Acquisition of High Peak Estate
The High Peak Estate has been acquired in a piecemeal manner and the justifications for Trust involvement have changed and evolved, particularly during the last two decades. Many of the early acquisitions (such as Mam Tor, Winnats Pass, Lee and Orchard Farms, Ridge Top) were acquired to safeguard their first-class 'landscape' qualities with the intention of giving protection from unsightly development. Many parts were acquired, with other local organizations or individuals, to protect this open landscape aspect for the purposes of recreation and escape for the people from adjacent conurbations. Some of the higher profile parts of the property were also acquired with the help of many donations from individuals and appeals - such as Winnats Pass with the charity CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England), and Kinder Scout which attracted over 10,000 individual donations. The largest acquisitions of Hope Woodlands and the Derwent and Howden Moors were transferred through National Land Fund procedures. The Hope Woodlands form part of the Hardwick Hall endowment.
Though the landscape interest has long been recognized, little other significance was given to the High Peak until the 1980s when a wider awareness of the property developed. The major acquisition of Kinder Scout in 1982 marked a significant evolution in policy. This area was acquired to specifically provide secure public access to this well-known hill, and to enable sensitive environmental and nature conservation management/restoration of a degraded moorland, in addition to the protection of its landscape. Later acquisitions have sought to protect and rationalize existing properties, although the broad and largely ill-defined 'elements' of...
- landscape protection
- management for nature conservation
- and public access
...remain at the core of those factors which justify ownership by the Trust.
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