Instagram post: Peak District National Park April 6, 2019 Will View this post on Instagram Discover the Peak District this National Park Fortnight! Here are our 5 top facts about the Peak District National Park: 1. The Peak District National Park became the United Kingdom's first national park on 17 April 1951. 2. It has an area of 555 sq miles (1,438 sq km) and is based in the centre of England. It is the most accessible national park – close to Manchester, Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham. 3. It has a varied and interesting landscape with impressive gritstone edges (the Dark Peak); steep limestone dales (White Peak); 196 sq miles (51,000 ha) of moorland; rolling hills and farmland (south west Peak). Caverns famed for rare Blue John stone, 5,440 miles (8756 km) of dry stone wall and 55 reservoirs supplying 450million litres of water a day. 4. The name ‘Peak’ does not relate to mountains (there are lots of hills rather than mountains) – it is thought to derive from the Pecsaetan, an Anglo-Saxon tribe who settled the area. 5. Distinctive customs include well dressing – originally a pagan ceremony to honour water gods, they are now a summer tradition in dozens of villages. Week by week, different villages decorate their wells or springs with natural, ephemeral pictures made of flowers, petals, seeds, twigs, nuts and berries, pressed into soft clay held in wooden frames. Well dressing weeks also include carnivals and streets decorated with bunting. Not that we are biased or anything… but we encourage you to come and see for yourself this National Parks Fortnight! You can find out more Peak District facts here: https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-about/news/mediacentrefacts #peakdistrictchallenge #originalpeakdistrictchallenge #discovernationalparksfortnight2019 #since2013 #ultrachallenge #ultrarunning #ukhikingofficial #nationalparksuk #gritlimestoneanddetermination #challengeevent #challengetrek #charityevent #charity #fundraising #pushyourcomfortzone #pushyourselffurther #10kmto100km #nationalparks #nature #igersderbyshire #wildernessdevelopment #fundraiser #thegreatoutdoors #salveinternational #peakdistrictchallenge2019 Repost from @peakdistrictchallenge using @RepostRegramApp A post shared by Wilderness Development (@wilderness_development) on Apr 6, 2019 at 10:35am PDT