Walking in the Peak District - White Peak East

Book excerpt: This guidebook to walking in the Peak District details 35 day walks and 7 longer trails in the eastern part of the White Peak, part of the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire. This volume includes walks near Bakewell, Matlock and Eyam, the plague village, as well as the Monsal Trail, Tissington Trail and White Peak Circular. Ranging between 4 and 12 miles in length and largely following well-marked paths over gentle landscapes, these walks are suitable for walkers of all abilities. Walking in the Peak District is enjoyable all year round although the famous limestone landscapes can be slippery in or after wet weather. Walks are illustrated with extracts of 1:50,000 OS mapping, while the longer walks and trails are covered by 1:100,000 scale mapping. Free GPX files available to aid navigation. Walkers can use the longer trails to link day walks into longer routes or explore the area on the three-day White Peak Circular, starting in Birchover. While geologically fascinating with its layers of limestone and gritstone, the White Peak is also a landscape rich in history and art. These walks visit sites including medieval churches, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cromford Mill, and Eyam, a village devastated by plague in the 1660s. Out on the hills are stone circles and ancient sites such as the Neolithic burial site of Arbor Low.