The Peak District is a highland area in central and northern England, located at the southern end of the Pennines. It is mostly in Derbyshire and also includes parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire. The area is divided into two parts: the Dark Peak, which has moorland covered in gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone region with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc along the north, east, and west sides of the district, while the White Peak covers the central and southern parts. The highest point is Kinder Scout, which is 2,087 feet (636 meters) high. Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape established in 1951.
A 2021 report says the park has a population of about 40,000 people and supports approximately 18,000 jobs, mainly through farming, manufacturing, and tourism.
People have lived in the area since the Mesolithic era. It was used mostly for farming until mining began in the Middle Ages. During the Industrial Revolution, Richard Arkwright built several cotton mills in the region’s valleys. As mining declined, quarrying became more common. Tourism grew with the arrival of railways, which highlighted the area’s natural beauty, spa towns, and the show caves in Castleton.
Toponymy
The upland area of the Peak District, located in Derbyshire, was historically known as Peakland and The Peak. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle from 924 AD recorded the region's name as Peaclond, which means "hill country" in Old English. This area was home to the Pecsaetan tribe. During the Renaissance, well-known authors such as Thomas Hobbes, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Pepys, and Charles Cotton referred to the area simply as "The Peak."
Geography
The Peak District is the southern part of the Pennines. Much of the area is higher ground above 1,000 feet (300 m), with its highest point being Kinder Scout at 2,087 ft (636 m). Although its name suggests sharp peaks, the landscape includes more rounded hills, plateaus, valleys, limestone gorges, and gritstone escarpments (called "edges"). The mostly rural area is near large cities such as Manchester, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Derby, and Stoke-on-Trent.
The official boundaries of the national park cover most of the Dark Peak and White Peak. However, the larger, less clearly defined area called the Peak District includes both regions. The Dark Peak is mostly uninhabited moorland and gritstone escarpments in the northern and eastern parts of the Peak District. It surrounds the central and southern White Peak, where most villages, farmland, and limestone gorges are found. Three areas managed by Natural England cover parts of the region: the Dark Peak National Character Area (NCA) includes northern and eastern parts of the Dark Peak and parts of the White Peak. The White Peak NCA covers most of the White Peak. The western edges of the Dark Peak are in the South West Peak NCA, where farmland and valleys with gritstone edges and moorland are found.
Outside the park, the wider Peak District includes areas from the gritstone moorlands of the South Pennines to the north, separated by the Tame Valley, Standedge, and Holme Valley. It continues south and ends near the Weaver Hills close to the Churnet Valley. It often includes the area between Disley and Sterndale Moor, covering Buxton and the Peak Dale corridor. It may also include outer areas like the Churnet and lower Derwent Valleys, and the area between The Cloud and Mow Cop. The rural western part of Sheffield is inside the park, but the city itself is not included, along with other nearby large cities. The region is surrounded by lowlands, such as the Cheshire Plain and Greater Manchester Built-up Area to the west. To the east are the Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfields, and to the south are the lowlands of the Midlands near the Trent Valley.
The national park covers 555 square miles (1,440 km²), including most of Derbyshire and parts of Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and South and West Yorkshire. Its northern edge is near Deer Hill in Meltham, and its southernmost point is near Ashbourne on the A52 road. The park boundaries avoid built-up and industrial areas. For example, Buxton and the quarries at the end of the Peak Dale corridor are surrounded by the park on three sides. Bakewell and many villages are in the park, as is much of the rural western part of Sheffield. In 2010, it became the fifth-largest national park in England and Wales. National parks in the UK are managed by a park authority, which has rules to protect the area from unsuitable development. The land in the park is owned by both public and private groups.
The National Trust, a charity that protects natural and historic landscapes, owns about 12% of the land in the park. Its three estates—High Peak, White Peak, and Longshaw—include areas like Bleaklow, Derwent Edge, Hope Woodlands, Kinder Scout, the Manifold Valley, Mam Tor, Dovedale, Milldale, and Winnats Pass. The park authority owns about 5% of the land, and other major landowners include several water companies.
Bakewell is the largest town in the park and the location of the National Park Authority offices. Its five-arched bridge over the River Wye dates to the 13th century. Castleton is known for producing Blue John, a semi-precious mineral. Eyam village is famous for its self-imposed quarantine during the Black Death. Edale is the southern end of the Pennine Way, a 268-mile trail that runs through most of the Pennines and ends at Kirk Yetholm near the Scottish border. The park also includes Flash, the highest village in the UK at 1,519 feet (463 m). Other villages in the park are Hathersage, Hartington, Ilam, and Tideswell.
Towns on the park's edges include Glossop, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Buxton, Macclesfield, Leek, Ashbourne, Matlock, and Chesterfield. Buxton was developed in the 18th century by the Dukes of Devonshire as a health resort. Matlock Bath, a spa in the River Derwent valley, became popular in the Victorian era. Hayfield is at the base of Kinder Scout, the park's highest point. Other towns near the park are Whaley Bridge, Hadfield, Tintwistle, Darley Dale, Wirksworth in Derbyshire, Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire, and Marsden and Holmfirth in West Yorkshire.
Several rivers begin on the moorland plateaus of the Dark Peak and the high ridges of the White Peak. Many rivers in the Dark Peak and outer areas were dammed to create reservoirs for drinking water. Streams were also dammed to power water-driven mills, and weirs were built for the same purpose. The Longdendale Chain reservoirs were completed in February 1877 to ensure a continuous flow in the River Etherow, which was vital for local industry and drinking water for Manchester. In a 1846 report for the Manchester Corporation, John Frederick Bateman wrote:
— John Frederick Bateman
The western Peak District is drained by the Etherow, Goyt, and Tame rivers, which flow into the River Mersey. The north-east is drained by tributaries of the River Don. The River Derwent, a major tributary of the River Trent, rises on Bleaklow near Glossop and flows through the Upper Derwent Valley, where it is controlled by the Howden, Derwent, and Ladybower reservoirs. These reservoirs were built between the early and mid-20th century to supply drinking water to the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.
The Noe and Wye rivers are tributaries. The River Manifold and River Dove, which originate on Axe Edge Moor, flow into the Trent. The River Dane flows into the River Weaver in Cheshire.
There are no canals in the national park, but the Standedge Tunnels of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal pass through the northern edge of the park. Outside the park, water from the Dark Peak feeds the Macclesfield, Ashton, and Huddersfield Narrow Canals. Water from the White Peak feeds the Cromford Canal. The Peak Forest Canal transported lime from Dove Holes quarries for construction and ended at Bugsworth Basin, with the journey completed by the Peak Forest Tramway.
The Cromford Canal, connecting Cromford to the Erewash Canal, served lead mines in Wirksworth and cotton mills owned by Sir Richard Arkwright. The Caldon Canal, built from Froghall, transported limestone from Cauldon Low quarries for the iron industry and flints for pottery.
Most of the area is above 1,000 feet (300 m), located in the center of England at 53°N latitude.
Geology
The Peak District is mostly made up of sedimentary rocks from the Carboniferous period. These include carboniferous limestone that covers gritstone, coal measures found on the edges and in some areas with igneous rocks like lava, tuffs, and volcanic rock. The area has a general shape of a large dome, with the western side having many faults and folds. Uplift and erosion have removed the top of the Derbyshire Dome, showing layers of rock in a circular pattern. Coal-measured rocks are found on the east and west sides, carboniferous limestone in the center, and millstone grit between them. Triassic sandstones cover the southern edge of the Derbyshire Dome, but they do not extend far into the National Park. The White Peak is in the central and southern parts, where carboniferous limestone is close to the surface. The Dark Peak to the north, east, and west has millstone grit outcrops and large areas of moorland.
After the Carboniferous period, Earth movements caused the area to rise into a dome shape, especially in the west, where rock layers folded along north-south lines. The region was lifted in a north-south direction, creating the dome shape. Shales and sandstones were worn away, exposing limestone. Later, the Earth's crust sank, covering the area with sea water and adding new rock layers. Over time, mineral veins formed in the limestone, and these veins have been mined for lead since Roman times.
The Peak District was covered by ice during the Anglian glaciation, about 450,000 years ago, as shown by glacial till found across the area. It was not covered by ice during the last glacial period, which peaked around 20,000–22,000 years ago. Ice from the Irish Sea and Lake District touched the western edges of the area. Melting ice created winding channels along the western side and helped form caves in the limestone. Animal remains have been found in several caves.
Different types of rock beneath the soil shape the landscape and affect the plants and animals that live there. Limestone has cracks and dissolves in water, allowing rivers to carve deep, narrow valleys. These rivers often flow underground, creating cave systems. Millstone grit does not dissolve but is porous, absorbing water until it reaches less porous shales below, forming springs. Shales are easily broken by frost, leading to landslides, such as those seen on Mam Tor.
Ecology
The Dark Peak has gritstone and shale that support heather moorland and blanket bog. The main land uses include rough sheep pasture and grouse shooting, though some areas are farmed, especially in the South West Peak NCA. The White Peak's limestone plateaus are farmed more intensely, mostly for dairy on improved pastures. Woodland covers about 8% of the Peak National Park. Natural broad-leaved woodland appears in the steep dales of the White Peak and cloughs of the Dark Peak. Some parts of the Dark Peak also have coniferous plantations, especially near reservoirs, which are slowly being replaced by broad-leaved and mixed woodlands.
White Peak habitats include calcareous grassland, ash woodlands, and rock outcrops that support lime-loving plants. These areas are home to species like the early purple orchid (Orchis mascula), dark-red helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens), fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), common rockrose (Helianthemum nummularium), spring cinquefoil (Helianthemum nummularium), and grass of parnassus (Parnassia palustris). Lead rakes, which are spoil heaps from old mining, support rare metallophyte plants such as spring sandwort (Minuartia verna, also called leadwort), alpine pennycress (Thlaspi caerulescens), and mountain pansy (Viola lutea).
Two plants found only in the Peak District are the Derby hawkweed (Hieracium naviense) and leek-coloured hawkweed (H. subprasinifolium). Derby hawkweed grows only in Winnats Pass and was discovered in 1966. Leek-coloured hawkweed was thought extinct until found in 2017 near the Monsal Trail. The Derbyshire feather moss (Thamnobryum angustifolium) is found only in one limestone dale in Derbyshire. Its location is kept secret, and the moss covers about 3 square meters (32 square feet) of a rock face with smaller nearby colonies.
Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium caeruleum), a rare plant found in limestone dales of the White Peak, is Derbyshire's county flower. It grows on grassland, light woodland, screes, and rock ledges, as well as by streams in areas like Lathkill, Wolfscote, Taddington, and Wye Dale. Pollen evidence shows it was widespread in Britain after the last ice age. Though planted in gardens, it is native only to the White Peak and Yorkshire Dales.
The Dark Peak's heathlands, bogs, gritstone edges, and acid grasslands have fewer species. Heather (Calluna vulgaris), crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), and hare's-tail cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) dominate the high moors. After years of decline due to pollution, Sphagnum mosses are returning, with S. cuspidatum being a common species.
Most mammals in the Peak District are common across the UK, but mountain hares in the Dark Peak are the only wild population in England. They were reintroduced in the Victorian era for hunting. A population of red-necked wallabies once lived near The Roaches but may now be extinct. Red deer herds, likely from animals that escaped from deer parks at Lyme Park and Chatsworth, live in the Goyt Valley and moors above Baslow. A herd near Wharncliffe Crags may come from hunting stock. Biodiversity action plans focus on species like mountain hare, brown hare, brown long-eared bat, dormouse, harvest mouse, hedgehog, noctule bat, otter, pine marten, polecat, soprano pipistrelle, and water vole. Pine marten sightings have been confirmed in Derbyshire and north Staffordshire, though their status is unclear. A pine marten from an introduced Welsh population was found dead near Ripley and Belper in 2018.
Many birds in the Peak District are common across the UK, but the Dark Peak moors still support upland specialists like twite, short-eared owl, golden plover, dunlin, ring ouzel, northern wheatear, and merlin. Twite and golden plover populations are the southernmost confirmed breeding groups in England. The Peak District Moors Special Protection Area (SPA) is designated to protect merlin, golden plover, and short-eared owl populations. The area has fewer breeding waders than northern parts of the Pennines but supports curlew, lapwing, dunlin, and snipe.
Commercial grouse shooting occurs on the Dark Peak's heather moorlands, where red grouse are maintained by gamekeepers. Black grouse became extinct in 2000 but were reintroduced in 2003. Quarries and rock outcrops provide nesting sites for peregrine falcons and common ravens. Ravens and buzzards are increasing as their range expands eastward, possibly due to less persecution. Illegal persecution has limited rare raptors like the Eurasian goshawk, peregrine, and hen harrier. After the RSPB's 2006 report on wildlife crime, the Peak District Bird of Prey
National Park
The Peak District National Park was the first national park created in the United Kingdom. It was established on April 17, 1951, after the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949 and a public meeting to determine its boundaries. It was one of ten parks created in the 1950s. These parks were recommended by the 1945 Dower Report and the 1947 Hobhouse Report, which suggested creating national parks in England and Wales. The park covers an area of 1,438 square kilometers (555 square miles) and is visited by about 13 million people each year. Ninety percent of the park is privately owned. The largest single owner is the National Trust, which owns 12% of the land.
The park is managed by the Peak District National Park Authority. This group was created in 1995 under the Environment Act. It replaced the Peak Park Planning Board. The authority has 30 members. Fourteen members are chosen by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. Sixteen members are chosen by local authorities that cover the area of the park. The local authorities and the number of members they appoint are as follows:
History
The Peak area has been home to people since the earliest times, as shown by discoveries like Mesolithic flint tools and evidence from caves in Dovedale and other places. Neolithic people lived there too, creating large earthworks or burial mounds, such as the one at Margery Hill.
During the Bronze Age, the area was heavily farmed. Evidence of this includes henges like Arbor Low near Youlgreave and the Nine Ladies stone circle at Stanton Moor. In the same time period and into the Iron Age, hill forts like Mam Tor were built. The Romans used the area’s rich minerals, especially lead from Buxton, which they transported along well-used roads. Buxton was a Roman settlement called "Aquae Arnemetiae" because of its natural spring.
The Pecsaetan, an Anglo-Saxon tribe, lived in the central and northern parts of the area from the 6th century CE. They were part of the Anglian kingdom of Mercia. Barrows from this time, like Benty Grange, where a famous helmet was found, remain today.
In medieval and early modern times, the area was mainly used for farming, especially sheep. From the 16th century, the area’s minerals became more important. Lead, coal, fluorite, copper from Ecton Mines, zinc, iron, manganese, and silver were mined. Celia Fiennes wrote about her journey through the Peak in 1697.
Coal deposits are found on the Peak’s western and eastern edges. Evidence of old mining can be seen from Glossop to The Roaches and from Stocksbridge to Baslow. The coal in the east is near the South Yorkshire Coalfield, and the coal in the west is part of the Lancashire Coalfield. Mining began in medieval times, was most productive in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and continued until the early 20th century. Early miners worked near the surface, but later, deep seams were mined using steam engines. Coal from the east was used for lead smelting, and coal from the west was used to make lime.
Lead mining was most active in the 17th and 18th centuries. High amounts of lead were found in the area, and peat on Kinder Scout suggests lead smelting happened there. Lead mining decreased after the mid-19th century, with the last major mine closing in 1939. Lead is often found with fluorite, baryte, and calcite. Miners dug small pits called bell pits to reach ore near the surface.
Fluorite, called Blue John locally, is rare and now mined only in small amounts for decorative purposes. The Blue John Cavern in Castleton is a show cave, and small-scale mining happens in Treak Cliff Cavern.
Industrial limestone quarrying started near Buxton in 1874. In 1926, the Buxton lime industry became part of ICI. As lead mining declined, large-scale limestone and gritstone quarrying grew. Tunstead is one of Europe’s largest quarries. At its peak in 1990, 8.5 million tonnes of limestone was produced.
Textiles have been exported from the area for hundreds of years. In the 14th century, wool was traded. By the 1780s, Richard Arkwright created machines to make textiles faster and better. Early mills were small, with low ceilings and lit by daylight. Water wheels powered the machines. The Peak’s rivers and moist climate made it ideal for this work. Workers from London’s workhouses, including children as young as four, were brought in as apprentices.
As technology improved, narrow valleys were not good for large steam-powered mills. However, Derbyshire mills continued to produce niche textile products. Glossop’s economy depended on spinning and weaving traditions that began during the Industrial Revolution. Until World War I, Glossop was the headquarters of the world’s largest textile printworks. After the Wall Street crash, the industry declined.
In 1932, the Kinder Trespass was an important event in the fight for public access to moorland. Before this, moorland was private property, used only 12 days a year by landowners. The Peak District National Park became the UK’s first national park on April 17, 1951. Ethel Haythornthwaite helped create the park. The Pennine Way, the UK’s first long-distance footpath, opened in 1965 and starts at the Nags Head Inn in Edale.
The Peak & Northern Footpaths Society (PNFS) was formed in 1894 to protect and improve footpaths in the Peak District and nearby areas. It is the oldest regional footpath society in the UK.
Saddleworth Moor and Wessenden, above Meltham, became famous after the Moors murders in the 1960s.
Economy
Agriculture is an important part of the Peak District. A Park District report said that in 2019, more than 87% of the area was used for farming. A 2023 report added that farming is a major part of the park’s economy, providing jobs for over 3,500 people. This makes up 18.5% of all jobs in the national park. This is logical because, as of 2019, more than 87% of the Peak District was farmed. A State of the Park report also noted that in 2019, at least one in three businesses in the Peak District were in the agricultural, forestry, or fishing industries.
Tourism in the Peak District and Derbyshire was hurt by the pandemic. However, a September 2022 report stated that tourism is a major industry in the area, bringing about 45 million visitors each year. It also contributes £2.5 billion to the economy and supports 31,000 jobs. (Data for the park alone are not available.)
Other jobs in the park, according to a 2009 report, include manufacturing (19%) and quarrying (12%). The cement works at Hope is the largest single employer in the park. Limestone is the most important mineral mined, mainly for roads and cement. Shale is taken from Hope for cement, and several gritstone quarries are used for building stone. Lead mining is no longer profitable, but fluorite, baryte, and calcite are mined from lead veins. Small-scale Blue John mining also happens at Castleton.
The springs in Buxton and Ashbourne are used to make bottled mineral water. Many forests are managed for timber. Other manufacturing includes David Mellor’s cutlery factory in Hathersage, Ferodo brake linings in Chapel-en-le-Frith, and electronic equipment in Castleton.
Tourism
De Mirabilibus Pecci, also known as The Seven Wonders of the Peak by Thomas Hobbes, was an early guidebook published in 1636. Many visitors, including Daniel Defoe, criticized the area, calling the moors near Chatsworth a "waste and houling wilderness" and describing Peak Cavern near Castleton as the "Devil's Arse." Visitor numbers stayed low until the Victorian era, when railways made travel easier and people began to appreciate the natural beauty of the region. Books like John Mawe’s Mineralogy of Derbyshire (1802) and William Adam’s Gem of the Peak (1843) helped raise interest in the area’s unique rocks and minerals.
The area became a popular place for outdoor activities and relaxation for people from nearby industrial cities like Manchester and Sheffield. A 2005 survey found that 85% of visitors chose the region for its scenery and landscapes.
Buxton became a spa town because of its hot spring, which has a constant temperature of 28°C. The Romans settled there around 78 CE, naming it Aquae Arnemetiae, meaning "the spa of the goddess of the grove." In 1569, Bess of Hardwick and her husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, visited the spa, and they brought Mary, Queen of Scots there in 1573. The town grew in importance during the late 18th century when the 5th Duke of Devonshire developed it in a style similar to the spa town of Bath.
In the 18th century, people like Dr. Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood visited Buxton for the supposed health benefits of its waters. A railway reached Buxton in 1863. Notable buildings include The Crescent (1780–1784), modeled after Bath’s Royal Crescent, and the Pump Room by Henry Currey. The Pavilion Gardens opened in 1871, and the Buxton Opera House was built in 1903 by Frank Matcham.
Historic buildings in the area include Chatsworth House, the home of the Dukes of Devonshire, and Haddon Hall, the home of the Dukes of Rutland. Other sites are Lyme Park, Eyam Hall, Ilam Hall, and Tissington Hall. Many villages have old churches, such as the 14th-century Church of St. John the Baptist in Tideswell and the 12th-century Church of St. Nicholas in High Bradfield. "Little John’s Grave" is in the churchyard at Hathersage. Peveril Castle, near Castleton, was built by the Normans.
Eyam Museum in Eyam shows the village’s history during the Black Death. Castleton has four show caves: Peak Cavern, Blue John, Treak Cliff, and Speedwell. The area’s industrial history is shown at Matlock Bath’s mining museum, the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, and Brindley Water Mill in Leek. Preserved railways like the Peak Rail and the National Tramway Museum at Crich help visitors learn about the region’s transport history. Matlock Bath also has the Heights of Abraham, a place with show caves and a cable car, and the Gulliver’s Kingdom theme park. Buxton has an opera house, museum, art gallery, and Poole’s Cavern. Other attractions include Alton Towers and the Peak Wildlife Park.
Well dressing ceremonies, where people decorate wells with flowers and pictures, are held in many villages during spring and summer. Other traditions include Castleton Garland Day and Ashbourne’s Royal Shrovetide Football, which has been played since the 12th century. Buxton hosts two opera festivals and the Peak Literary Festival. Local foods include Bakewell pudding, a dessert different from the Bakewell tart sold elsewhere, and Stilton cheese, made in Hartington.
The area has over 1,800 miles of public footpaths and trails for walking and hiking. The Pennine Way runs through the Dark Peak from Edale to the park’s northern edge. Bridleways are used by hikers, cyclists, and horse riders. The Tissington Trail and High Peak Trail, built on old railway lines, are popular with walkers and cyclists. The Peak District Boundary Walk is a 190-mile circular trail around the park.
Old railway lines have been turned into cycle trails. The Longdendale Trail and Monsal Trail use parts of former railways. Cycle hire centers are available in several towns, and some trails are accessible to wheelchair users. Projects have made footpaths easier to use by replacing stiles with gates.
Rock climbing is popular at Stanage Edge and The Roaches, which are among the world’s best climbing sites. Thor’s Cave, explored by climbers in the 1950s, has routes rated from Very Severe to E7. Caving is done in natural caves, potholes, and old mines, with Peak Cavern being the largest cave system. Large potholes like Eldon Hole and Nettle Pot are also popular.
Reservoirs such as Torside and Rudyard Lake offer water sports like sailing and fishing. Other activities include hang gliding, birdwatching, fell running, and orienteering.
Transport
The first roads built by the Romans may have used paths that already existed. The Roman road network connected towns and forts, including Aquae Arnemetiae (Buxton), Chesterfield, Ardotalia (Glossop), Navio (Brough and Shatton), and other areas. Some parts of today’s A515 and A53 roads, south of Buxton, are thought to follow the same routes as Roman roads.
During the Middle Ages, packhorse routes crossed the Peak District. Some paved paths, like the Long Causeway along Stanage Edge, were built during this time. Christopher Saxton’s 1579 map of Derbyshire does not show any highways. Building bridges helped improve transportation.
After 1731, turnpike roads were introduced, which reduced travel times. However, in 1800, a journey from Sheffield to Manchester still took 16 hours, leading poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge to say, “a tortoise could outgallop us!” Better-quality turnpike roads were built from about 1815. The Snake Pass, part of the A57, was constructed between 1819 and 1821 under Thomas Telford’s direction.
The main roads in the Peak District include:
– The A57 between Sheffield and Manchester;
– The A628, Woodhead Pass, between Barnsley and Manchester via Longdendale;
– The A6 from Derby to Manchester through Buxton;
– The Cat and Fiddle Road from Macclesfield to Buxton; and
– The A635 from Manchester to Barnsley in the north.
Roads and lanes are often crowded, and parking is difficult in towns and villages, especially in summer. A plan to charge for congestion was suggested in 2005 but was not approved.
The Cromford Canal opened in 1794 to transport coal, lead, and iron ore to the Erewash Canal. It closed in 1944. After 1825, canals and turnpike roads faced competition from railways.
The first railway, the Cromford and High Peak Railway, was built for industry. Later, passenger services were added, including the Woodhead Line (Sheffield to Manchester via Longdendale) and the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midlands Junction Railway. Many railways, such as the Woodhead Line, were closed in the 1960s due to the Beeching Axe. Freight services on the Woodhead Line continued until 1981, after which much of the route became shared-use paths on the Trans Pennine Trail.
Passenger train services currently operate on these lines:
– The Hope Valley Line between Sheffield, New Mills Central, and Manchester Piccadilly, with stops at Hathersage, Hope, and Edale;
– The Derwent Valley Line between Derby and Matlock;
– The Buxton Line between Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, and Buxton;
– The Glossop Line, connecting Glossop and Hadfield to Manchester Piccadilly via the remaining part of the Woodhead Line;
– The Huddersfield Line from Manchester to Huddersfield via Marsden.
Coach services, such as TransPeak and National Express, provide access to Matlock, Bakewell, and Buxton from Derby, Nottingham, and Manchester. Regular buses run from Sheffield, Glossop, Stoke, Leek, and Chesterfield. In rural areas, minibuses connect towns to smaller villages.
The nearest airports are Manchester and East Midlands. Cycle England invested £1.25 million to build and improve cycle routes in the national park for leisure and commuting.
Conservation issues
The Peak is close to many large cities and towns, where about 20 million people live within an hour's drive. This closeness creates challenges for the area. The park authority, National Trust, and other landowners work to keep the highland areas open for recreation while protecting them from heavy farming, erosion, and pressure from visitors. There is a balance needed between protecting the environment, meeting the needs of 38,000 residents, and managing the interests of millions who visit each year.
Visits are not spread evenly, causing stress on some areas. Dovedale alone gets about two million visitors yearly. Other popular places include Bakewell, Castleton, the Hope Valley, Chatsworth, Hartington, and the reservoirs in the Upper Derwent Valley. More than 60 percent of all visits happen between May and September, with Sundays being the busiest day.
In areas where many people walk, footpaths have suffered serious erosion, especially on soft peat moorlands. Mountain bikers using some trails are thought to have made the problem worse. To reduce damage, the official route of the Pennine Way near Edale was changed to avoid a steep area called Grindsbrook, now following a path called Jacob's Ladder. Some moorland trails are covered with expensive natural stone to help protect them. Some paths have been damaged by both legal and illegal use of off-road vehicles, such as 4×4s and trail bikes. People who care about the environment have tried to reduce this harm.
Large-scale limestone mining is a topic of debate. Most mining licenses were given by the national government in the 1950s for 90 years and are still legally valid. The park authority considers new quarrying applications and license renewals by looking at the need for the mineral, how unique the source is, and the effects on traffic, residents, and the environment. Some licenses have not been renewed. For example, the RMC Aggregates quarry at Eldon Hill closed in 1999 and was restored. In 1999, Stancliffe Stone Ltd proposed reopening old gritstone quarries at Stanton Moor, which became a test case. People who care about the environment and local residents opposed the plan because it could harm ancient Bronze Age remains at the Nine Ladies Stone Circle and damage the natural landscape. In 2007, plans were made to move the project to a less sensitive area called Dale View quarry.
Since the 1990s, the management of highland moors for driven grouse shooting has increased. This includes burning parts of the moor in a planned way and controlling predators. These practices are sometimes controversial and have led to calls for more rules to manage moorland owners. The Birds of Prey Initiative has helped connect conservation groups with landowners to improve the survival of birds of prey in the Peak District. This effort has increased the number of breeding birds of prey, but their numbers are still low. In 2018, the RSPB stopped supporting the program because of ongoing illegal harm to birds of prey by commercial grouse shooting estates, which are part of the Initiative.
The grasslands on the White Peak plateau have been changed to support large-scale farming and food production. This has made most of these grasslands less valuable for nature conservation, often with only one type of grass growing. The best remaining areas are the steep sides of limestone valleys, which are important internationally but are broken into small parts, making them more likely to be lost. Biodiversity in Britain’s national parks has declined at similar rates to the rest of the countryside. One reason may be that park authorities focus mainly on stopping development that harms the park’s appearance and history, rather than managing land use.
The highland moors in the south Pennines have suffered some of the worst environmental damage in the UK. This is mainly because of pollution from nearby towns during the industrial revolution, worsened by wildfires and erosion. Work to restore these areas began in the 21st century. While progress has been made, more work is needed to create a healthy, long-lasting ecosystem. The damage to these moors is also important because they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change through global warming.
In literature and arts
The landscapes of the Peak have inspired writers for centuries. Ralph Elliott and others have identified several places in the 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as locations in the Peak. Lud’s Church is believed to be the Green Chapel in the poem.
Key scenes in Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice are set in the Peak. Sir Walter Scott’s 1823 novel Peveril of the Peak is a historical story set at Peveril Castle in Castleton during the reign of Charles II. William Wordsworth often visited Matlock, and the Peak inspired several of his poems, including a sonnet written in 1830 about Chatsworth House. In Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre, the village of Morton is based on Hathersage, where Brontë stayed in 1845. Thornfield Hall in the novel may have been inspired by North Lees Hall nearby. In George Eliot’s Adam Bede (1859), the village of Snowfield is thought to be based on Wirksworth, where her uncle managed a mill. Ellastone (as Hayslope) and Ashbourne (as Oakbourne) also appear in the novel.
Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit, visited her uncle Edmund Potter at his printworks in Dinting Vale. She copied cloth patterns from his book for her stories. The shawl worn by Mrs. Tiggywinkle in The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is based on pattern number 222714.
Children’s author Alison Uttley (1884–1976) was born in Cromford. Her novel A Traveller in Time, set in Dethick, tells the story of the Babington Plot to free Mary, Queen of Scots. Crichton Porteous (1901–1991) wrote several books set in the Peak, including Toad Hole, Lucky Columbell, and Broken River, which take place in the Derwent Valley. Geraldine Brooks’s first novel, Year of Wonders (2001), mixes real events with made-up stories about the plague in the village of Eyam. Eyam also inspired Children of Winter by Berlie Doherty, who has written other books set in the Peak, such as Deep Secret, based on the drowning of villages near the Ladybower Reservoir, and Blue John, inspired by the cavern at Castleton.
Many crime and horror stories are set in the Peak. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Terror of Blue John Gap describes events at the Blue John mines. In The Adventure of the Priory School, Sherlock Holmes investigates the kidnapping of a child. Horror stories by local author Robert Murray Gilchrist often feature the Peak. Stephen Booth has written a crime-fiction series set in real and imagined locations in the Peak. Elizabeth George’s In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, an Inspector Lynley mystery, is set on the fictional Calder Moor. Sarah Ward is another local author who writes crime novels set in the Peak.
Other writers and poets who lived in or visited the Peak include Samuel Johnson, William Congreve, Anna Seward, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Lord Byron, Thomas Moore, Richard Furness, D. H. Lawrence, Vera Brittain, Richmal Crompton, and Nat Gould. The area’s landscapes and historic houses are popular settings for films and television. The 1955 film The Dam Busters was filmed at the Upper Derwent Valley reservoirs, where practice flights for bombing raids on the Ruhr dams took place during World War II.
In adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, the village of Longnor has been used as Lambton, and Lyme Park and Chatsworth House have stood in for Pemberley. Haddon Hall was used as Thornfield Hall in two versions of Jane Eyre and has appeared in films such as Elizabeth, The Princess Bride, and The Other Boleyn Girl. The TV medical drama Peak Practice, set in the fictional village of Cardale, was filmed in Crich, Matlock, and other Peak locations. Last of the Summer Wine, the world’s longest-running sitcom, was filmed in Holmfirth and the surrounding Holme Valley. The psychological thriller Dead Man’s Shoes (2003) was filmed in Matlock, Bonsall, Darley Dale, Tansley, and Riber, and included scenes at Riber Castle.