The Peak District has a dual personality - there's the Dark Peak and the White Peak. The division reflects the two different rock types - the Dark Peak, in the north of the area (roughly), is mainly gritstone while the White Peak is limestone.

The names also echo the character of each part, the Dark Peak being quite bleak in places while the White Peak is friendlier. Its stone walls turn the hill fields into chequerboards and its dales are often beautifully wooded and full of wildlife.

Within the White Peak lies the village of Monyash. The village is very attractive without being over-precious, surrounded as it is by working farms.

The stunningly beautiful Lathkill Dale begins on the edge of Monyash and continues past the village of Over Haddon to Conksbury. Lathkill Dale is often referred to as the least known, yet the most beautiful of the Derbyshire dales.

The River Lathkill runs from a limestone cave near the top of the dale and eventually joins the River Wye. The upper and lower reaches of the dale are quite different in character. The dale today is a peaceful place but 150 years ago it was an industrial site - lead mining was a crucial source of income in the area. Traces of this past industry can still be seen. Summer is wonderful in the dale - so are spring and autumn, for that matter.

When it's plunged into the depths of winter, though, it has a very different kind of beauty which some people find irresistible.

A mile and a half away is the small market town of Bakewell, a good shopping centre and the home of the delicious Bakewell Pudding, which incidentally has little in common with the Bakewell Tart, its commercial cousin.

Twelve miles in the other direction is Buxton, with its famous opera house. Buxton is an ancient spa town and you can still drink the water from the original spring.

The district is full of fascination. Some of England's greatest stately homes are here, within twenty minutes or so of the hotel - Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Hardwick Hall.

There are working water mills, farm museums, tram museums, mining museums, cable cars at Matlock Bath and, in summer, the ancient well-dressing ceremonies - the intricate designs which adorn the wells are made from thousands of individual flower petals.

Within easy reach are famous landmarks like Mam Tor, Kinder Scout and the mysterious Arbor Low.

As well as the wealth of interest above ground, there is fascination underground, too. There are caverns large and small to be explored, some of them yielding the extremely beautiful Blue John, a rare mineral which is made into unique jewellery.