ON FOOT THROUGH THE PEAK; OR, A SUMMER SAUNTER AMONG THE HILLS AND DALES OF DERBYSHIRE
by James Croston

Why use one word when seven could do?

Welcome to the world of the Victorian travel guide, of which James Croston’s On Foot Through the Peak is a perfect specimen. It is equal parts hard-to-read trail map, historical lecture and romantic poetry slam.

But for those with enough patience and humour, it makes a wonderful alternative to the utility of the modern guidebook.

Instead of precise GPS coordinates, he tells us to turn left at the ancient, weathered oak where the path breaks.

Instead of a readable map, he quotes Lord Byron's walks through the woods.

Instead of a highlights and opening times, Croston gives us a twelve-page digression on a Norman arch.

On Foot Through the Peak is full of melodrama and romance, treating Peak District weather and geology like a Shakespearean stage. Coston talks about the 'Terror' of Winnats Pass and makes industrial pollution sound like an ethereal fairy tale.

First published in 1862, the book became a definitive pedestrian companion to Derbyshire, running to nine editions by 1889. Croston's theatrical prose perfectly captures the Victorian romantic obsession with nature, transforming a simple country walk into a grand intellectual adventure.

I picked up a battered second edition in my local Peak District bookshop and took it along as a guide to Haddon Hall. It was a hoot.

WHY READ IT?

For the chance to experience the Peak District through Victorian eyes.

BUY THE BOOK → Bookshop.org (coming soon)

THE JOURNEY → A House Unchanged