The air in the Peak District feels different. It’s softer; thicker even — one friend compared it to ‘butter’ (a good thing, I think) — and certainly cleaner than any air in London. Maybe it was the feeling of freedom: it was the farthest any of us had travelled in months, following months of respective lockdowns in the capital and in Devon (where the air is lighter, and salty). 

We had few expectations. Several people had said that the Peaks couldn’t compare to the Lake District (spoiler alert, they are wrong and have likely never been), several more couldn’t even point them out on a map. But change is afoot and the Peaks look set to become one of the UK’s most popular destinations with the arrival of several new, exciting hotels. Buxton Crescent Hotel (Buxton of bottled water fame) opened last year; The Tawny — a collection of rooms, tree- and boathouses — and Wildhive Callow Hall join it this summer. 

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