Predecessor | Sheffield Association for the Protection of Local Scenery |
---|---|
Successor | CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire |
Formation | 1924 |
Founder | Ethel Haythornthwaite |
Type | Charitable organisation |
Registration no. | Registered charity number: 1094975 |
Headquarters | Victoria Hall, 37 Stafford Road, Sheffield, S2 2SF |
Region | England |
Membership | 1,000 |
President | Dame Fiona Reynolds |
Chair | Chris Heard |
Chief Executive | Tomo Thompson |
Staff | 5 |
Volunteers | c.30 |
Website | Official website |
The Friends of the Peak District is a UK registered charity which campaigns to protect England's Peak District National Park. The organisation is a branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), whose purpose is "to promote and encourage for the benefit of the public the improvement and protection of the English countryside and the better development of the rural environment". [1]
The area covered by the branch includes: the Peak District National Park; the Derbyshire High Peak; the parishes of Barlow, Holmesfield, Dronfield, Eckington, Unstone and Killamarsh in the North East Derbyshire District Council and the Metropolitan Districts of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster. [2] [ failed verification ]
The charity began as the Sheffield Association for the Protection of Local Scenery in 1924 (founded by Ethel Haythornthwaite) and became a branch of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England representing Sheffield and the Peak District in 1927. In 1938, the branch was instrumental in establishing the Sheffield Green Belt, the first in the country; in 1951, the Peak District became the UK’s first National Park. The charity rebranded itself as Friends of the Peak District in 2002 but still represented CPRE in the Peak District and South Yorkshire. [3]
The charity is also a member of the Campaign for National Parks. [2]
TV presenter Julia Bradbury was President of the charity from 2008 to 2016 and remains a Vice President. [4]
In 2017, the Friends of the Peak District launched the Peak District Boundary Walk in Buxton. It is a 200-mile long distance route which circumnavigates the National Park. [5]
In 2020, the charity decided to revert to being known as CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire and to only retain the Friends of the Peak District brand for the Boundary Walk. [1]
In May 2021 the Peak District and South Yorkshire branch of CPRE announced The Ethels, 95 hills in the Peak District, as a tribute to Ethel Haythornthwaite. [6]
The charity's campaign papers from the 1920s to the 1990s were given to Sheffield Archives and Derbyshire Record Office in 2007, with an additional deposit of papers up to 2022 given to Sheffield Archives in 2022. [7] [8]
The charity's campaigns include: [9]
The Peak District is an upland area in England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivided into the Dark Peak, moorland dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west of the district, and the White Peak covers central and southern areas. The highest point is Kinder Scout. Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.
Derbyshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south and west, and Cheshire to the west. Derby is the largest settlement, and Matlock is the county town.
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire to the east, Nottinghamshire to the south-east, and Derbyshire to the south and west. The largest settlement is the city of Sheffield.
CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Formed in 1926 by Patrick Abercrombie to limit urban sprawl and ribbon development, the CPRE claims to be one of the longest running environmental groups in the UK. CPRE campaigns for a "sustainable future" for the English countryside. They state it is "a vital but undervalued environmental, economic and social asset to the nation." They aim to "highlight threats and promote positive solutions." They campaign using their own research to lobby the public and all levels of government.
Campaign for National Parks (CNP) – formerly the Council for National Parks and the Standing Committee on National Parks – is an independent UK registered charity promoting the National Parks of England and Wales for the public benefit.
Wolfscote Hill is a limestone hill near the village of Hartington in the Derbyshire Peak District. The summit is 388 metres (1,273 ft) above sea level.
Longshaw Estate is an area of moorland, woodland and farmland within the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England.
Higger Tor or Higgar Tor is a gritstone tor in the Dark Peak, in the north of the Peak District National Park in England. It overlooks the Burbage Valley and the Iron Age hill fort of Carl Wark to the southeast.
Ranmoor/Endcliffe is a development of student accommodation for the University of Sheffield, located in Endcliffe in west Sheffield between Fulwood Road, Endcliffe Vale Road and Westbourne Road. The village accommodates most of the University's first year undergraduates, alongside some second and third years, postgraduates and student families.
The South and West Yorkshire Green Belt is an environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The function of the green belt policy in South and West Yorkshire is to manage development around the cities, towns and villages in the West Yorkshire Urban Area, the Sheffield urban area, Barnsley and Doncaster, to discourage urban sprawl. It is managed by local planning authorities on guidance from central government.
Ethel Mary Bassett Haythornthwaite was an English environmental campaigner, activist and poet. She was a pioneer of countryside protection as well as town and country planning both locally and nationally. She founded the Sheffield Association for the Protection of Rural Scenery, also known as the Sheffield Association for the Protection of Local Countryside in 1924, which became the local branch of CPRE in 1927, and worked to protect the countryside of the Peak District from development. She forefronted the appeal to save the 747-acre Longshaw Estate from development, and helped acquire land around Sheffield that became its green belt. She was appointed to the UK government’s National Parks Committee, and helped to make the successful case for the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, which led to the founding of the Peak District National Park in 1951. She also helped make green belts part of government policy in 1955.
The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular 190-mile (310 km) walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District and was launched on 17 June 2017.
Totley Moor is an open moorland hill to the west of the Sheffield suburb of Totley, in the Derbyshire Peak District. The summit is 395 metres (1,296 ft) above sea level.
Hollins Hill is a gritstone hill in the Derbyshire Peak District near the village of Hollinsclough. The summit is 450 metres (1,480 ft) above sea level. The hill is the source of Swallow Brook, which flows into the River Dove running along the south side of the hill.
Mount Famine is a gritstone hill between the villages of Hayfield and Chinley in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. The summit is 473 metres (1,552 ft) above sea level. The hill's name originates from the period of the Enclosure Acts when tenant farmers struggled to make a living from poor farming land.
South Head is a gritstone hill between the villages of Hayfield and Chinley in the Derbyshire Peak District. The summit is 494 metres (1,621 ft) above sea level. It lies at the south of the head of the River Sett.
Chinley Churn is a prominent gritstone hill between the villages of Chinley and Hayfield in the Derbyshire Peak District. The summit is 457 metres (1,499 ft) above sea level.