Dark Peak

The Dark Peak is the higher northern part of the Peak District, at the southern end of the Pennines, on the boundaries between the East Midlands and the North of England. It gets its name from the shales and sandstones, predominantly dark, which underlie the moors and here and there rise above the surface in dramatic crags. By contrast the White Peak is a limestone plateau. Another definition of the Dark Peak also includes the lower moors running further south along the east of the Derwent valley.

Geology

The character of the Dark Peak is formed by its height above the surrounding areas and its geology. The main rocks are sandstones and millstone grit, interpreted as the deposits from a river coming from a coming down from a mountain range that once existed in the area of the present Scottish Highlands. There are occasional thin seams of peat fossilised into coal, worth mining only on the eastern fringes.

The last ice age seems to have had little effect on the area, apart from a general levelling of the summits and some deposits of boulder clay.

There is a spectacular landslip in the valley of the River Alport, a river which now meanders gently along but was probably larger and more erosive after the last ice age. This has produced the "Alport Castles", which have fallen away from the eastern escarpment, and weathered into fantastic shapes.

Landscape

In the 1720s, Daniel Defoe, fresh from admiring the splendours of Chatsworth house and estate, wrote:

There is indeed an extended angle of this county, which runs a great way north west by Chappel in the Frith, and which they call High Peak. This, perhaps, is the most desolate, wild, and abandoned country in all England; The mountains of the Peak, of which I have been speaking, seem to be but the beginning of wonders to this part of the country, and but the beginning of mountains, or, if you will, the lower rungs of a ladder. The tops of these hills seem to be as much above the clouds, as the clouds are above the ordinary range of hills.

The exaggeration serves to mark the impact it made. (Defoe, incidentally, got his direction wrong. The area he was writing about is to the north-east, not the north-west, of Chapel en le Frith.)

The heart of the area is high moorland, cut by river valleys.

(CC) Photo: Martin Wyatt
Ashop valley from Fairbrook Naze, an outpost of the Kinder plateau, Derwent Edge on the horizon

The highest point is Kinder Scout, 636 metres, but its so-called summit is actually an almost flat peat-bog lying above steep slopes. Across the head of the Ashop valley to the north is Bleaklow, (aptly named), the next highest point. The moors gradually fall away to the north. To the south of Kinder Scout is a sharp descent into Edale, which may be seen as the boundary with the White Peak. The escarpment from the Kinder plateau into the Ashop valley on its north side is also a sudden descent, and both escarpments have picturesque rock outcrops. Around the head of the Derwent valley, which runs north-south on the east are some of the highest and most striking hills and outcrops, including Horse Stone Naze, the Grinah Stones and the Crow Stones.

There is no settlement of more than a few buildings in the central area, but there is a scattering of farms.

Archaeology and early history

The few finds that have been made from the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages suggest that the area was not settled at the time, though it was used for hunting, and later settlement has always been sparse. There were Iron Age forts on the edges of the area, at Mam Tor and Carl Wark.

The Romans built a fort (Navio) at Brough in the Hope Valley, immediately to the south. There may have been a Roman road over the Snake Pass, but its route and even its existence are contested. The Ordnance Survey map shows a Roman road on the route of the A57, as it goes north-west up Lady Clough, and an old built-up trackway is visible parallel to part of it, but no more can be said.

It seems likely that many of the farms in the valleys are of ancient origin. There are villages on the edges of the central area, one of them a deserted medieval village at Padley.

Industry

Industrial activity was mainly associated with extracting minerals and peat from the ground and processing them. Crags, loose rocks and quarries provided millstones, other grinding and dressing stones, and building materials. The millstones were shaped on site, and many complete or partly formed ones are lying around below some Edges. Stone and peat were often brought down by sleds on well-worn routes.

A medieval bole (hearth) for smelting lead was near the upper end of the present Howden reservoir, where the channeling of the wind provided a good draught. Coal was mined on the eastern moors at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century.

Roads, tracks, paths

Two major roads run roughly east-west through the area, connecting the Manchester and Sheffield conurbations. The northern route, the Woodhead pass, is signposted to direct more traffic onto it, and avoids the more dramatic countryside. The southern one, the Snake pass, goes up the Ashop valley and descends rapidly into Glossop.

Two long distance footpaths cross the area: the Pennine Way, running north from Edale to the Scottish Borders, and the Trans-Pennine Trail (which is also a cycle route) running east-west, coast to coast. There are numerous footpaths and bridleways, and the great majority of the land is open access to walkers.

There are various farm tracks and other tracks, often popular with mountain bikers (see under Recreational use below); also a few sledge routes once used for bringing stone down from the crags (see above under Archaeology and early history/Industry).

Recreational use

The Peak District National Park as a whole has more visitors than any other in England, and parts of the Dark Peak are heavily used.

Walking The Dark Peak offers walks of all standards from gentle strolls along the banks of reservoirs to strenuous long-distance hikes across difficult terrain. A well used route up and along Derwent Edge involves a climb and descent of about 200 metres. Paths such as these are fortified and repaired by the National Park Authority to prevent erosion. Certain routes are very well used, but others not, though it is rare never to meet other walkers.

Running on the steep slopes is practised for fitness, or as orienteering, or for enjoyment in itself.

Biking The Dark Peak offers mountain bikers the steep slopes and rock-strewn tracks which provide them with a struggle upwards and a perilous fast descent. The use of the area for moto-cross seems to have been mostly stamped out. There are also gentler cycle routes, which are well used, especially the one around the Derwent reservoirs.

Riding Although there are many bridleways in the area, these are used more by cyclists than by horse-riders.

Climbing Rock-climbing and bouldering are mostly confined to the rock Edges on the periphery of the area, these being easily accessible with equipment. The rocky heights are less used.

Grouse shooting There are extensive grouse moors within the area, with shooting butts served by tracks for four-wheel drive vehicles. The vegetation is often managed to favour grouse, giving a curious patchwork effect.

Aircraft wrecks

Many aircraft have crashed onto these heights, enough for an ordinary walker to come across several without looking for them; but there are guidebooks to to tell those interested where to find them and to give their history.