"You don't expect your dad to not come home": Son speaks of heartache after dad falls to death on walk in Peak District

A son has spoken of his heartache after his dad tragically fell to his death while out walking in the Peak District. James Alexander Ryan, 65, had been out walking with friends along a footpath near the popular Speedwell Cavern on Saturday (April 8) before the fatal fall.

Mountain rescue teams were called out following reports a walker had fallen and was unconscious with a serious head injury. Despite best efforts from paramedics, James was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, James' son Jonathan, 28, has told of his family's heartache and said his dad had travelled from their home in Colchester to the Peak District with friends and had been walking in the popular beauty spot around an hour from Manchester before the fall.

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"We are all so shocked, it hasn't really sunk in for any of us yet," Jonathan said. "You don't expect your dad to go away and then not come home.

"They were going for two days over the Easter weekend and planned to go up to Speedwell Cavern to take some pictures and see the views. It was on the way down that he fell.

"I spoke to him on the Friday evening and before he went, he took my mum to work and then drove up to Derbyshire to meet them. That was the last I heard from him.

"When the police came to see us at midnight to tell us what had happened, we were in total shock."

In 2017, Jonathan, his sister Danielle, 35, his dad James and mum Denise faced another tragedy as a family, having to bury Jonathan's half-brother, also called James, who had died at the age of 42.

James, who would've been 66-years-old this May, worked in audio