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  • High Life on the High Peak

    The successive iterations of the Cromford and High Peak Railway are a reflection of modern British history. Originally conceived as a canal in the early 1800s, it was intended to link the Peak Forest Canal with the Cromford Canal, a scheme that involved an ascent of about a thousand feet. But not only was such…

  • Phantom platform 2

    Trains no longer stop at platform 2, Whatstandwell station, for the very good reason that there are no railway tracks beside it. In fact, since the line was demoted in the Beeching era, the route has been single track from Matlock to Belper, whereas before that it was the main line from Derby to Manchester.…

  • St James to St Giles via St John

    Many visitors (and some residents) don’t realise that the core of old Matlock is around St Giles’ church. The modern town, centred on Crown Square, is clearly linked to the bridge of about 1250, but all the development here is late Victorian. There may have been another Derwent crossing place, before the bridge was built,…

  • Lonely Youlgrave?

    Today Youlgrave is a popular village in the Peak District – especially busy at weekends with visitors and second-home owners. It is built on the ridge between the steep valleys of the Lathkill to the north and the Bradford to the south; the two rivers joining less than a mile away, before Alport. But Youlgrave…

  • Peak Tor: Mound of mystery

    Peak Tor is a steep, tree-crowned hill between Rowsley and Stanton. It is best seen from the north side of the Wye valley, on the old road to Bakewell, from where the ditch and bank earthworks are clearly visible. I walked the site on a chilly April morning, when geese were honking on the river…