glaciation: the site offers signs that nomadic hunter-gatherers reached the Peak District between 45,000 and 10,000BC.
More recently, many of the fringes of the Peak District were hotbeds of industrial revolution – with Richard Arkwright’s Mills giving the Derwent Valley UNESCO World Heritage status, and the Platt brothers of Saddleworth’s cotton-spinning technology a less well known but highly important part of the industrial history of the region. Railways blossomed, and industrial extraction of raw materials shaped the landscape as we see it today.
Art, culture and local festivities
The Peak District is a thriving region for artists and craft-workers of all disciplines, and their work can be found in studios, craft shops, galleries and performance venues across the region. However, Derbyshire and the Peak District are also home to a number of lesser-known traditions and cultural events. Well dressing is perhaps the best known of these, where a clay ‘tablet’ is pressed with flowers and other (usually natural) materials to make a picture. The dressing (sometimes locally also called a ‘well’), tends to be made by the locals of a village over the course of a week or so, and is then blessed and displayed near their water source. This custom is thought to have its origins in an ancient pagan ritual giving thanks for fresh water; the tradition is (almost) uniquely found in Derbyshire, although a recent revival is spreading into Staffordshire and other parts of the UK.
Well dressing at Carsington Visitor Centre (Route 4)
Other notable festivities include:
Shrovetide Football – an ancient town-wide game played over a ‘pitch’ of three miles on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday (Feb/Mar) in Ashbourne (Route 6)
Garland Day in Castleton – a celebration that originated in Charles I’s escape from the Roundhead army by hiding in an oak tree (29 May, Route 17)
Buxton Festival – a festival with its roots in new opera, that now encompasses literature, off-beat classical music and walking (July, Route 11)
Bakewell Agricultural Show (Aug, Routes 10 and 11)
Wirksworth Art and Architecture Trail Festival – an unusual but highly renowned art exhibition where many of the local houses become part of a town-wide art gallery for a weekend (Sept, Route 9)
Matlock Bath Illuminations – the inland town that believes it’s on the sea-front lights up the autumn (Sept/Oct, near start/end of Tour de Peak District, Route 21).
When to go
The best time to cycle in the Peak District is the summer. Days are longer, the weather is warmer (if not always sunnier!), and routes tend to be much drier and less muddy than in winter. On the downside, accommodation and transport are busier, more expensive, get booked up earlier and the honeypot centres such as Castleton and Bakewell can fill up – especially at the weekend. However, just a couple of kilometres away from these, peace and quiet can be found – even in midsummer. Many festivals, such as well dressings, take place in the summer.
Family of cyclists on the Manifold trail (Route 15)
Late spring and early autumn can also offer great cycling: the weather is often drier and sunnier (although also often windier) and the days are still reasonably long. Accommodation is cheaper and less busy, as are trains, planes and honeypot centres, but festivals are fewer.
Winter is not recommended for the novice cyclist; conditions can feel arctic at times, trails can be much rougher and days are short. However, for the experienced and prepared cyclist, winter offers a quiet, more adventurous angle to a cycling visit to the Peak District.
Getting there
Visitors to the UK from outside Europe are likely to arrive by air in London, Birmingham or Manchester. Regional airports such as East Midlands in the south of the region, Leeds/Bradford or Doncaster in the north tend to be served by low-cost and budget airlines, and will usually provide a better gateway for European visitors than London.
Trains run from London to Derby, Chesterfield or Sheffield, Stoke, Macclesfield and Manchester; from Manchester to Sheffield, Huddersfield, Leeds and Buxton; from Doncaster to Leeds or Sheffield; and from Leeds to Birmingham via Sheffield and Derby.
Hire cars are available from the usual corporate outlets – these days, price comparison sites such as www.moneysupermarket.com, www.holidayautos.co.uk, www.rentalcars.co.uk, www.skyscanner.net and www.lastminute.com are the way to search for a good deal.
Visas are needed by some foreign nationals – see www.gov.uk/visa-fees for more information. Short-term (6-month) tourist visas usually cost roughly £80–£100.
Crossing the high plateau of Abney and Shatton Moors (Route 17)
Getting around
In the first edition of this guidebook, railway stations were used as starting points wherever possible. However, due to a crackdown on non-rail user car parking at stations, some routes were left without any parking nearby, making access for everyone (however they get to the start) more problematic and a few route changes necessary (unfortunately less helpful to rail users).
If driving, a cycle rack on the back of the car, or an estate car (which can take bikes in the back) is useful for transporting bikes, especially if carrying more than one.
Trains
Readers who are accustomed to efficient and user-friendly facilities for taking cycles on trains in other countries should beware of Britain’s notoriously inconsistent and often user-hostile offerings! You may encounter the following issues:
there are several different train operating companies, who often have different and conflicting policies regarding cycles
a single rail route may be used by two or more companies with different policies
cycles are commonly limited to two per train
tandems are very rarely carried at all
cycles often need to be reserved in advance onto specific trains
internet and telephone services for general ticket sales are still frequently unable to perform cycle reservations – you may need to visit a station in person, with the ticket you bought online, to make a cycle reservation
some services, by contrast, are non-reservable, the spaces being filled on a first-come, first-served basis
a non-reservable first stage of your journey may jeopardise later connections requiring a reservation
even with a reservation, there is no guarantee the train service will take your bike on the day
oh, and by the way, don’t even think about taking a bike onto a bus!
However, having painted this grim picture, you will in practice find that long journeys can be successfully completed with a little patience, and that the strict company policies are implemented much more leniently by their staff on the ground.
www.cyclestreets.net is a useful website for planning otherwise fiddly urban routes from railway stations to the start (or middle) of routes where linking directions are not given specifically.