by Nothing says Christmas better than a piece of fluorspar. At least, not in the Peak District village of Castleton, where the rare Blue John gemstone has been quarried from the steep hills above the village since the late 17th century and visitors began touring the caverns in the Georgian period. The discovery of the purple mineral with its distinctive colored veins is based on a local tradition of lead mining dating back to the Romans.
However, since the late 1960s, Castleton has been known for something else: its holiday spirit. The village, situated at the head of the picturesque Hope Valley between Manchester and Sheffield, is often voted one of the most festive places in Britain. Think a main street ablaze with illuminated Christmas trees, carol and brass band concerts in the show caverns and a Norman church hosting a community-spirited Christmas tree festival to brighten the darkest month of the year.
There are plenty of gemstone gifts to buy, but there’s no overpriced Christmas market or fancy light show in sight.
“Miners sang the Castleton Carols, a cappella variations on traditional Christmas carols, in the 18th century, and made offerings to T’Owd Man, a medieval miner, lighting candles to bless the mine for the following year,” explains Vicky Turner, director. from Treak Cliff Cavern, located on the path to the ancient Iron Age site of Man Tor (known locally as Shivering Mountain).
Treak Cliff has the most extensive Blue John warehouses in Britain and will feature candlelit carols on Christmas Eve evening. “Regardless of gales, snow or floods,” smiles Vicky, whose family has lived in the village for generations, “we always care about community and tradition.”
“As noble as Greece or Switzerland”
The close-knit community of Castleton emerged from the construction of Peveril Castle, one of the first Norman fortresses in England. Henry II added the keep in 1176 and it became popular with visiting dignitaries as a hunting lodge, the center of the Royal Pico Forest. The imposing ruins still loom over the community, although today they are in the custody of English Heritage.
Below, Peak Cavern boasts the entrance to the largest natural cave in the UK and evidence of its rope-making heritage can still be seen. When Lord Byron visited Derbyshire in the early 19th century, he proclaimed: “There are things in Derbyshire as noble as Greece or Switzerland.” However, Queen Victoria was less effusive, despite last-minute efforts by locals to disguise signs from Peak Cavern’s best-known local name: Devil’s Arse.
The peaks and crags around Castleton stretch beyond a misty horizon to Kinder Scout, home to the massive invasion of the 1920s that led to the formation of the Peak District as Britain’s first national park in 1951. It is a uncompromising terrain but possesses a visceral winter beauty.
“I find the wildness of the winter landscape exhilarating,” says Sharon Mosley of the National Park Authority, over a coffee at the Blueberry Café, located within the exhibition at the Castleton Visitor Centre. “But when I go for a walk, just me, a dog and a flask, I always think about our ancestors, walking for miles across this landscape to the mines.”
After exploring the ginnels (narrow passageways) in the oldest part of the village, the bridges and shop windows illuminated against the slate-grey winter skies, I walk to St Edmund’s Church, whose Romanesque altar arch is a testament to its origins in the 12th century. I find the church nave lined with miniature Christmas trees, each donated by different community groups, to illuminate the winter darkness in this ancient and sacred place.
“Castleton thrives not on tinsel and glitter, but on the true spirit of Christmas,” says Rev. Louise Petherham, who will lead her congregation through three country churches this Christmas. “My sermon will address the parallels between our current world and the original Christmas story, suggesting that people are fundamentally good and welcome outsiders, just as members of this community have done for generations.”
The perfect present
Blue John was first discovered by miners at Treak Cliff Cavern in 1740, the name being a corruption of the French ‘bleu jaune’ as described by groups of French migrant workers who arrived after the discovery. It is still used to make ornaments and jewellery, officially recognized as a semi-precious stone since the 1920s, and several historic pieces are part of the Chatsworth collection in nearby Bakewell.
But I end my visit at ASD Jewelers in town, where I can’t help but admire Anthony Darwent’s trinkets. He makes handmade pieces in the upstairs shop and will be working over Christmas to fulfill orders from around the world. If I’m stuck for a last-minute gift, then the display cases are packed with glittering earrings, cufflinks and brooches, but among the best sellers are Blue John’s Christmas decorations – two for £28 on sale.
“Each piece is unique because of the veining of the colored bands,” says Darwent, wiping her dusty hands on her apron in her busy workshop. “It’s the geologic mix of southern White Peak limestone and northern Dark Peak sandstone that makes them so distinctive.”
Castleton may embody the spirit of Christmas with its old-fashioned values of heritage, tradition and community, rather than the gaudy glitz of Christingle, but no one could resist Darwent’s festive, dangling baubles. I indulge in a little holiday retail therapy. Plus, Castleton Blue John is for life, not just for Christmas.
Where to stay
Double rooms at The Maynard, Grindleford, from £90 B&B, based on two people sharing (www.the-maynard.com). The family group also has a new pub with rooms, The Ashford Arms (theashfordarms.com), which will open in Bakewell next spring.
Cave visits
Treak Cliff Cavern is open all year round for tours (book online for £11.50), plus carol concerts in December (www.bluejohnstone.com). Peak Cavern offers weekend concerts at 6pm in December (www.peakcavern.co.uk/christmas-carol-concerts).
Get there
Train travel provided by Northern on the Hope Valley Line (northernrailway.co.uk). More information at Visit Peak District and Derbyshire (visitpeakdistrict.com).
