was just visible in the mist from time to time, although it was only a couple of hundred yards away. And the last I saw of them they were heading towards the gate. I hope they made it back to Hayfield without further incident, but I doubt if they will be undertaking such a walk again with small children. By the time I got back to the campsite, it had dried up completely and the sun had come out.

One-man tent at Upper Booth Clouds on the Kinder plateau Trig point on top of Kinder Low Looking down on Kinder reservoir Kinder river east of the Kinder downfall Post Script The next day was also eventful. I woke feeling rather ill, I think I had eaten a bacon sandwich that had gone off in the heat, so I only attempted a short walk. My old walking boots seemed to have dried out fine from the soaking the day before, but on the way back during the afternoon, the soles of both boots fell off completely within half an hour of each other (they were very old, and the glue must have dried out) (see picture). I made it back by tying the laces underneath to keep the soles on, and the rest of the holiday I had to make do with training shoes. The soles of both boots fell off the next day

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