I’ve lived in and around the Peak District for most of my life, and only yesterday did I learn that “The Peak District” is a fairly non-specific geographical location whilst the Peak District National Park has a defined boundary. For many many years I thought they were one and the same.

Every day’s a school day, so felt like sharing for other people as ignorant as I 🙂

Buxton is in the Peak District but not in the National Park. Took me a couple of years working round there till I saw a map and figured it out….

It’s also worth pointing out that it’s correctly shortened to “The Peak” and not “Peaks”…. 😀

@morecashthandash- I am currently sitting in a cafe that is in The Peak District but not the PDNP, in Buxton.
The national park boundary was drawn up very carefully Buxton is surrounded but not in!

I also learnt today that Hayfield is outside the National Park boundary, which surprised me.

It’s also worth pointing out that it’s correctly shortened to “The Peak” and not “Peaks”

Either will do as the original Saxon derivation of Peak referred to hills plural. (To continue the everyday is a school day theme).

I’m sure someone other than me will direct you to many references stating that the “peak” in Peak District refers not the hills but to the small elf-like creatures that live in the extensive cave systems. The last part of that sentence might not be true

The Peak District is named from the original Anglo Saxon tribe (The Pecsaetan tribe, or Peaklanders )that set up shop in the area around 600 AD, and renamed most of the Roman placenames.

So it’s not plural.

The origin of the naming peak is speculation and either peak or peaks will do. Peak is often used by Peak District residents trying to look down on others.

Fixed that for you 😀

Point proven.

Out of interest do the people who ride in the Peak also ride in the Lake?

Well, there is only one lake in the Lake District. 😉

If it’s named after the Pecsaetan tribe, people would be correct in referring to it as the Peak’s, in theory. So both ways would be right. 😀

PDNP believe that it is named after peac, an old English word for hill. There are more than 1 of them?

We’ve got three OS maps stuck to our staircase wall that encompass the Peak District and show the National Park boundaries. Great for ride planning.

GHill – Member 
Well, there is only one lake in the Lake District.

Would that be the Dark lake or the White lake? 8)

Huh. Every day’s a school day.

Also find it mildly strange that not all of the Peak District National Park is in Derbyshire.

There are two, dark and white, so the Peaks refers to both of them. Innit.

I imagine many, if not most national parks are similar to this, someone has to draw a boundary, and there will be competing interest / lobbying groups involved, for instance Nidderdale, which is undoubtedly within the Yorkshire Dales, but not the national park, was left outside at the prompting of the water corporation who wanted less restriction on reservoirs etc.

But why “white and dark”? Why not white and black (or another colour) or light and dark.

Cos White Peak is limestone and Dark Peak is gritstone, innit?

molgrips – Member
There are two, dark and white, so the Peaks refers to both of them. Innit.

There’s actually 3, you’re forgetting the less well known ‘South West Peak’.

The PDNP is also composed of more than Edale, Hope, Fairholmes and Castleton, which comes as a surprise to some.

The PDNP is also composed of more than Edale, Hope, Fairholmes and Castleton, which comes as a surprise to some.

Indeed. The prettiest part of the “Derbyshire Peak District” is actually Staffordshire 😉