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The Pennines (ˈpɛnaɪnz), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "backbone of England" because of its length and position, the range runs from the north Midlands to North East England, near the Anglo-Scottish border. The Peak District is the southern end of the range, rising northwards from its foothills near the Trent Valley in northern Staffordshire, and further north into eastern Cheshire and southern Derbyshire. Beyond this are the South Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, and North Pennines, ending at the Tyne Gap. Beyond the gap are the Border Moors and Cheviot Hills, which are included in some definitions of the range. The Pennines are deeply indented by valleys, and the range is divided into two by the Aire Gap, a wide pass formed by the valleys of the rivers Aire and Ribble. There are several spurs off the main Pennine range east of the gap, into Lancashire, comprising the Rossendale Fells, West Pennine Moors and the Bowland Fells. The Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in Cumbria are also sometimes considered to be Pennine spurs. The Pennines are an important water catchment area, with numerous reservoirs in the head streams of the river valleys. Most of the range is protected by national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Running north to south, and including the Cheviots, the range is within Northumberland National Park, the North Pennines AONB, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Nidderdale AONB, the Forest of Bowland AONB, and the Peak District National Park. The only significant unprotected gap is the area between Skipton and Marsden. Britain's oldest long-distance footpath, the 268-mile (429 km) Pennine Way, runs along most of the Pennines. Various etymologies have proposed treating "Pennine" as a native Brittonic/Modern Welsh name related to pen- ("head"). It did not become a common name until the 18th century and almost certainly derives from modern comparisons with the Apennine Mountains, which run down the middle of Italy in a similar fashion.

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Related concepts (87)

M62 motorway

The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 (Shannon to Saint Petersburg) and E22 (Holyhead to Ishim). The motorway, which was first proposed in the 1930s, and conceived as two separate routes, was opened in stages between 1971 and 1976, with construction beginning at Pole Moor near Huddersfield and finishing at that time in Tarbock on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Peak District

The Peak District is an upland area in England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire and includes the Dark Peak, moorland dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west sides; the White Peak covers central and southern tracts. The Peak District was the first of the national parks of England and Wales in 1951.

Lancashire

Lancashire (ˈlæŋkəʃər , -ʃɪər ; abbreviated Lancs) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is Blackpool, and the county town is the city of Preston. The county has an area of and a population of 1,490,300. The north and southwest are generally rural, while the centre, southeast, and coast are more densely populated.