Holiday cottages

The industrial heart of England now offers one of Britain's loveliest National Parks, the Peak District, a region of outstanding natural beauty with spectacular and contrasting scenery. Moorland, ancient oak woodlands, bustling market towns and pretty villages are easily accessible from some of our major cities. Some of the Trust's finest properties are in the area, including High Peak Estate, straddling the Yorkshire-Derbyshire border, Lyme Park mansion and gardens, surrounded by a medieval deer park and Hardwick Hall, hardly changed since its creation in Elizabethan times. To the south is the gentler area of the Cotswolds and its neighbouring county of Warwickshire. With its gently rolling countryside of hills and valleys, picturesque stone villages and fine houses, this beautiful area now offers the visitor a glimpse of traditional English life. The National Trust owns some of the loveliest countryside in the area, some fine houses and important gardens. There is a huge and varied choice from Tudor Snowshill Manor, with its eclectic collection of musical instruments, clocks and Japanese armour to Hidcote Manor Gardens, famous for its rare trees, shrubs and outstanding herbaceous borders. Other Trust places in the area include Newark Park with its stunning views, the Sherborne Park estate, while the Buscot and Coleshill estates in west Oxfordshire are set in 7,500 acres of rolling farmland and woodland. The Iron Age hill-fort of Badbury Hill offers superb views over the Upper Valley south to White Horse Hill and the Berkshire Downs.

With its spectacular and contrasting scenery, the Peak District is a region of outstanding natural beauty and one of Britain?s loveliest National Parks. The National Trust has been hard at work here for over 100 years and now cares for some 40,000 acres. High Peak Estate is the largest estate, over 33,000 acres of high moorland straddling the Yorkshire-Derbyshire border. Although only ten miles from the centre of Sheffield, the Longshaw Estate boasts more than 1,700 acres of open moorland, gritstone edges and ancient oak woodland, while the 4,400 acre South Peak Estate lies in the magnificent limestone hills, centred upon the well-known beauty spots of Ilam and Dovedale. On the foothills of the Peak District, Lyme Park contains an Italianate mansion and Victorian garden surrounded by a medieval deer park of almost 1,400 acres.Hardwick Hall is ideally situated for exploring the Peak District and Sherwood Forest, while the gentler landscapes of South Derbyshire contain pretty villages, bustling market towns and the fast-growing National Forest. The area is steeped in history with ancient castles, grand houses and sites that reveal the ingenuity of our industrial past.