Taking your place in the heart of England

To most Irish people, England's Peak District is probably as remote from their plans for a holiday break as the far side of the moon. Yet it's considerably nearer, a lot more beautiful and, unless you're a sucker for a drop of the crater, a sight more interesting. It's also very popular; somehow, though, it seems better able to handle the volume of visitors than either the Cotswolds - closer to London, anyway - or the Lake District, which every summer and autumn bursts at the seams with tourists.

Perhaps it's a function of scale. As Britain's biggest national park, it's larger than the Cotswolds and blessed with a better spread of access roads than the Lake District. And though both these areas have their virtues, the Peak District's villages generally lack the self-conscious touristic tweeness of either; they are, as one local said, functioning villages, shaped for community life first and tourists second.

Not that visitors are neglected. The range of attractions in the Peak District go from active pursuits like walking, potholing and angling - yes, angling; if, like me, you count getting out of bed a triumph of the spirit over the flesh, then angling is an active pursuit (it's certainly that for the fish) - to visiting stately homes, watching the local custom of well-dressing and simply savouring the ineffable joys of being in a place which has not known the heat of a pitched battle of any kind for over three hundred years.

Did I say well-dressing? It has nothing to do with haute couture and more to do with the local custom of decorating wells and making the occasion an excuse to celebrate; in effect, the villages concerned go en fete and visitors are welcome. I know the South Peak area much better than the wilder North; that's just an accident of stopping down south there for an overnight, discovering that it has so much to commend it and basically being smitten. And it's a good place from which to taste what the Peak District has to offer, because the village of Bakewell, home of the famous tart, is there. Known as the unofficial capital of the Peaks, Bakewell is a pretty place, with a decent share of amenities, including shops, pubs and restaurants (the best of the latter is probably Aitch's), a justly celebrated mediaeval bridge over the meandering, trout-filled, bird-decorated Wye, with a take-your-ease riverside park beside it, and a museum in a restored early 16th century house.

Bakewell - the name comes from Bad kwell, or bathspring, for the warm water wells that were once a reason for the place's popularity - is, as you would expect, comparatively busy. For that reason, it's better to stay nearby. There is, however, an even better reason to locate close to Bakewell, rather than in the village itself.

And that is a little gem of a village called Ashford-in-the-Water - the water part being the ubiquitous Wye. About four minutes' drive from Bakewell, it's just off the main A6 road and, if anything, even prettier than Bakewell. It's also more peaceful (possibly one reason that the Oliviers, including the late actor, were drawn to make their home there) and has no parking problems. I've stayed there several times, in an 18th century, Grade II listed building, Gritstone House in Greave's Lane, run by Mr and Mrs Lindsay, whose hospitality and friendliness match the undeniable charm of their home.

With Ashford-in-the-Water as a base, you can enjoy its own peaceful beauty, yet take advantage of Bakewell's greater facilities, while at the same time take in some of the other attractions of the immediate surroundings. And these are considerable.

A few minutes drive away is the noble pile of one of the most celebrated stately homes in England. Chatsworth, home of the Dukes of Devonshire, is strikingly positioned in lush, rolling, green countryside. The abiding impression - apart from the sheer beauty of its setting - is that it radiates the inexpressible confidence of the English aristocracy; even the flocks of sheep grazing on the estate know their place.

To take in the metaphorical grandiloquence of the house's interior is a day's work. Replete with the accumulations of centuries of sometimes idiosyncratic additions and alterations, it has what is reputed to be one of the finest private collections of art in the world. The gardens are absolutely superb; they and the house are open to visitors until November 2nd, from 11 a.m., with last admissions at 4.30 p.m. Scarcely 10 minutes' drive from Ashfordin-the-Water is another ducal property. Haddon Hall, owned by the Dukes of Rutland for over 400 years, has been painstakingly restored by them this century until it is now reckoned to be one of the best preserved and almost completely unspoilt embattled manor houses in the country.

It is, however, open only until the end of September each year, from March 27th onwards, so you'll have to wait until next year for a chance to visit. But it's worth the wait. As an example of how the other half lived from perhaps mediaeval times onwards, it's utterly fascinating. If anything, thanks to the way the Wye bends and wends below the height on which the Hall is placed, it's even more attractive than its bigger, more grandiose neighbour. Its charms are the human scale of the slightly less considered way it grew over the years; this is a house, you feel, where people lived and functioned, servants were almost cheek by jowl with their masters, and history - writ large and small - was made. The gardens, more modest than Chatsworth's, have a totally different appeal, in keeping with the manor they curl carefully around.

A useful tip, incidentally, if you've done some exploring around Bakewell, Ashford-inthe-Water, Chatsworth, Haddon Hall and the rest, and you're too tired to put up with a busy place when you want to rest and dine in peace, is another quiet village.

This is Beeley; small, sleepy, with little more than the sound of a trout-filled brook running by the houses on the main street to disturb the silence, it's slightly off the beaten track. The Devonshire Arms there is three separate cottages converted in 1741 to an inn; they offer reasonable lunches in the pub and you can sit outside to eat. A restaurant is also part of the hostelry, but it's advisable to book if you intend to have an evening meal there.

As for the rest of the Peak District, this includes the charms of the old spa town of Buxton, near which the Wye originates in a magnificent limestone cave called Poole's Cavern, trails for walkers, cyclists and horse riders through some of the loveliest countryside in England, among them the Monsal Trail, which will bring you yet again in contact with the Wye. There is gorgeous Dovedale, beloved of Isaak Walton, who wrote The Compleat Angler, and the manor houses at Tissington, Eyam Hall, Hartington and North Lees (near Hathersage), all built by wealthy mediaeval landowners. A flavour of Switzerland is a cable-car ride to High Tor in Matlock Gorge; and there's canoeing in the Derwent at Matlock Bath.

But that's only the South Peak District. The North is certainly wilder, but the scale of things means that, for instance, Lyme Hall (Darcey's ancestral pile in the recent BBC version of Pride and Prejudice) is about 40 minutes drive from Ashford-in-the-Water. Likewise - and admittedly outside the Peak District - the Brontes' home at Haworth in the Yorkshire moors is about an hour and a half away, depending on the traffic. The point really is that the Peak District is an area you can go back to again and again.