A Taste of the Peak District |
Accommodation, activities and attractions of the Peak District of the UK |
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Home >> General Information >> The White Peak |
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The Peak District was the first region in the UK to be designated as a National Park. Read a little more about the area known as the ‘White Peak’ on this page.
How to contact us.How to get to the Peak District National Park - Midland Mainline, Virgin trains, Central, Transpennine Express or National Express coach |
The White Peak is the area of the National Park that is underlain by limestone. The area takes the form of a limestone plateau, about 300m (100 feet) above sea level. The plateau is criss-crossed with dry stone walls. It is well drained and is dissected by both dry valleys and river valleys. The soils are poor and calcareous, creating grazing land for both sheep and cattle. Click here for more information about the flora and fauna of the White Peak.See our geology page for more information about this limestone plateau.The area of the White Peak has been comprehensively enclosed with fields of all shapes and sizes thanks to the various Enclosure Acts. Round the areas of Tideswell (pronounced ‘Tidsall’), Flagg, Chelmorton and Youlgrave, you can see long thin fields created by the enclosure of medieval strip fields. There are hundreds of miles of footpaths, bridleways and green tracks that give access to the area. If you come to the Peak District to drive offroad in motor vehicles, please use the latter sensitively in order to ensure that they are not destroyed - many have already been badly damaged by trail bikes and 4x4 drivers despite the provision of alternative venues that preserve bridleways. There is a also a network of dismantled railways that provide easy trails for visitors and locals to exploit.In the Buxton area, the quarrying of limestone from the edges of the plateau is a major industry. Mining was a major industry during the 18th and 19th centuries with mines like Ecton and Millclose providing copper and lead not only for Britain but also to th rest of the world. The Peak District National Park was formed in 1951 and has roughly the shape of a right hand (fingers together, thumb spread apart) laid flat on the surface of the Earth. The part between the index finger an thumb incorporates the quarrying round Buxton, thus avoiding the conflict between conservation and destruction. Several of the worked out quarries left behind rock faces of interest to climbers, local activists like Gary Gibson and ‘Sid’ Siddiqui have created large numbers of bolted climbs (thanks guys) in these. Access can be a little sensitive, the quarry owners are not always sympathetic to climbing! |
Location and maps ...Visitor’s map, official tourist map or map and guidebook of the Peak District. Pub walks, tea shop walks or classic walks (in association with Amazon). Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 (2 1/2 inches to the mile for us oldies!) map of the White Peak or Dark Peak (10% discount off list prices).Click here to find out where the Peak District National Park is and how to get to the Peak District.
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