Ann and I are searching for a property in the Peak District. For certain, it will need to be warm and comfortable, with a good view and well away from flooding potential. However, the essential need is a boot room. Yes, I know that sounds pretentious and middle class. No, we haven’t bought a Range Rover or green wellies. However, we have been warned that newcomers here often leave after one winter. The main reason they leave is the state of their footwear and their dogs; it’s all about muddy walks in the Peak District.

Poopy boots

Down in Dorset, our neglected leather boots spent year after year in the garage. Moving here, they take pride of place, worn every day. However, it’s not really mud, as such, that’s the problem. It’s poop although you can add rotting leaves and silt washing off the fields. The poop often gets dropped along the lanes by muck spreaders. If you are naive, you might walk across a field that has been newly muck spread; however, you only do that once. The muck looks benign but then sticks, in ever increasing layers, to the boot sole. It builds to form a poopy raft. You appear to gain inches in height but then find you slide sideways and backwards. I haven’t got a dog, but they roll in the stuff, I am told.

Muddy walks in the Peak District

The answer, of course, is be prepared. The sheep and cow scented boots need to be isolated, in a boot room. The overtrousers can come off too. If the boot room has a Belfast Sink then all the better. The dog, if small enough, can go straight in. Otherwise, your socks can be soaked, and any muck sponged off your trousers. Jackets can be hung up to dry and the sticks placed in a corner. Ultimately, you have to love mud; or leave!