Your Sunday Escape to the Peak District
Two Sundays a month · 12 to 15 guests · £89 (£69 members)
Book my placeThe Sunday You Didn't Have to Organise
A Peak District walk, a long lunch and a small group to enjoy it with.
There's a version of Sunday where you leave the city behind, spend the day under big green hills and sit down to a lunch nobody is trying to rush you through. The problem is how much arranging it usually takes, plus finding other people who are free on the same day.
So we've done it all for you. The route is walked, the table is booked and your small group experience is designed. All you have to do is get yourself to Hope station.
people have signed up to PLY
matching people into small groups across the UK
kept small enough that everyone actually talks
Castleton, in the heart of the Peak District
A stone village at the top of the Hope Valley, with a castle ruin on the hill above it, a stream running through the middle and Mam Tor rising behind. It is on a direct railway line from Manchester and Sheffield, and the walk in from the station is part of the day.
The longer walk before lunch, the short one after
We walk from Hope station across the fields to Castleton, with the hills either side of us the whole way. After a wander round the village, we follow the foot of Lose Hill to lunch. Afterwards it is a short stroll back to the station. That's about five and a half miles across the day, and the longest stretch is done before we sit down to eat.
We take our time, with stops for photographs and for catching your breath in the middle of a good story. Nothing about it is a route march, and there is no prize for arriving first.
Walking boots or sturdy trainers and something waterproof are all you need. If the weather turns, we head for lunch a little earlier, which nobody has ever objected to.
Time to wander before lunch
We give ourselves the best part of an hour to explore Castleton before we sit down. Narrow lanes, old stone cottages, the stream, and little shops selling Blue John, the purple-banded stone found nowhere else in the world but the hills around here.
Look up and Peveril Castle is watching from the hill. Look the other way and Mam Tor fills the end of the valley.
No tickets, no queues, nothing to book. Just the village, with a lovely group of new friends.
A long Sunday lunch at a 16th-century country pub
A 16th-century country pub tucked under Lose Hill, with food sourced locally. We take one long table from 2pm, and the afternoon is ours.
Two courses, one table, no clock watching
You choose from the Sunday menu on the day. Tell us about allergies or anything you would rather avoid when you book, and we pass it to the kitchen well in advance.
Drinks are settled at the bar, so everyone pays for their own and nobody has to do sums at the end.
How the day runs
- 10:45am
Meet your PLY host at Hope station. You'll have already said hello in the group chat, so this is more like meeting friends of friends.
- 10:55am
Set off along Peakshole Water through the fields towards Castleton. Introductions happen on the move, which is the easiest way to meet anyone.
- 12:10pm
Arrive in Castleton, with time to wander the lanes, the stream and the Blue John shops.
- 12:40pm
Loop back towards Hope beneath Lose Hill, with the valley opening up beside us.
- 2:00pm
A long Sunday lunch at a 16th-century country pub. Two courses around one table, with no clock watching.
- 5:05pm
A short stroll back to Hope station.
- 5:30pm
Trains home, leaving Hope at 17:36 for Sheffield and Leeds, and 17:41 for Manchester.
Home in good time, with a Sunday behind you that felt like a small holiday. You will need to check and confirm your exact train times on the day.
A small group of 12 to 15, all at the same life stage
This day is only open to people aged 45 and over, so nobody spends it as the odd one out by a generation. Everyone arrives in the same boat: a stranger at the station, on first-name terms by the first gate.
Your PLY host looks after the introductions, keeps the pace easy and makes sure nobody is ever left on the edge of a conversation, on the path or at the table.
A week beforehand we open a group chat, so by the time you reach Hope you will know names and somebody will already have said something funny.
It is the same hosting we put into the PLY Weekend Away. This is the single-day version.
What happens afterwards
The day is the start of it, not the end.
The group chat stays open
Everyone keeps talking after Sunday lunch.
A reunion brunch
Within a month, same people, one long table.
First pick of the next one
And everyone from your Sunday is in Your People on plysocial.com.
Easy from Manchester, Sheffield & Leeds
Hope station sits on the Hope Valley line, with direct trains from both ends. Whichever way you come, everyone is together at the station by quarter to eleven.
Direct train, about 50 minutes from Manchester Piccadilly, calling at Stockport. Your host meets you on the platform at Hope.
Direct train coming the other way, under half an hour from Sheffield. From Leeds, it is about an hour and a half with one change at Sheffield. Sunday trains from this side get in at 9:38, so there is time for a coffee in Hope before we meet at 10:45.
Park in the village car park on Castleton Road in Hope (pay and display), a 10-minute walk from the station. About 35 minutes from Sheffield and about 1 hour 15 minutes from Manchester.
You buy your own rail ticket, usually from about £5 each way if booked in advance from Manchester or Sheffield, or about £30 return from Leeds. As soon as your place is confirmed we send the exact train to be on, where to stand and who to look for, or the postcode for the car park.
Fifteen places. The perfect day out.
Per person, for non-members / PLY members. Lunch included
Station to station, in the Hope Valley
Guests, all at the same life stage
Two Sundays a month. Whichever Sunday suits you, booking works the same way.
What's included
- A small hosted group of 12 to 15
- Your PLY host, from first hello to last goodbye
- The countryside walk, planned and checked beforehand
- Two courses of Sunday lunch at a 16th-century country pub
- The group chat the week before
- Your full itinerary and travel details in writing
- A shared album of the day
What you sort out yourself
- Your train ticket, or fuel and parking if you drive
- Anything you drink, settled at the bar on the day
- Walking shoes and a coat, in case
Questions, answered honestly
Almost everyone comes on their own, and that is rather the point. Nobody arrives with a ready-made group to fall back into, so the conversation starts from scratch for all of us, and your host does the introducing.
A gentle, low-level walk of about five and a half miles, with only 80m of climbing across the day. Mostly gravel paths and quiet lanes, plus some grassy field paths by the stream. Komoot rates the route as moderate. Walking boots or sturdy trainers are recommended.
Not as part of the day. Castleton is famous for its show caves, but the day is about the walk, the village and the lunch. You are very welcome to come back for the caves another time.
Usually from about £5 each way if booked in advance from Manchester or Sheffield, or about £30 return from Leeds. We confirm the exact services well ahead so you know which train to catch.
Yes. Meet us at Hope station at quarter to eleven and join the walk from there. We finish back at the station, so you end the day where you parked.
Two courses from the Sunday menu, chosen on the day, with everyone seated together. Tell us your requirements when you book and we pass them to the kitchen well ahead of time.
No, anyone can book. It's £89 per person, or £69 if you're already a PLY member. If you enjoy the day, membership also gets you into our smaller Experiences through the week.
Yes. Book two places and tell us when you fill in your details, and we will keep you in the same group. Plenty of people come solo, so you will not stand out either way.
Plans change. Let us know and we will do everything we can to refill your place. If we can, we refund what you have paid less a £15 administration fee. If anything on our side changes, you are refunded in full straight away.
You get a confirmation, then a quick note asking for dietary requirements and a mobile number for the day. A fortnight before, your itinerary and travel details. A week before, the group chat opens. On the day, all you do is turn up.
"This is the Sunday I keep wishing somebody would organise for me. A beautiful walk, a lovely lunch, and a group of people worth spending the afternoon with."
Karen
Founder, PLY