10 Weird and Quirky Things to Do in the Peak District

The Blue John Cavern is known for its underground chambers filled with marine fossils and unique rock formations. It’s named after Blue John, a semi-precious mineral with yellow, blue, and purple bands. Miners usually enter the caves in winter to harvest the deposit, which is over 250 million years old. An onsite gift shop sells jewellery and accessories made from the minerals.

You can join guided tours of the cave system – each session lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour. Note that you’ll have to climb and descend 245 steps to reach the chambers. The Blue John Cavern is in the Peak District’s Castleton, about 30 miles northwest of Derbyshire.

Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border. Its caverns, which date back to prehistoric times, contain the richest cluster of Middle Palaeolithic archaeology in Northern England. The gorge also contains Europe’s northernmost cave art, which mostly depicts different bird species, reindeer, and bison.

You can explore its 4 main cavities to see ancient items such as flint tools and animal fossils. There’s also an onsite museum displaying objects excavated at Creswell Crag, as well as temporary exhibits on wildlife, archaeology, history, and art. The gorge is about 20 miles southeast of Sheffield. Entrance to the site is free.

Aircraft wrecks dot the Peak District as a grim reminder of the perils of overflying such a mountainous area. Over 150 aircraft crashed in the Peak District over the course of the 20^th century, mostly after WWII when the area was surrounded by airfields and often used to train aircrews in low-altitude flying.

Noteworthy crash sites include that of an RB-29 Superfortress near Bleaklow Head. The reconnaissance version of the famous American bomber crashed while relocating to a new base at Burtonwood, killing all 13 crew. You’ll also find the wrecks of a C-47 Dakota and an Avro Lancaster nearby. There are a further 11 wrecks on Kinder Scout, with aircraft types ranging from a Vickers Wellington bomber to 2 F-86 Sabre jet fighters. Please note that it's illegal to tamper with the wrecks.

The tradition of well dressing was common in rural England until the early 19^th century. Locals decorate their water sources like springs and wells with pictures made from living plants and flowers. The practice usually still takes place in spring and early autumn, but the villages of Tissington and Endon often dress their wells around May.

While well dressing was a pagan belief of pleasing gods that supplied water, it’s now a form of showcasing the locals’ artistic talents and attracting tourists to the villages. As real flowers and plants are used for the practice, the designs usually last about a week before they wilt.

Buxton’s Blue Lagoon is nothing like as delightful as it sounds, especially since its colour comes from a dye put in the water to warn people away. The “lagoon” was formed by extensive quarrying of limestone. Calcium oxide left behind from this industrial past makes the water extremely alkaline.

Aside from the warnings about the risk of swimming in water that’s nearly the same pH as bleach, other signs warn of the car wrecks, dead animals, rubbish and other hazardous waste known to inhabit the lagoon. Despite that, people persisted in swimming here until the local council added coloured dye to the water. The result is a blue-black sort of colour that will stain your skin if you decide to take a dip – yet another reason not to even consider doing so. The bizarre watercolour against white cliffs is pretty, but you should keep a safe distance from it.

Toad’s Mouth is a rock formation in the Peak District that dates back to prehistoric times. It’s at Burbage Bride, near the Sheffield-Derbyshire boundary. While the rock (and surrounding field) is believed to be from the Mesolithic Age, locals are unsure when the toad’s eye was carved into the formation.

The area surrounding Toad’s Mouth has many unfinished millstones and milestones from the 17^th to 19^th centuries. You can also enjoy views of Hathersage Moor, the Higger Tor peaks and the Carl Wark. On clear days, you can see the 1,696-ft-tall cliff face of Mam Tor in the distance.

Little John’s grave supposedly marks the final resting place of Robin Hood’s most famous Merry Man. The stone is in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Hathersage. Given the lack of historical evidence that Little John even existed, there’s no guarantee that the man himself lies beneath.

The inscription on the gravestone explains that Little John died in a now-destroyed cottage east of the churchyard. However, a local legend suggests that said cottage is actually the Grade II-listed Nether House in Offerton, which is a short distance west of Hathersage, on the other side of the River Derwent.

The Biddulph Grange Garden is a restored Victorian landscape by British horticulturist, James Bateman. The garden contains his collection of plants from various parts of the world, including Egypt and Italy. You’ll walk past various types of plants, including dahlias, azaleas, and rhododendrons.

A must-see is the China garden, which has stone gateways and sculptures, a pagoda, wooden bridges, and a joss house. It also houses Britain’s oldest surviving golden larch, which Bateman transported from from China in the 1850s. The Biddulph Grange Garden’s Egypt garden is equally impressive, featuring a pyramid, 4 stone sphinxes, and topiary obelisks.

Betty Kenny’s Tree seems like a nothing-special, semi-rotten, slightly charred old yew tree near the historical village of Crich, but it has some surprises in store. Thought to be about 2,000 years old, it supposedly inspired the Rock-a-bye Baby nursery rhyme.

The story goes that a woman named Betty Kenny lived in the woods here in the late 1700s with her husband and 8 kids. They worked as charcoal burners and supposedly used the tree branches for shelter. One of the kids is even said to be buried beneath the tree.