My favourite place

Julia Bradbury longs to return to the beauty of the Peak District

I grew up in Rutland and Sheffield, and my dad would take me walking across the Peak District when I was a little girl. He was born and bred in the upland village of Tideswell and always made our walks feel like adventures. He’d turn them into treasure hunts, tell me stories about the route, and take me to see the rock climbers. I was captivated by the vastness of the space and the gigantic rocks – and that love of the outdoors has stayed with me.

For sheer drama, you can’t beat the walk up Kinder Scout, the moorland plateau where a ‘mass trespass’ famously took place in 1932 – a peaceful protest by walkers from Manchester and Sheffield who wanted to be able to access the privately owned moorland. It was the beginning of the movement that gave us our ‘right to roam’, which means we can walk across mountains and moors without having to use paths.

The walk starts in the lovely village of Edale and cuts across the vale to Jacob’s Ladder, where you look up at the steep stairway of rocks and think, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get up all of those.’

When you finally get to the top and on to the open moorland, it’s absolutely glorious because your legs stop burning and the Peak District is spread out before you. Then you find yourself walking past massive knobbly boulders that are said to have inspired the sculptor Henry Moore, and the grand finale is a very beautiful rock that you can climb for a gorgeous view down the Edale Valley: Noe Stool.

When I’m in the mood for an amble, I do the Dovedale walk, a peaceful riverside trail that crosses gigantic stepping stones

– they remind me of square liquorice allsorts. Dovedale is one of those places where the pace of life slows down. I’ve always found walking therapeutic: there’s something about the rhythm of the movement that helps you think, and research has proven that when you’re walking through a landscape, your brain calms down.

My favourite pub for grub is The Old Nags Head in Edale, which is child- and dog-friendly. I eat very healthily at home, but I love a pie and a pint of cider after a long walk, and I’ll definitely have a slice of cake. If I’m making a weekend of it, I stay at Losehill House, a wonderful boutique hotel near the village of Hope that looks out over wide-open fields and woodlands. After a hefty walk, it’s a real treat to have a soak in the hot tub.

My partner, Gerard, is a reluctant walker, but I’ve hijacked our children and they share my passion for the outdoors. My little boy, Zephyr, is nine and my twin girls (Xanthe and Zena) are five, and they are in the garden every day, and always have pockets full of leaves, branches and bugs. They’ve never been happier than when it was pouring last October, and I said, ‘Right, we’re going outside.’ We donned our waterproofs, rolled down the hill in our garden and had a wet leaf fight.

Iwouldlovetoliveinarural setting with a big landscape on my doorstep, but we’re in London, so my daily walks are to the park and urban green spaces. During lockdown, I’ve been desperate to go somewhere wild. My dream scenario would be to walk up Kinder Scout again with my dad. He’s 80 now and his knees have gone, so he can’t get up there any more. But in my dream my mum would make us a packed lunch with her delicious Greek meatballs, tzatziki, a slice of Bakewell tart for him and chocolate for me. When we got to the top, we’d have a gin and tonic to celebrate. Julia Bradbury is working with Heck Food to encourage companies to appoint an outdoor ambassador; heckfood. co.uk/outdoorambassador

Bradbury takes in the sights from Noe Stool

With her Countryfile co-presenter Matt Baker

The Old Nags Head, Edale, is her top stop for pie and cider

Bradbury out for a walk with her father Michael, who inspired her love of the countryside