Peak District National Park


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Peak District National Park

The Peak District (also called "The Peak") is the name given to a picturesque upland area of the East Midlands region of England. There are no precise boundaries; the term comprises most rural areas and small towns which lie between (and are within easy reach of) Sheffield, Huddersfield, Leeds, Manchester, Stockport, Buxton, Congleton, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, and Chesterfield. Popular activities in the area include hiking, visiting country houses, climbing and potholing.

"Peak Distict" is often used as shorthand for the Peak District National Park, a smaller area with defined boundaries and some special protection. The name of the district is thought to have come from an ancient tribe once resident in the area and the hills and moors of the area, although spectacular in their own way, are not classic "mountain peaks" as might be imagined from the name.

Peak District entrance stone on Hathersage Road, Sheffield

High Peak panorama between Hayfield and Chinley

Understand

The Peak District is sometimes called the Derbyshire Peak District, but the area also covers parts of Greater Manchester, 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 the large cities of Manchester and Leeds & Sheffield, in the 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.

Activities

The Peak District provides opportunities for many types of outdoor activity. An extensive network of public footpaths and numerous long-distance trails, over 1,800 miles (2,900 km) in total, as well as large open-access areas, are available for hillwalking and hiking. Bridleways are commonly used by mountain bikers, as well as horse riders. Some of the long-distance trails, such as the Tissington Trail and High Peak Trail, re-use former railway lines; they are well used by walkers, horse riders and cyclists. The Park authorities run cycle hire centres at Ashbourne, Parsley Hay and Middleton Top. Wheelchair access is possible at several places on the former railway trails, and cycle hire centres offer vehicles adapted to wheelchair users. There is a programme to make footpaths more accessible to less-agile walkers by replacing climbing stiles with walkers' gates.

Paragliding from Mam Tor


	The many gritstone outcrops, such as Stanage Edge and The Roaches, are recognised as some of the finest rock climbing sites in the world (see rock climbing in the Peak District); they were the first to be climbed. The Peak limestone was then discovered. It is more unstable but provides many testing climbs. For example Thor's Cave was explored in the early 1950s by Joe Brown and others. Eleven limestone routes there are listed by the BMC, ranging in grade from Very Severe to E7, and several more have been claimed since the guidebook's publication; a few routes are bolted. Beneath the ground, the potholer enjoys natural caves, the potholes and old mine workings found in the limestone of the Peak. Peak Cavern is the largest and most important cave system which is even linked to the Speedwell system at Winnats. The only significant potholes are Eldon Hole and Nettle Pot. There are many old mine workings, which often were extensions of natural cave systems. Systems can be found at Castleton, Winnats, Matlock, Stoney Middleton, Eyam, Monyash and Buxton. Some of the area's large reservoirs, for example Carsington Water, have become centres for water sports, including sailing, fishing and canoeing, in this most landlocked part of the UK. Other activities include air sports such as hang gliding and paragliding, birdwatching, fell running, off-roading, and orienteering.


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