England’s Peak District: Gateway to the Pennines (Part 1)

Between Manchester and Sheffield, there’s a wild national park where the Pennine Way begins

First published 18 May 2022, on my website a-maverick.com.

AFTER Oxford, I drove northward to the Peak District National Park, between Manchester and Sheffield. This is where the mighty Pennine Ranges of northern England begin.

Location of the Peak District National Park in northern England. The national park is about 60 km (37 or 38 miles) from north to south as the crow flies. Map data ©2022 Google, north at top.

From here on north, though the south of England is gently rolling for the most part, it’s surprisingly wild country all the way to Scotland, with one nature-park after another.

Some of the national parks and ‘areas of outstanding national beauty’ from the Manchester-Peak District-Sheffield area northward to Scotland. Map data ©2022 Google, north at top.

Here is a topographical view that highlights the Pennine Range. For 278 miles or 435 km, you can hike the Pennine Way, which begins in the Peak District and ends a short distance over the border in Scotland.

‘Topographic Map of the Pennines’ by Kreuzschnabel, 20 June 2020, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

There is a complete map of the Pennine Way, for info only, on Wikimedia Commons.