Shuttlingsloe with Marshmallows: The Cheshire Matterhorn

Shuttlingsloe is what they call the "Cheshire Matterhorn" because it's this perfectly pointy little hill that sticks up out of the moorland like an actual mountain in a kid's drawing. It's only 506 metres tall, which compared to Ben Nevis sounds tiny, but when you see it from a distance it looks WAY bigger than it actually is. That's our kind of mountain – big drama, small effort.

We parked at Trentabank Reservoir near Macclesfield Forest. Dad had packed a really exciting secret weapon: his tiny camping stove and a fat bag of marshmallows. He wouldn't tell us what it was for, but Jasper guessed instantly because he's a know-it-all. The walk up goes through the dark, mossy edge of the forest first – tall pine trees standing in straight lines like soldiers, with the ground all squidgy and quiet underneath. We saw a heron just standing perfectly still on the edge of the reservoir, which Mum got very excited about.

After the forest you pop out onto open moorland and suddenly Shuttlingsloe is right there, this lovely pointy triangle. The path is really clear, paved with big flat stones near the top to stop the moor getting trampled. The last bit is properly steep – you're using your hands a bit and your legs are burning – but it's only a few minutes of suffering before the ground levels out and you're at the trig point.

And the view! For such a little hill it's honestly one of the best 360-degree views in the Peak District. You can see Tegg's Nose, the Roaches, the radio mast on Sutton Common, Macclesfield town in the distance, and on a really good day all the way to the Welsh hills. We sat down with our backs against the trig point out of the wind, and that's when Dad pulled out the stove. He set it up on a flat rock, lit it with a clicky lighter, and produced a pack of long wooden skewers and the marshmallows.

We toasted them properly – not the rubbish way where they just go warm, but the proper way where you let them catch fire for two seconds and then blow them out so the outside is crispy and black and the inside is molten goo. Jasper burnt his tongue immediately. I made three in a row without burning my mouth, which is a personal record. Some other walkers came up while we were toasting and looked very jealous. Dad offered them one each, which is the kind of thing Dad does.

We walked back down a different way through the fields and back into the forest, our bellies full of sugar. Shuttlingsloe is the perfect "little big mountain" for a half day out, and honestly, summit marshmallows should be a national rule. We're going to do this on every small peak from now on. New Contour and Co tradition: every t-shirt should come with a tiny bag of marshmallows. Jasper says no. I say yes.