Mam Tor
Mam Tor, which takes its name from the Old English and Celtic words meaning Mother Mountain, rises to 517 metres at the head of the Hope Valley in the Peak District National Park and offers some of the finest panoramic views in the Dark Peak. The summit is connected to neighbouring peaks along the Great Ridge by a clearly defined ridgeline walk that provides a satisfying and accessible circular route from Castleton, one of the most popular in the Peak District. The hill earns its nickname the Shivering Mountain from the geological instability of its eastern face, where alternating layers of hard millstone grit and softer shale have been subject to repeated landslips over thousands of years. The largest and most significant of these landslides destroyed the road that once crossed the hill's lower slopes, leaving the famous rippled and tilted tarmac of the old Mam Tor Road as a striking demonstration of what happens when a road is built on unstable ground. The road was officially closed to traffic in 1979 and has not been repaired, the authorities having accepted that the unstable geology makes any permanent repair futile. The summit is reached by a well-maintained stone path from the National Trust car park at Mam Nick, a steep but short ascent of around fifteen minutes that brings walkers onto the broad summit plateau topped by the remains of a large Bronze and Iron Age hillfort. The hillfort at Mam Tor is one of the largest in the Pennines, with ramparts and ditches enclosing over six hectares of the summit, and archaeological excavation has revealed evidence of permanent occupation during the Bronze Age, unusually for such an exposed hilltop location. The views from the summit are exceptional and justifiably famous. To the east the Hope Valley stretches towards Sheffield, with the Kinder Scout plateau visible to the north across the Edale valley. To the west the limestone White Peak gives way to the characteristic curves of the Cheshire Plain. On clear days the views extend across multiple counties, and the position of the summit at the junction of the Dark and White Peak landscapes means that two quite different geological worlds are visible simultaneously. The Great Ridge walk east from Mam Tor to Lose Hill provides one of the finest ridge walks in the Peak District, a straightforward path along the crest with views on both sides throughout. Castleton village at the base of the hill provides excellent cafés, the magnificent Blue John Caverns and access to Peveril Castle, making the area one of the most rewarding destinations in the entire national park.