Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Peak District

The Peak District is a scenic upland area, mostly in Derbyshire but extending into Staffordshire and Yorkshire.

It covers 555 square miles, and is easily accessible to citizens of Sheffield, Manchester and Derby, and without much difficulty by those living in Leicester, Nottingham and Stoke.

The White Peak, in the South, has a gentle countryside with deep limestone dales. In contrast, the Dark Peak, in the North, is a land of peat moorlands and gritstone edges.

In the 1930s, public access was gradually reduced by the use of the moors for grouse shooting. This led to a great deal of public resentment, and on 24th April 1932, the Mass Trespass on Kinder Scout led to the establishment of Britain's National Parks.

The first of these National Parks was the Peak District, so designated in 1951.

Towns in the Peak District include Buxton, Bakewell, Castleton, Ashbourne and Matlock Bath, and stately homes include Chatsworth and Haddon Hall.

The area has some beautiful rivers, notably the River Derwent, as well as the Wye, the Dove, the Ashop and the Manifold.

Kinder Scout, otherwise known simply as The Peak, rises to 2,088 feet, and is the Southernmost point of the Pennines. Further North, beyond the spectacular Snake Pass, Bleaklow Hill reaches 2,060 feet.

Stanage Edge and Mam Tor overlook the Vale of Edale and the Hope Valley. Other dales include Dovedale, Miller's Dale and Monsal Dale.

The area is well known for well dressing, and the village most famous for this is Tissington.

The long distance Pennine Way starts at Edale and runs 250 miles to the Scottish border and the Cheviots.