Seen as we’re in this lockdown period, we’ve been busy exploring and learning more about our surroundings.
With Peak District National Park being only an hours drive from where we live, we thought about doing multiple trips to the place over the next few months.
It was for this reason I thought it may be fun and interesting to do some research on some fun facts about the place. Hope it helps and inspires you the way it did for us!
Oh, and just incase you’re wondering about the location of the picture above, it is Hope Valley in the Peak District National Park
Here are some fun facts about the Peak District National Park
- The Peak District National Park is the first of Britain’s 15 national parks as it was founded in 1951.
- It reaches into five counties: Derbyshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester. It is the most accessible national park – close to Manchester, Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham.
- The Peak District National Park has 13.25 million visitors every year (STEAM, 2018) and is one of the most popular national parks in the UK.
- An estimated 20 million people live within one hour’s journey of the Peak District. More than 50 million people live within four hours’ journey.
- It has 1,600 miles of public rights of way (footpaths, bridleways and tracks) including 64 miles accessible to disabled people.
- The starting point at the southern end of the Pennine Way, Britain’s oldest long-distance national walking trail, is at Edale in the Peak District National Park. Completed in 1965, it stretches 268 miles from the Nag’s Head pub in Edale to the Border Hotel, Kirk Yetholm, Scotland.
- Around 520 sq km (202 sq miles) is open access land – open to walkers without having to stick to paths (more details: http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/visiting/crow).
- The name ‘Peak’ does not relate to mountains (there are none) – it is thought to derive from the Pecsaetan, an Anglo-Saxon tribe who settled the area.
- Highest point: Kinder Scout, 636 metres (2086 ft).
- Nearly 90 per cent of the national park is farmland (around 1,800 farms).
- More than a third of the national park (35%) is designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) where important plants, wildlife and geological formations should be conserved. Most are privately-owned though often publicly-accessible.
- Film, TV and literary locations: Chatsworth (Pride and Prejudice), Haddon Hall (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth, Henry VIII, Moll Flanders), Lyme Hall (Pride and Prejudice), North Lees Hall (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Other Boleyn Girl).
- Scheduled historic monuments: more than 450, including Nine Ladies Stone Circle (Bronze Age) on Stanton Moor, Neolithic henge at Arbor Low.
Don’t worry if you can’t travel this summer. Maybe use this time to explore your surroundings and sites close by to you. I promise, you will not be disappointed.
References
https://www.theoutdoorcity.co.uk/sheffield-city-life/attractions/hope-valley-p867991
https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-about/news/mediacentrefacts
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