Walking in the Peak District - White Peak East

42 walks in Derbyshire including Bakewell, Matlock and Stoney Middleton

By Paul Besley

Guidebook describing 42 half-day and day walks in the limestone landscapes of Derbyshire's White Peak, part of the Peak District National Park. One of two volumes, this book covers the east of the region, with potential bases including Bakewell, Eyam, Castleton, Birchover, Matlock and Wirksworth.

Seasons

Walking in the Peak District is enjoyable all year round although the famous limestone landscapes can be slippery in or after wet weather. A snowy winter walk in the White Peak can be an enchanting experience.

Centres

Ashbourne, Bakewell, Calver, Chatsworth, Cromford, Eyam, Hope, Matlock, Middleton, Monyash, Parwich, Stoney Middleton, Tissington, Tideswell, Youlgrave, Wirksworth, Winster

Difficulty

Ranging between 4 and 12 miles in length and largely following well-marked paths over gentle landscapes, these walks are suitable for walkers of all abilities. Free GPX files available to aid navigation.

Must See

Market town of Bakewell; medieval village of Tissington; plague village of Eyam; Thorpe's Norman church; Chatsworth House; Haddon Hall; Cromford World Heritage Site; Stanton Moor stone circle; the Dales of Lathkill and Cressbrook; Thorpe Cloud; the Monsal Trail; the Companion Stones on White Edge; limestone plateaus; Neolithic burial site of Arbor Low; the Headstone Viaduct
ISBN
9781852849764
Availability
Published
Published
16 May 2020
Reprinted
15 Oct 2022
Edition
Third
Pages
232
Size
17.20 x 11.60 x 1.60cm
Weight
260g
Overview
This guidebook provides 35 day walks and 7 longer walks and trails exploring the eastern section of Derbyshire's limestone area. The walks are spread across the area, starting in pleasant towns and villages including Bakewell, Tissington, Eyam and Middleton. Largely travelling along well-marked paths over gentle rolling landscapes, these walks are suitable for walkers of all abilities.

The day walks range between 4 and 12 miles in length, and are illustrated with extracts of 1:50,000 OS mapping, while the longer walks and trails are covered by 1:100,000 scale mapping. Walkers can use the longer trails to link day walks into longer routes or explore the area on the three-day White Peak Circular, starting in Birchover.

While geologically fascinating with its layers of limestone and gritstone, the White Peak is also a landscape rich in history and art. These walks visit sites including medieval churches, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cromford Mill, and Eyam, a village devastated by plague in the 1660s. Out on the hills are stone circles and ancient sites such as the Neolithic burial site of Arbor Low.
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Paul Besley Cicerone author BESLEY

Paul Besley

Paul Besley is a writer who began exploring the British Landscape while at school in the 1970s. His focus of work is the interaction between human and the land. His work has evolved into the study of how the physical environment imprints itself on humans and how as a race we respond. His belief that walking is a simple activity has led him to support the effort of many just starting out on a lifetime of pleasure. He has a desire to show people that walking does not just have to be in the hills and mountains of national parks or rely on expensive equipment but can be enjoyed from the front door of home through our urban landscape and out into our local countryside. His books, Day Walks in the South Pennines and 1001 Walking Tips for Vertebrate Publishing, and the three Peak District guidebooks for Cicerone Press, are well respected by walkers and explorers of all ages. He lives close to the Peak District in The Outdoor City of Sheffield with his partner, metalsmith Alison Counsell, their three dogs Monty, Olly, and Scout.

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