Dark Peak
The Dark Peak is the higher, wilder northern part of the Peak District in Derbyshire, and spreading across into Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The Dark Peak is so named because (in contrast to the White Peak), its felltops are covered in a thick layer of black peat; here the underlying limestone is covered by a cap of Millstone Grit which means that in winter the soil is almost always saturated with water. The land is thus largely uninhabited moorland plateaux where almost any depression is filled with sphagnum bogs and the peat results. The High Peak is an alternative name for the Dark Peak.
The areas of Millstone Grit form an 'inverted horseshoe' around the lower uncapped limestone areas of the White Peak. Hence the Dark Peak is said to cover the higher Derbyshire Peaks north of the Hope Valley, as well as the Western Moors in the area of Buxton, and the Eastern Moors stretching south towards Matlock. The Dark Peak is one of 159 National Character Areas defined by Natural England; their defined area covers 334 square miles and includes the northern block of hills approximately bounded by Marsden, Stocksbridge, Hathersage and Chapel-en-le-Frith, plus the Eastern Moors south to Matlock, but excludes the Western Moors south of Chapel (which they place in NCA 53, the South West Peak) and the area around Glossop (in NCA 54, Manchester Pennine Fringe).[1]
An area of 78,708 acres is designated as the Dark Peak Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI),[2] which excludes the separately designated Eastern Moors.[3]
Principal upland areas within the Dark Peak include Kinder Scout, Bleaklow (both of which rise to over 2,000 feet, and lie wholly within Derbyshire), and Black Hill on the Cheshire/Yorkshire border.
Over the years, a number of military aircraft have crashed on the Dark Peak, generally due to atrocious weather conditions. Due to the bleakness and emptiness of the high moorlands, their wrecks tend to remain untouched, and are often stumbled across by hikers in these remote places.
Outside links
References
- ↑ "NCA Profile: 51 Dark Peak (NE378)". Natural England. http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/3684793?category=587130. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ↑ "The Dark Peak (SSSI citation)". Natural England. 8 July 1993. http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003028.pdf. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ↑ "Eastern Peak District Moors (SSSI citation)". Natural England. 22 December 1999. http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/2000354.pdf. Retrieved 4 April 2013.