Ancient Forests If we were able to travel back in time some 13,000 years we would find Peakland completely unrecognisable. A land covered in trees and none of the well known, prominent landmarks visible. The only areas relatively free of tree cover would have been the highest points of Kinder Scout and Bleaklow. Coming forward in time to 10,000 years ago, the Birch forest which had become established in the harsh conditions after the last glaciers had retreated, was gradually being replaced by other trees. Oak, Elm and Hazel formed the deciduous woodland with which we are more familiar. On the higher moorlands peat began to form about 7,000 years ago but Birch and Pine still took root and it is still possible to find the remains of Pine trees buried in the peat deposits of Kinder Scout and Bleaklow. However by 2,500 years ago the climate deteriorated becoming much colder and wetter. This led to the formation of the thick layers of peat on the high moors. What happened to all those trees? The answer is man. People of the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages gradually cleared the upland areas of trees by felling or burning. This gave rise to grassland in the clearings where these early settlers grazed their animals or cultivated primitive crops. The final chapter in the story took place about 2,500 years ago when Iron Age people with their iron tools completed the task. Their large herds of cattle and sheep which grazed these upland forests prevented tree seedlings from growing allowing the grasslands to develop. This, combined with the deterioration of the climate, produced a landscape more recognisable to us today. Heather came to dominate the gritstone moorlands but the mixed woodlands of the limestone dales were probably the least affected areas. Although these were to suffer over succeeding centuries as the population grew and industries such as lead mining demanded ever more timber for the mines or smelting. By the time of the Domesday in 1086 the Royal Forest of the Peak was a hunting preserve for the king and his favoured noblemen. To call it a forest is a little misleading as by about 1250 much of the area was open heathland with scattered woodland remnants mainly around Longdendale and the Hope and Edale valleys, and in the dales around Tideswell and Wormhill. Gradually the importance of the forest declined and the area became poor, heathy grazing land. By the end of the seventeenth century the forest was no more. More Pictures Plants and Trees