Peak Forest

Old Dam is a hamlet in Derbyshire, England. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Castleton on the edge of the village of Peak Forest.

Eldon Hill is a hill in the Peak District National Park in the county of Derbyshire, England, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southwest of the village of Castleton. It is a 470-metre (1,540 ft) limestone hill whose pastureland is used for rough grazing, although a large proportion has been lost to limestone quarrying. It lies within the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest. Eldon Hill was formed when a bed of pure limestone was squeezed and upfolded by geological forces to form a dome; it is the highest limestone hill north of the River Wye.The hill is of considerable geological, historical and industrial interest; it lies at the northern limit of the carboniferous limestone in the Peak District, as further north it merges into the millstone grit of the Dark Peak. The name Elveden is first attested in 1285 as Elvedon and seems to have meant 'Elves' hill'.Quarrying permission was granted in 1950 and huge quantities of limestone have been excavated, mostly for road-building purposes. A large amount of the northern and northwestern slopes of the hill have disappeared and it has been called the best-known eyesore in the Peak District. In 1995 an application by RMC Aggregates to extend the quarrying further east was denied as parliament tightened up on environmental problems caused by old mineral permissions granted between 1948 and 1981. The quarry closed in 1999 and now stands unused with vegetation starting to grow on the quarry face. There have been some attempts at natural restoration with several aquatic pools being established in the former workings. The termination of quarrying has also given cavers the chance to explore some of the narrow caves exposed by the work, with Sidetrack Cave (discovered 2002) being one of the most impressive. In September 2020 the quarry was used as a film location for a TV series called Ray James, inspired by H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.350 metres south of the summit lies Eldon Hole. At 55 metres it is the deepest pothole in the area and was named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in 1636. According to folk tradition, it is the abode of the Devil. Close to the summit of the hill lies a Bronze Age tumulus, a large burial site measuring 16 by 15 metres and 1.5 metres high. The tumulus, a Scheduled Monument, has been excavated on several occasions with human skeletons and jewellery amongst the finds. The hill is dotted with numerous lead mines, all disused and many capped off for safety. Eldon Hill can be climbed either from the villages of Peak Forest to the south or Castleton to the north. The approach from Castleton goes up Cave Dale with a return down Winnats Pass to give a very interesting walk. The approach from Peak Forest is shorter and passes Eldon Hole on the way. The summit of the hill stands just 100 metres from the edge of the fenced quarry workings and gives good views with Mam Tor, Axe Edge Moor and the town of Buxton all well seen.

Hay Dale is a short dry valley near Buxton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. It is part of a longer valley that runs for approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north–south from Peak Forest (on the A623 road) to the River Wye at Millers Dale. This valley has several names along its length: from the northern end running downhill these are Dam Dale, Hay Dale, Peter Dale and Monk's Dale. There is a farmland plateau on either side.Hay Dale is part of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve. Natural England manages the reserve which covers five separate dales of the White Peak (Lathkill Dale, Cressbrook Dale, Hay Dale, Long Dale and Monk's Dale). The Carboniferous limestone rocks of the reserve were formed 350 million years ago from the shells and sediments of a tropical sea. The landscape was then sculpted by the ice sheets from the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago. The reserve contains ash woodland, limestone grassland and many wildflowers including early purple orchid, cowslip, common rock rose and thyme. Butterflies are abundant and include the brown argus. The Limestone Way and the Peak District Boundary Walk long-distance footpaths run along the length of the gentle valley floor. The Pennine Bridleway crosses the northern end of the dale, dividing it from Dam Dale. Where the Limestone Way crosses the A623 road about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Hay Dale, the route of the old Batham Gate Roman road runs east–west.Access into Hay Dale from the north is via a footpath from Peak Forest through Dam Dale. From the south, the dale can be reached from the village of Wormhill along the Pennine Bridleway and through Peter Dale. A minor road running west from Wheston marks the southern end of Hay Dale and the start of Peter Dale.

The Peak District is an upland area in England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivided into the Dark Peak, moorland dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west of the district, and the White Peak covers central and southern areas. The highest point is Kinder Scout (2,087 ft (636 m)). Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.A 2021 report states that "the Park’s own population numbers around 40,000 and supports an estimated 18,000 jobs, predominantly through farming, manufacturing and, inevitably, tourism".The area has been inhabited since the Mesolithic era, and was largely agricultural until mining arose in the Middle Ages. During the Industrial Revolution several cotton mills were constructed in the area's valleys by Richard Arkwright. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.

Gautries Rake in Sparrowpit, Derbyshire, east of Chapel-en-le-Frith is a preserved example of a linear sequence of lead mine workings that date back to at least the late 17th century. The remains were classified as a scheduled monument on 21 March 2013.

Oxlow Cavern is a part-natural and part-mined cavern near Castleton in Derbyshire, England. It is situated on the south side of the road running from the A623 at Sparrowpit to the Winnats Pass, west of Castleton, and is almost opposite Giant's Hole on the other side of the road. A few yards from Oxlow Cavern is the connecting Maskill Mine.

Giant's Hole is a well-known cave near Castleton in Derbyshire, consisting mostly of large passages. It is a stream-way cave, and part of the Karst topography of the area.There is a complex system connecting the cave to Oxlow Cavern and Maskhill Mine to the south. The Entrance Series is easily accessible making it a favourite with novices and groups. The stream that flows into the entrance can be followed through the cave, bypassing three sumps, to the East Canal, Giant's Hole's terminal sump. There are several major tributary passages and a high-level fossil series that provides an alternative route through the cave and makes up part of the classic "round trip". East Canal has been dived to a depth of 24 metres (79 ft) in drought (but water levels are normally much higher). The connection to Oxlow Cavern is a "serious undertaking" and many cavers have underestimated the difficulty of the passage. Access is permissive, on payment of a fee at a parking area near Peakshill Farm. The cave is within the Castleton SSSI.Since 2002, the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation has attended 11 callouts to Giant's Hole, one of which resulted in a fatality.

Peter Dale is a short dry crag-sided valley near Buxton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. There is a farmland plateau on either side. The northern end of the valley leads into Hay Dale at Dale Head and the foot of the valley leads into Monk's Dale. Hay Dale and Monk's Dale are both part of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve managed by Natural England. The Carboniferous limestone rocks of all these dales were formed 350 million years ago from the shells and sediments of a tropical sea. The landscape was then sculpted by the ice sheets from the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago.The walking along the flat valley floor is easy except for a couple of short rock-strewn sections. The Limestone Way long-distance footpath runs along the length of the gentle valley floor. The Peak District Boundary Walk trail passes the northern end of the valley. The Pennine Bridleway runs across the southern end and then parallel to the dale about 1km to the east (through the hamlet of Wheston). Where the Limestone Way crosses the A623 road (about 1 km north of Hay Dale), the route of the old Batham Gate Roman road runs east–west.Peter Dale's limestone cliffs are well-suited to rock climbing, with 25 graded routes on Main Crag.Access into Peter Dale from the south can be made from the hamlet of Wormhill along the Pennine Bridleway. From the north there is a footpath from the village of Peak Forest (on the A623 road) through Dam Dale and Hay Dale.

Sparrowpit is a small village between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Peak Forest in the High Peak area of the Peak District, Derbyshire, England.The name is derived from 'spar row pit' from the fluorspar mines. The village has an active community, including a methodist chapel and village hall. It is situated at a crossroads where the main road (A623) takes a right-angled bend at the Wanted Inn. From this junction, one minor road takes a different and hillier route to Chapel-en-le-Frith, and another heads for Mam Tor and Castleton by way of the Winnats Pass.The watershed between rivers running east into the North Sea and west into the Irish Sea runs almost exactly through the village.

Rushup Edge is a ridge in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The ridge's highest point is Lord's Seat at 550 m (1,804 ft), while Mam Tor lies beyond its eastern end, at the western end of the Great Ridge. Lord's Seat is the site of a round barrow.

Hargate Wall is a hamlet in Derbyshire, England, situated northeast of Buxton and now part of Wormhill. The name Hargate Wall derives from Old English Herdwyk-waella, meaning "herd farm by the spring", so the first settlement was probably around AD 700–950. The hamlet now consists of several cottages, farms and property called Hayward Farm and Hargate Hall (completed and lived in by Robert Whitehead). On the edge of Hargate Wall is a Neolithic barrow known as Wind Low (53.2733°N 1.8299°W / 53.2733; -1.8299 (Wind Low)). Excavations have revealed the remains of a Neolithic chieftain and his family, a female member of a Celtic tribe and a Celtic necklace which is now in the Weston Park Museum in Sheffield.

Peak Dale is a small village in Derbyshire, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Buxton and 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southeast of Dove Holes. The population falls within the civil parish of Wormhill. The village is between Dove Holes Quarry (to the north) and Tunstead Quarry (to the south), with other smaller quarries in the vicinity. It was built to house quarry workers and their families, but some of the original houses have now been demolished. The village has a club (Great Rocks Club), a playground and a primary school. Great Rocks Dale lies immediately south of the village.