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Limestone, Dales and Caverns of The Peak District

Welcome to ThePeakDistrict.net - the site for all things Peak District and Derbyshire related including local information, online links and holidays in this wonderful part of northern England..

Visit the eastern part of the area known as the 'White Peak' and you'll frequently find yourself in the midst of pretty villages, green fields and the white limestone walls of the region. Look at a map of the Peak District and you'll see that in this area, (towards the middle and the east), the villages are more closely grouped and the network of minor roads is greater.It's an area generally characterised by beautiful, everchanging rural landscapes of hills and dales, villages, rivers and streams, farmland and woodland. It's an area popular with hikers, for its network of intersecting footpaths and bridleways, and easy to access by private or public transport. It's also the region in which you'll find the spectacular gorges and dales carved out of the limestone long ago. The region is home to an amazing variety of birds, small animals, insects, fungi and wild flowers. Quarrying and mining for lead were once major industries here.

Many of the more well known tourist spots of the Peak District are to be found in this region, and just to its north. Around Edale, from which the Pennine Way long distance walks starts (or ends!) and Castleton, are the famous Blue John Mines, Speedwell Cavern, Treak Cliff Cavern and Peak Cavern. Mam Tor (The Shivering Mountain) looms over over them from the west and the ruins of Peveril Castle hang above Castleton. Going further south and to the east is the 'plague village' of Eyam where, when plague arrived in Derbyshire in 1665, the villagers, led by the rector, Mompesson, isolated themselves from the rest of the countryside to stop the plague spreading. Food was brought from surrounding villages and left at the village boundaries so that there would be no outside contact. Eyam's inhabitants were decimated but they held firm and their self sacrifice has been commemorated and respected ever since.

Right on the south eastern fringe of this region is Cromford, midway between Wirksworth and Matlock. Cromford is famous for its water-powered spinning mill, the first successful one in the world, built by Richard Arkwright (born in Preston). So successful was it that he built others at Wirksworth and Matlock Bath, and created villages, with chapel, school and cottages, in which his workforce could live.

The Tissington Trail, along the now dis-used railway line, starts just to the north of Ashbourne. From here you can hire cycles or walk along this developed trail. If it's stately homes you want to visit then look no further than Chatsworth House, seat of the Duke of Devonshire, near Bakewell. It is a jewel amongst stately homes, needing superlatives to describe almost any aspect of it whether inside, outside, furnishings or grounds. Also relatively close to Bakewell is Haddon Hall, seat of the Duke of Rutland. This has less of the grandeur but more of the picturesque and romantic. It's a fortified medieval manor, dating back to the 12th century, complete with battlements and towers. Forever associated with the 16th century elopement, of Dorothy Vernon and John Manners, its romatic fame is assured. Still in Derbyshire, but just outside the Peak District, are two more stately homes well worth a visit, 18th century Kedleston Hall and Melbourne Hall, both close to Derby.