visitors throughout the summer. They may seem symbolic in this age of piped mains water, but whether you consider water God-given or – as the pagans felt – a reward for a respect for Mother Earth, it can never be taken for granted. It is ultimately part of nature’s dominion.
Herb-rich White Peak pasture near Alstonefield (Walk 21)
The sensitive wanderer may concur that Peakland is a pastoral rhapsody. With sheep and cattle the mainstay of agriculture there is a special pleasure in striding through a succession of herb-rich meadows, past grazing flocks and herds, occasionally pungent with the whiff of field-spread slurry. You may spot the odd landsman checking his stock, quad-biked, or aboard his tractor mowing or harvesting silage. Rusting machinery may be spotted in field corners making a link with the recent past. Intermingled with this farming life another more intimate and eye-catching world exists. Through the summer months a wealth of wild flowers clings to field margins, rocky ledges, secretive dales, woods and byways. Many walkers halt before a lovely scene and on lifting their cameras find they are drawn to focus instead on the enchanting petals delicately swaying in the foreground, like the delicate blue flowers of the meadow crane’s-bill against the irregular backdrop of rustic field walls.
Black Lion Inn, Butterton (Walk 3)
Although full of recreational opportunities the Peak District is every inch a working landscape. Stone quarries abound in both rock zones, some dormant and others active, a dominant component of the modern economy. Lead mining has left its mark and the vestigial traces can provide intriguing discoveries on many a walk. You may notice that the shallow lead rake workings are universally orientated east/west because this is how the veins intruded laterally. In village houses and churches we witness how the local stone has yielded to man’s desire to transform it into something more than the merely functional (although most limestone rock is crushed and wheeled away on lorries for other purposes).
Hollins Hill escarpment (Walk 13)
Stile at Steps Farm (Walk 4)
The handsome spa town of Buxton would grace any national park, but limestone quarries to east and south sadly denied it any chance of inclusion. Nonetheless, the built environment and the rural landscape are by and large harmonious and the buildings are a fascinating part of the outdoor experience. Many people brought up on the doorstep of the Park – from Sheffield to Derby in the east, from Manchester to Stoke in the west and even down to Birmingham in the south – share an understandable desire ultimately to make their home in one of these distinctive communities. And this process ensures their reinvigoration and the restoration of many a humble cottage and the sympathetic conversion of retired barns.
From Protests to the Park Authority
The Peak District holds an exalted place in the history of the campaign for public access to wild places in England. It is a movement that can trace its roots to the formation of the Hayfield and Kinder Scout Ancient Footpaths Association in 1876. The years that followed were scarred with many bitter disputes and confrontations – some petty, some serious. The Sheffield Clarion Ramblers held the first mass trespass gathering in the natural arena of Winnats Pass in 1927, but five years later came a much more significant incident.
In 1932 local working class ramblers took a stand, or rather a march, en masse, walking over a forbidden heather moor, ascending William Clough from Bowden Bridge near Hayfield aiming for Kinder Downfall. This notorious ‘Kinder Trespass’ set off a bang that resonates still, and eventually unravelled the unjust exclusion of the public from vast tracts of open country. At last the soul of society was let free to roam the wild places. Twenty years later the national parks were established to meet the greater need, to recognise the importance of particularly cherished landscapes for the nation, and to introduce hands-on management, for with liberty comes responsibility.
Since its establishment the Peak Park Authority has gained an honourable reputation in defence of the intrinsic character of these uplands, frequently having to strike a delicate balance between serving the vital recreational needs of a vast urban population and those of the local inhabitants. No planning authority has a completely unblemished reputation and although a tiny proportion of the 40,000 people who live within the Park’s bounds do see the Authority in a negative light, it is clear that the long-term well-being of the resident population is their prime concern. It will only be through the continued fostering of a closer harmony of interest that the future well-being of the area will be secured. The Park Board does have a strong local composition to ensure a genuine care for the land and its economic viability.
Walking In the White Peak
In September 2004, following the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000, the map of the Park gained a fresh impetus for walkers: the valley system of the White Peak became Open Access land. Hitherto ‘wild’ dale rims and pockets of rough land became available to the wanderer, but with this liberty comes a shared duty of care. The many precious gifts of nature cling precariously in these places and over-exercising of these ‘rights’ can cause delicate plants and creatures unnecessary stress.
Be sparing with your visits and conscious of your imprint. Many walkers also eagerly bring their best friends – by which I mean their canine chums. Please be aware that you may well encounter farm stock on the paths so keep them on a tight rein and ‘lead’ them not into the temptation of running free.
Sheep talk at Rushley Farm (Walk 12)
Curious cattle at Weags Barn: ‘You ask him.’ ‘No, you ask him.’ (Walk 8)
The White Peak offers an amiable environment for walkers despite the vagaries of its climate. Lively streams run alongside verdant pastures grazed by cattle and sheep; blocks of woodland are dissected by countless walls; limestone outcrops fringe the dale edges and complete the interplay of green and grey. The villages fit perfectly into the age-old mosaic.
The one discordant note of recent decades has been the industrial extraction of stone, bringing lorries to the district’s roads in profusion. But once away from the roads the walker has an extensive and well-maintained footpath network to enjoy. Walkers can feel at ease and relaxed in their wanderings as in few other places in England.
Wolfscote Dale: a nonchalant resident grey heron, intent on food (Walk 17)
The River Dove at Washgate Bridge (Walk 13)
Walkers descending the lovely dry valley backing Wetton Mill (Walk 9)
The Southern Dales
These two companion guides to the White Peak have been divided along the axis of the High Peak Trail, between Buxton and the Cromford Canal, near Matlock. This recreational adaptation of the Cromford & High Peak Railway forms a high spine over the
