THE PEOPLE’S PARK
What better way to celebrate the Peak District National Park’s 70th birthday this year than to walk its 190-mile-long boundary? The Peak District may not be Britain’s largest national park (it only ranks sixth) but it is its first, and within its 555 square miles there’s a thrillingly diverse landscape.
The Dark Peak is a brooding landscape of exposed moorland, rocky outcrops and dizzying escarpments. Its fringes are pooled by reservoirs and scattered with gritty mill settlements, rich in industrial heritage. The Dark Peak’s underlying gritstone stretches across the north of the park, with arms, east and west, cradling a gentler White Peak of meadow and dale.
The White Peak’s limestone soil nurtures an abundance of wildflowers and the insects and butterflies that feed off them. Tucked into the uplands and dales are historic stone-built settlements and fine country houses, all inviting exploration.
In spring, it is heavenly here – Dark Peak or White. The season begins with the first green shoots of snowdrop and wood anemone emerging from the
