White and Dark Peak, Derbyshire, Peak District, England, UK

White & Dark Peak

The landscape of the Peak

Landscapes in the Peak District come in two forms, the Dark Peak and the White Peak. The brooding high moorland tops of the Dark Peak in the north, take their name from the underlying gritstone. Known as millstone grit from its former use, the millstone is now used to mark out the Peak Park boundary.

The High Peak ( as it is known) was described by Daniel Defoe as "perhaps the most desolate wild and abandoned country in all England", its windswept, mist-shrouded and inhospitable moorland often encompasses large areas of bogland. It is a firm favourite with walkers on the Pennine Way which meanders north from the tiny village of Edale, the beginning of Kinder Scout.

The southern limestone hills and dales of the White Peak are altogether gentler and undulating. The plateaux have been eroded into deep forested dales populated by small stone villages and often threaded by walking trails along former rail routes. Here you will discover the beautiful valley of the River Wye and the landscape of the limestone plateaux that is characterised by thousands of stone walls enclosing the fields.

The Wye itself has a total of 15 tributary dales between Buxton and Ashford -in -the -Water, 8 north of the river and 7 south of it.

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