Description

A journey through Britain’s first National Park on its 75th anniversary

On a spring day in 1932, 400 disgruntled ramblers embarked on a ‘mass trespass’ of Kinder Scout, a plateau in the Peak District in northern England. Their aim? To establish a right to roam across the rugged landscape, against the wishes of wealthy landowners.

The hikers were seeking respite from the smoky industrial centres of Manchester and Sheffield – and eventually they got what they wanted. In 1951, the Peak District was established as Britain’s first national park. Home to striking dragon-back ridges of rock, vast expanses of peat, farms and villages, cloughs and caverns, the Peak is much more than the ‘howling wilderness’ described by Daniel Defoe three centuries ago.

With the 75th anniversary of the park’s creation looming, how has this dramatic landscape fared since? Celebrated travel writer Tom Chesshyre hit the trails on a 363-mile ramble to find out – and to celebrate this symbolic home of hiking.

Wild Peaks follows winding paths, pausing at old inns and mountain huts, and along the way meeting a rich cast of landowners, farmers, historians, mountaineers, publicans, rangers, right-to-roamers, homeless travellers, mountain rescue members, mystics, dreamers and fellow hikers.

Don your cagoule, grab a compass, and join Tom as he explores how the land has changed, and how we have too.

Publisher Review

‘Funny, fair and honest, and effortlessly readable. This is not a travel guide, it’s one man’s encounter with a place and its inhabitants. I live there, and I loved it.’ Matthew Parris

‘Tom Chesshyre does the Peak District proud – not just its history and rugged beauty, but the fascinating cast of characters he meets on his epic walk.’ Brian Groom

‘Tom Chesshyre evokes the landscape of the Peak District vividly but without grandiosity; he also brings a wonderful ear for dialogue to his encounters with its people.’ Andrew Martin

Praise for the work of Tom Chesshyre…

‘In his amiable and relaxed company we climb the fells and skirt the lakes; just as engagingly, we meet a carnival of characters whose personalities and opinions are the real focus of Chesshyre’s tale.’ The Times

‘He has a journalist’s ability to intersperse descriptions of dazzling scenery with brisk historical facts… this book makes you yearn to go there.’ Country Life

‘Easy-going, discursive and digressive.’ Stuart Maconie

‘A lovely book.’ Michael Portillo

‘There is something nostalgic about the clatter of wheels and sleeper trains … by the end, the reader will struggle to resist the urge to follow his lead.’ Economist

‘Tom Chesshyre celebrates the UK… discovering pleasure in the unregarded wonders of the ‘unfashionable underbelly’ of Britain. The moral, of course, is that heaven is where you find it.’ Mail on Sunday

‘You warm to Chesshyre, whose cultural references intelligently inform his postcards from locations less travelled.’The Times

‘Highly readable Bill Bryson-esque travel writing.’ Clover Stroud, Sunday Telegraph

‘A charming travel companion, entertaining and engaging.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘A fresh perspective to every new discovery.’ Christian Wolmar

‘A British Paul Theroux.’ Andrew Martin