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The Peak District is sometimes called the Derbyshire Peak District, but the area also covers parts of Staffordshire, Cheshire, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire.

The central and most rural area of the Peaks falls within the Peak District National Park, but the boundaries are not prominent (marked by roadside signs, but no barriers) and are irrelevant to most visitors: many well-known Peak villages and towns (e.g. Glossop, Buxton, Hayfield) are outside the Park. This was England's first national park and is still the most visited, largely because of its accessible location within reach of large cities in the Midlands, Northwest, and Yorkshire. The Peak District National Park Authority provides public facilities (car parks, lavatories, visitor centres) and works to maintain the rural nature of the Park, without turning it into an open-air museum; however, most land is still owned by the traditional landlords, and (although public access is very good - see below) contains working farms and towns.

History

Landscape

The Peak District is hilly, rather than mountainous. However, many hills are steep, with a few summits sufficiently prominent to warrant the description "peak". The name is a little obscure, but many sources including the National Park Authority's web site [2] refer to a local 7th-century Anglian tribe, the Peacsaetna ("Peak Dwellers").

The Peak District is traditionally split into two contrasting areas, essentially defined by their geology. The White Peak (Derbyshire Dales) is a limestone plateau of green fields with a rolling hills and many incised dales (areas around Ashbourne, Dovedale, Matlock, Bakewell, Longnor). The Dark Peak (or High Peak) is a series of higher, wilder and boggier gritstone plateaux (moorlands) and edges (areas north of Castleton and Hathersage).

High Peak and Derbyshire Dales are also names of local authority districts of Derbyshire.

Flora and fauna

The limestone dales of the White Peak are nationally famous for rare flora, including orchids (in flower spring and early summer) and the rare Jacob's Ladder.

The peaty gritstone moors of the Dark Peak support a more limited flora (largely heather, bilberry and sphagnum moss) and a specialist fauna. Heather moorland in the Dark Peak is maintained for the commercial shooting of Red Grouse (a subspecies of the Willow Grouse unique to the British Isles, which differs from its counterpart on the European mainland by not having a white winter plumage). Other specialist moorland bird species include Ring Ouzel, Golden Plover and Curlew. Mountain Hares were introduced to the Dark Peak in the 19th century and still remain on Bleaklow and Kinder Scout. A feral colony of Wallabies that survived for many years in the Roaches area of the Staffordshire Peak is probably now extinct, as is a remnant population of Black Grouse (though a reintroduction scheme is currently being attempted elsewhere in the Peak District).

Climate

The High Peak in particular can experience severe winter weather and walkers need to be suitably equipped because it is really cold. Cross-Pennine road routes (particularly the Woodhead passes) are quickly blocked by snow in winter weather.

Hiking

The Peak District is a traditional destination for hikers and it has an important place in the early history of the British walking and rights-of-way movement.

A number of long-distance walking routes are wholly or partly within the Peak District:

  • The Edale and passes through the northern section of the Park on its journey to the Scottish border.
  • The Pennine Bridleway[4] (partially complete; 208 miles) has a similar route to the Pennine Way; the Peak section runs from Carsington Reservoir to Hayfield.
  • The Rocester.
  • The Kidsgrove, along the western edge of the Park.
  • The Midshires Way[7] (225 miles) starts in Stockport and runs southwestwards across the Peak District to Wirksworth before continuing across the Midlands to Buckinghamshire.
  • The central section of the Trans-Pennine Trail[8] (200 miles) crosses the Dark Peak via Longdendale (Woodhead Pass).

Keen walkers should invest in the Ordnance Survey 1:25000 Explorer sheets OL1 ("The Peak District – Dark Peak area") and/or OL24 ("The Peak District – White Peak area"). Between them these two sheets cover most of the National Park area and show public rights-of-way and Access Land (of which there is much in the Dark Peak). Most outdoor shops stock these and other maps, and there are large numbers of guidebooks with walking routes.

Potholing

Potholes are limited to the limestone White Peak and are concentrated around Castleton, Buxton, Matlock and Eyam. There are show caves in Castleton, Buxton and Matlock Bath; the more committed should make contact with the Derbyshire Caving Association [9]. Many caves are associated with old lead mines and are not for the inexperienced.

  • Bakewell (pretty riverside town and home of the famous Bakewell Pudding)
  • Buxton (Georgian spa town)
  • Castleton (show caves and a Norman castle)
  • Lyme Park (stately home and grounds - Pemberley in BBC Pride and Predjudice)
  • Chatsworth (famous stately home in impressive grounds - Austen's inspiration for Pemberley)
  • Haddon Hall (medieval manor house, gradually extended through the centuries)
  • Dovedale (attractive, though busy, limestone valley)
  • Eyam (attractive village with plague-related history)
  • Tissington Trails (popular cycling routes on disused railways)
  • Kinder Scout (high gritstone plateau)
  • Manifold Valley (cycling opportunities and limestone scenery)
  • Matlock Bath (inland riverside resort with caves and visitor attractions)
  • The Roaches (walking and climbing area in the Staffordshire Peak District)
  • Stanage Edge (popular walking and climbing area, famous training ground for Brtish mountaineers)

There are several main roads crossing the Peak District, but even these (let alone the myriad smaller roads) can get very crowded on fine-weather weekends.

The main train stations are:

There are coach (long-distance bus) services to the main towns (Buxton, Bakewell, Matlock).

The bus services are better than most rural areas of England (there tend to be MORE buses on Sunday). The towns and bigger villages have a good daytime service from the nearest big towns and cities, and some buses to most of their nearest villages.

  • Brierlow Bar Bookstore, on the A515 south of Buxton, [10]. Stocks a good range of local-interest titles as well as a wide range of general-interest titles at bargain prices.
  • Jewellery made from Blue John (a purplish mineral unique to the Peak District) is available—at a price—in Castleton and elsewhere.

Several outlets in Bakewell serve the famous Bakewell Pudding (a dessert made with almonds and eggs). Locally reared Derbyshire Lamb is often available in pubs and restaurants; locally shot Grouse is much harder to find. Farmers' markets are held near Hartington and in Buxton. The (relatively expensive) Chatsworth Farm Shop at Pilsley serves a range of local and organic produce, some of it sourced from the Estate.

Peak District pubs are varied but often interesting.

  • A visit to the Three Stags' Heads at Wardlow Mires on the A623 between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Baslow is an interesting experience. This small roadside pub has an old-fashioned and plain (even scruffy), but cosy, interior, with open fires, good food, lurcher- and greyhound-related memorabilia and some robust country attitudes (which may not be to everyone's taste). The proprietors make a point of not serving draught lager.