Peak District National Park

There’s a Tolkeinesque landscape divide here.  The northerly Dark Peak is wilder, famed for its windswept and exposed tracts of moorland top.  Further south in the White Peak, gently rolling limestone plateaus are dissected by dales and colourful hay meadows.

The landed gentry of the Peak District built some of the most resplendent historic houses and stately homes in the country here.  Chatsworth House has been handed down through 16 generations of the Cavendish family and is open to visitors.

Tight-knit communities thrive in the National Park, honouring distinctive customs. Well dressing – originally a pagan ceremonial pledge of flowers, seeds, twigs, nots and berries to the water gods – is now a summer tradition in dozens of villages.

The rebellious ramblers of the 1932 Kinder Mass Trespass were imprisoned for protesting on the moors for the right to have open access, eventually leading to legislation establishing the UK National Parks we have today.