ABSTRACT
The Peak District National Park was the first of ten national parks established in the 1950s. The Peak Park comprises 1,400 sq. km at the southern tip of the Pennines, including gritstone moorlands, lush limestone dales, rugged crags and pleasant river valleys. Although some 70 per cent of the Peak Park is in private ownership, the Peak Park Joint Planning Board(PPJPB) is the independent public authority with ultimate responsibility for planning policy. Although the physical landscapes of the Peak Park are a product of many environmental influences, the geology is a key variable influencing the scenery we perceive today. The names White Peak and Dark Peak are used to distinguish two strikingly different areas of the Peak Park. The White Peak being a limestone area with a network of white walls and frequent pale rock outcrops. The Dark Peak is an area of gritstone and shale, its dark appearance resulting from moorland vegetation, bare peat exposures and gritstone crags.
