The Peak District

Covering the counties of Staffordshire and Derbyshire

The Pennine's are the backbone of the British Isles, a complex range of hills and mountains which start at the border with Scotland and which continue south through the Yorkshire Dales for nearly 250 miles (400 km) before gently decending towards the towns of  Derby and Stafford in central England. The Peak District is Britain's first National Park,designated as such in 1951. It lies between the great industrial cities of the North - Manchester, built on the wealth of a global cotton industry and Sheffield, once the world's centre for steel manufacturing.

Although the Peak District which straddles the counties of South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Stafforshire attributes its peaks to limestone crowned by its highest, Kinder Scout,  it offers a completely different landscape to to that of the Yorkshire Dales. However, the rural buildings and ancient villages are mostly built from local stone not so disimilar to those to be found further north in the Dales. Due to the exposed winds, winters can be equally as harsh as to the Lakes and Dales with heavy snowfall which regularly cuts off access to both cities via the famous Snake Pass.

The Peak District is famous for its rural beauty and as a playground for visitors from all over the country. It is also home to one of Britain's greatest complete and still occupied stately homes- Chatsworth House (ancestral seat of the Dukes of Devonshire), the famous spa town of Buxton and Blue John Mines where its famous mineral crystal still mined for its decorative beauty in jewelry and ornaments and the only place on earth to be found.