High Tor's limestone crags tower over the River Derwent - this is one of the most spectacular scenes in the county. Ebenezer Rhodes description, written almost 180 years ago, waxed lyrical about the recreation grounds...'This stupendous cliff ... to which the mass of wood, and the deep silent stream that lay enveloped in a dark shadow in the dale below, formed an imposing contrast' ('Peak Scenery', (1824) E. Rhodes, pub. London by Longman). A century or more ago High Tor was known as Eagle Crag because Fish Eagles used to nest here.