Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Peak District

The Peak District is celebrating its 75^th anniversary on 17th April 2026, celebrating the year it became the UK’s first national park back in 1951. Throughout 2026, there will be various events and activities to celebrate the milestone including Ranger-led walks, guided tour of Poole’s Cavern, and heritage tours.

The result of a hard-won victory that traces its roots back to the gritstone peak of Kinder Scout and the defiant Mass Trespass of 1932, today we celebrate a unique living landscape home to over 38,000 people, spanning 555 square miles of scenic surroundings, exciting outdoor activities and miles of open space to freely roam.

The story of the Peak District doesn’t begin in 1951. It begins almost two decades earlier, on a cold April morning in 1932, when hundreds of walkers from Sheffield and Manchester did something that changed the conversation around access to the countryside.

The Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, 1932

On 24^th April 1932, a group of young working-class walkers set out from Hayfield in Derbyshire with a plan to walk onto Kinder Scout, a vast gritstone plateau above Edale that had been closed for generations as a private grouse moor.

They were met by gamekeepers and later the police where six of the ringleaders were arrested. This included Benny Rothman, a 20-year-old organiser from Manchester, who received and served 4 months for his role in the demonstration.

The movement only grew following this. Today, a commemorative plaque at Bowden Quarry near Hayfield marks where the walk began. The same moorland those walkers were imprisoned for crossing is now open to anyone who wants to stand on it.

From Protest to Government Legislation

The Kinder Scout trespass didn’t immediately change the law. Public pressure mounted steadily over the following decades until, in 1949, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act created the legal framework for Britain’s national parks. Two years later, on 17th April 1951, the Peak District became the first to be given its official National Park designation.

Full access would have to wait until 2000, when The Countryside and Rights of Way Act, also known as the CRoW act, came into legislation, giving walkers rights to roam on more areas of the national park in open countryside. Sixty-eight years after Benny Rothman went to prison for walking on a moor, it became legal for everyone to do the same.

The key themes of the Peak District 75^th anniversary year celebration includes:

• Conversation and peatland restoration

• Guided walks from the park’s Rangers

• Extensive heritage

• Accessibility and sustainable tourism

One of the exciting activities being held to celebrate the 75^th anniversary is guided walks from the park’s Rangers. The walks being led by the Rangers are:

• The summit of Shutlingsloe Cheshire’s Matterhorn - Saturday 4^th April

• An Easter Mermaid - Sunday 5^th April

• Laddow Rocks and the High Moors - Wednesday 8^th April

• Lovely Lathkill Dale - Sunday 26^th April

• Mindfulness and Connecting with Nature Walk - Saturday 11^th April

• The Eyam Round - Saturday 18^th April

• Bronze Age Life and Death on Bamford Moor - Saturday 25^th April

In addition to the Ranger-led guided walks, other events and activities being held in the Peak District to celebrate its anniversary include:

• New ‘Tube Map’ of the Peak District by the Peak District National Park Authority

• Unearthed: A photographic exhibition showing rarely seen images from the Peak District National Park Authority photographic archive, developed in partnership with Buxton International Festival

• Festival talks as part of the Buxton International Festival. There will be two talks exploring the Past, Present, and Future of the Peak District National Park

• 75^th anniversary bell ringing from 22 church towers across the Peak District in the Derby Diocesan Association on the milestone date itself (17^th April)

• Various long distance running events including the Peak District Challenge in Hathersage and the Peak District Ultra Challenge in Bakewell

There is no substitute for being here. The 75^th anniversary is a timely reminder that this landscape was fought for precisely because it is worth experiencing. Our self catering holiday homes and cosy cottages sit within and alongside the park, giving you the space and flexibility to explore at your own pace.

We have a range of fantastic properties in our handpicked portfolio:

• Luxury holiday apartments in Stoney Middleton sleeping 1 to 5 people

• Cosy cottages and homes, ideal for couples and small families

• Big houses for large group accommodation, perfect for friend getaways, family holidays and special occasions & celebrations

Browse our Peak District holiday properties and secure your stay for 2026, the most significant year in the Peak District’s history.

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Q: When was the Peak District founded?

A: The Peak District become the UK’s first national park in 1951. The designation led to first access agreements in the country for the public to walk on private moorland. Today it stands as one of the most visited national parks in the world due to it sitting within a 1-hour drive for an estimated 20 million people.

Q: When is the official anniversary of the Peak District?

A: The official 75^th anniversary for the Peak District National Park is on Friday 17th April 2026. The milestone will be celebrated throughout 2026.

Q: What is the best market town in the Peak District?

A: The best market town in the Peak District is Bakewell. Best for foodies, families, and first-time visitors. Widely known for its Bakewell Pudding, the dog friendly town of Bakewell is home to lots of independent shops, country pubs, cafes and the iconic Chatsworth House and estate nearby.

Q: What film and TV have been filmed in the Peak District?

A: The Peak District National Park has been a popular shooting location over the years for film and television. One of the most popular being Chatsworth House, which featured in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice as the estate of Pemberley.

Most recently Calke Abbey was used as the home of Thomas ‘Tommy’ Shelby in the 2026 Netflix film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. Other notable works partly shot in the Peak District include:

• Tom Cruise filmed the train crash scene in Stoney Middleton for the 2023 film Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One. This involved constructing a replica railway line at Dalton Quarry

• Hardwick Hall was used for the exterior of Malfoy Manor in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. It was also used as the setting for the Mary Queen of Scots film released in 2018, starring Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan

• Haddon Hall is a renowned filming location for period dramas due to its well-preserved medieval and Tudor architecture and Tudor architecture. Popular productions filmed there include The Princess Diaries (1987 film), Pride and Prejudice (2005 film), Mary Queen of Scots (2019 film) and multiple Jane Eyre adaptations

• The Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon starring Matt Smith used Castleton’s iconic rugged spots around the village for the Vale of Arryn scenes

• Longnor has also proven to be a popular film and TV filming location in the Peak District. The 1995 BBC TV series, Pride and Prejudice, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle filmed there using Longnor as Jane Austen’s fictional Lambton. The final series of Peak Practice (1993-2002) was filmed in Longnor, Staffordshire, nearby to The Crewe and Harpur

• Dovedale served as one of the filming locations for the 2010 Ridley Scott directed film Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe, as well as in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008 film) and the 2006 BBC TV series Jane Eyre