Exploring the Peak District for the First Time

Recently, I took a trip to the Peak District, with a couple of friends, in the hope of exploring a new part of the country, with the added bonus of escaping the thought of COVID 19.

The Peak District was the first founded National Park in the UK, founded in 1951, and spreads over five counties; Cheshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester – covering an area of 555 sq miles (1,440km²).

The rolling hills, beautiful hikes and hopefully some bird of prey sightings was what drew me to this area in particular. In-fact, the Peak District is home to 161 species that have been identified as priorities for the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) because they are at risk of being lost from our countryside. So if I could spot just a few of these it would be a worthwhile trip!

We found a great AirBnB, for a very reasonable price in Low Bradfield, just a few minutes drive from Sheffield city centre. If you are looking for a quintessentially English village this is it, pubs, cricket club, tea rooms and rolling hills of farm land were all in abundance.

We started off, on our evening of arrival, with a short walk to Damflask reservoir, one of two beautiful reservoirs in the area. As you can see from the picture below, we were lucky with the weather all weekend and the reservoir itself boasts fantastic views. If you had more time you could explore the many cycle and walking routes around the reservoir, or enjoy a spot of fishing, with bream, chub, dace, perch, pike, roach and tench all present.

On our second day we embarked on, what for the majority of us was, a grueling hiking adventure through the Peak District’s beautiful rolling hills and pristine countryside. We took an 8 mile circular route between Castleton and the Mam Tor peak, which was tiring and took us all morning, but was well worth it for the views and the opportunity to explore this amazing British national park for the first time.

It was incredibly windy at the top as you might expect from being 517m high! If you do not fancy the large hike that we took there is the option to park nearby and just hike up the peak itself, which is well worth seeing for the breathtaking views.

We even saw, what I believe to be a Buzzard, although this was difficult to identify from the peak of Mam Tor, as when identifying birds it is very rare to actually be above them while they are in flight!

The Buzzards are now one of Britain’s most populous birds of prey with an estimated 60-80,000 breeding pairs in the UK. They have a wingspan of over a metre in length, and tend to prey on small mammals, birds and carrion. They are often mistaken for Eagles due to their broad, rounded wings and large size, and as such are known as the tourists’ eagle, due to being mistaken for this larger bird of prey.

After a tiring day hiking up Mam Tor we decided to take it a bit easier on ourselves for out last day. We visited Curbar Edge, a much shorter and less hilly hike, and an excellent viewpoint!

For those looking for exceptional views without the long hiking experience this is a must see and arguably boasts better views than those at the large peaks such as Mam Tor, as is evident by the picture below!

We then went to experience the other reservoir in the area, the Agden reservoir, but this time took the opportunity to walk its perimeter. Once again there are great cycle and walking routes for all to enjoy, as well as beautiful forest and lake views if this is more your style than the mountainous peaks.

As you can see from the pictures, the Peak District as a lot to offer and there are plenty of options for everyone. You can explore lakes, forests or peaks all of which have their own character and wildlife to explore and I highly recommend a trip to anyone looking for a UK peaceful break during these uncertain COVID impacted times!