High Tor, Matlock Bath

High Tor is the limestone crag above the A6 between Matlock and Matlock Bath, which the Woodland Trust puts at 120m above Matlock Bath and which stands at grid reference SK 2967 5905. The rock was quarried, and lead and fluorite were mined from it, before it became a place to visit; the worked-out lead mine near the top was opened to the public as the Roman Cave. Climbers know the main face as one of the better collections of limestone routes in the country, according to Mountain Project, and it is the cliff you see from the road long before you reach the path.

The visitor grounds are Victorian. Parks and Gardens UK records that Peter Arkwright of Willersley Castle enclosed the land in 1860 and built walks up from an entrance near Matlock Bath station, and a local guide credits the same period with a carriage ride to the summit and the cliff-ledge path now called Giddy Edge. In 1879 the grounds were leased to the Matlock and High Tor Recreation Grounds Company, which added a grand walk and refreshment facilities, and a suspension bridge over the Derwent followed in 1903 as a second way in. Derbyshire Dales District Council now looks after the site, and it upgraded the paths and viewing areas in 2008.

The summit looks west across the Derwent valley, and the cable car to the Heights of Abraham, running since 1984, starts from the foot of the tor if the climb does not appeal. Giddy Edge is a narrow ledge with a sheer, unprotected drop on one side and a metal handrail bolted to the rock along its most exposed stretches. The Bald Hiker puts the circular walk from Matlock Bath station at about 4km and up to two hours, with steep climbing.

This suits walkers comfortable with heights who want a cliff-top view for an hour or two of effort. Walkers with vertigo, small children or an excitable dog should skip it, since the same writer advises all of them against the ledge. For a big Peak District view with no climbing at all, Monsal Head is reached straight from its car park.