The picturesque village of Castleton, Derbyshire is a prime location for many reasons. Nestled in the rolling landscape of the Peak District National Park it sits almost perfectly between Manchester and Sheffield.
Aside from the winding streets with the classic grey stone-clad housing the Pennines is known for and cosy local pubs to hide from the, often wet, weather another attribute is causing the surrounding area no end of problems.
“Castleton is in the Hope Valley which has an area called Edale which is popular for walkers,” Dr Adele Doran, a principal lecturer in tourism at Sheffield Hallam University explained.
“There’s a very popular walk [starting in Castleton] that is essentially like a horseshoe along the highest point of the Peak District. But through the middle of that [route] is a road.”
“Rather than walking to the top people park on the hill so they [avoid the incline]. It’s quite troublesome because they are parking their cars on the verges [at the side of the road].”
During quiet periods the odd car perched on the edge is not a major problem, but if there’s good weather during holiday season an already narrow road becomes even tighter.
As cars slow to navigate their way through locals have found to their dismay how a steady flow of traffic is soon gridlocked.
It also makes Castleton’s prime location between cities something of a curse.
“It’s something that’s been happening for a number of years. But the volume of vehicles now [has made the problem much worse],” Dr Doran said.
“I just think since post-Covid more people are on holiday domestically and people are drawn to these honeypot areas.
“The Peak District is a quite a good example because it’s surrounded by so many large cities and really struggles visitor numbers
“As well as Manchester you’ve got Stoke-on-Trent, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, even different places like Bolton and Hull [are relatively close].
“There can be queues of traffic up the roads. I believe on the last bank holiday, emergency services could not even get through because there were just cars parked willy-nilly.”
During the April Bank Holiday weekend, the route to Castleton went viral on TikTok for having huge queues of cars stretching far into the distance.
Dr Doran explained that the rogue parking caused other problems too.
“There’s erosion on the verges [which affects natural] habitats, but also cars get stuck because sometimes the roads are a little bit high and there are dips at the side,” the academic added.
“Some people will park that way for access reasons, they might be disabled or have a mobility issue so parking closer is more suitable.
“[But] I think for a lot of people it might just be that they want to pull over and get out the car, look at the view and drive off.”
The solution to the issue is tricky, given the road is in the middle of a protected environment building a carpark is not a viable solution, although, as Dr Doran pointed out, the rogue parking was in-part a consequence of people wanting to avoid paying.
“They can’t just build a car park in these wild remote areas,” the academic said.