Regular walks and time outdoors are widely considered key ingredients to a quality and longer life – and where better to put that into practice than in the glorious Peak District!Rebecca Erskine finds
out how landscape, stories and nature come together at Peak Walking Adventures
Peak Walking Adventures co-director, Richard Tower has always been active. A combination of an early career in holidays and tourism, running sailing centres and a love of hiking have given him ample time to reap the benefits of the outdoors and witness its effect on others.
During Covid, however, his work had become more office based. Working for a charity supporting people in retirement villages was incredibly rewarding when supporting resident activities such as abseiling, but the pull back to a full-time outdoors role proved irresistible.
At the same time, the then owner of Peak Walking Adventures wished to sell the company. “It was a great business and too good an opportunity to miss! I had recently gained my Mountain Leader Award qualification and, at the age of 58, was excited by the prospect of a new career in this third chapter of my life.”
Richard and his wife Sian now own the business and work with their friend, Rachel Bolton, and other freelance guides to deliver walks across the Peak District. Their focus is on sharing landscape, stories and nature, and all that offers in connecting people and improving their physical and mental wellbeing.
“Today’s digital speed requires us to engage very quickly and at a pace that can be quite stressful. I liken it to revving an engine in neutral. The brain is doing a lot of work, but the heart, lungs and limbs are sitting redundantly at a desk. When you’re out walking, on the other hand, everything slows down to a natural pace.”
Richard’s appreciation of the Peak District first developed in the 1980s as a student at the University of Sheffield. “One Saturday night, my friend suggested we walk back to his family home in Marple for Sunday lunch. We set off at 10pm and walked all night. That was the start of a lifelong love affair with this area and has inspired me to create the ‘Trail of Two Cities’ walk in celebration of 75 years of the Peak District National Park. It’s a wonderful weekend crossing the Park’s high gritstone edges, moorlands and valleys between the outskirts of Manchester and Sheffield.”
“Sharing stories about the Peak District really does make you rethink your history and landscape.”
Richard is keen to emphasise that their walks are not all about ‘the challenge’ but about creating a friendly environment where each person feels their own experience has been a positive one. “There’s no ‘follow me to the top!’ mentality and we really plan ahead to make sure our walks are inclusive for all who join us. When setting up corporate walks, we’ll ask our client to conjure up an image of how their team might feel at the end of the walk. Who might be the most or least happy and why might that be? Once we know more about the individuals involved, we can tailor the experience accordingly – for example, creating shorter inner or middle routes.” On a personal level, Richard says his biggest thrill when leading others is seeing the impact when they immerse themselves in their surroundings in a more relaxed and considered way. “It’s a huge privilege to share that experience. A lot of walkers with busy lives tell me they come on the walk with a list of, say, 15 things to do at work or home – and end the walk in the knowledge that only three things actually matter once they get the space back!”
Greeting international visitors and refugee groups brings great satisfaction too. “I’m a boy from Kent so I know what it is like to see this place through fresh eyes. And the more I learn about the area, the less I know! Sharing stories about the Peak District really does make you rethink your history and landscape.”
Guided walks range from five-mile accessible routes to high-ascent 25-mile challenges and sometimes tie in other activities such as morning or evening yoga. There are historical walks too, such as the Charlotte Brontë Hathersage walk, taking in the local landscapes and buildings that inspired her novel, Jane Eyre. Plans are afoot, too, for a historical plague walk and 17th-century themed picnic in Eyam, in collaboration with the Village Green Café.
Such efforts to offer a variety of experiences and exceed client expectations are clearly paying off, with the business winning Gold for ‘Experience of the Year’ in the 2026 Peak District, Derbyshire & Derby Tourism Awards.
The walks have welcomed people of all ages, from young parents with babies on their backs to people in their 80s, either as private groups or joining organised public walks. Businesses seeking to develop staff wellbeing and bonding see the advantages too, often combining a walk with fundraising, staff socials or client entertainment.
Linking their walks by train brings flexibility for clients who choose to sit out a particular leg of the walk. It also encourages train travel and helps to reduce traffic in the National Park; all part of the company’s efforts to support sustainability under their Peak District Environmental Quality Mark Award. Other sustainability actions include a charity walk on 10th October to raise £1,500 in aid of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
The ultimate success for Richard and his colleagues is helping people to build the skills to undertake their own walks, in the UK or on treks overseas. “I recently heard back from a student in Malaysia who joined one of our walks when she was studying at university in Manchester. The experience gave her the confidence to climb Malaysia’s highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, which she wanted to challenge herself to undertake as her grandmother [had] before her.”
Helping so many to appreciate and protect the Peak District and apply that learning to other areas of natural beauty, wherever they may be in the world, is surely a story worth telling!
Information on Peak Walking Adventures, including their Christmas Cracker Walk on 5 December, is available at: peakwalking.com.