The Peak Press

Happy Birthday Peak District - Britain's First National Park Turns 75

On the 17th April 1951, 555 square miles of moorland and dales became the UK's first National Park. Seventy-five years on, the Peak District remains the most visited national park in Britain and possibly the world.

On the morning of the 17th April 1951, something remarkable happened. A stretch of moorland, dales, gritstone edges and limestone valleys, stretching from the Dark Peak in the north to the White Peak in the south, was formally designated as the United Kingdom's first National Park. The Peak District had arrived.

Seventy-five years later, that designation is being celebrated with bells, walks, exhibitions and a genuine sense of pride. On the anniversary itself, bell-ringers rang out from 26 church towers across the Peak District, with 151 bells ringing in the traditional English style of full-circle change ringing. It was, by any measure, a fitting tribute to a landscape that has shaped millions of lives.

The story of how the Peak District became a National Park did not begin in 1951. It began decades earlier, with a group of pioneering ramblers who believed that the countryside should be accessible to everyone, not just those wealthy enough to own it. The Kinder Scout Mass Trespass of 1932, in which hundreds of walkers deliberately walked onto private moorland above Hayfield in protest at being denied access, is perhaps the most famous act of civil disobedience in British outdoor history. It helped set in motion the political will that would eventually lead to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, and the Peak District's designation two years later.

Today, the Peak District National Park is home to around 38,000 residents, covers 555 square miles, and attracts 13 million visitors every year. Its moorlands play a vital role in capturing carbon, preventing flooding and providing clean drinking water. Its 3,000 farms feed the nation. Its woodlands, wetlands and wildflower meadows provide habitats for nature. And its historic buildings and landscapes, from neolithic burial mounds to the mills and cottages of the Industrial Revolution, tell the story of the nation itself.

Phil Mulligan, Chief Executive of the Peak District National Park Authority, said: "The Peak District National Park has been here for the last 75 years and we intend to be here, going from strength to strength, for the next 75. This National Park is not just a great place to visit — it's critical for national infrastructure, national security and national health and wellbeing."

The 75th anniversary is not just a moment to look back. A landmark report, commissioned by all four of the UK's original national parks, the Peak District, the Lake District, Eryri and Dartmoor, will be published in July, calling for policy change and sustainable funding to ensure national parks continue delivering for the nation.

Closer to home, the Buxton International Festival will host 'Unearthed: A Photographic Exhibition', showcasing stunning and rarely seen images from the Peak District's photographic archive. It promises to be a remarkable window into 75 years of a landscape that has never stopped inspiring.

On the 17th April 1951, 555 square miles of moorland and dales became the UK's first National Park. Seventy-five years on, the Peak District remains the most visited national park in Britain and possibly the world.

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