LOCALS in a quaint town have blasted tourists for overrunning the town and taking up all the parking spots.
Each weekend, hordes of hikers descend on Castleton, an area of natural beauty in the heart of the Peak District.
But while its many pub landlords, gift shops and tea rooms line their pockets, those not in the industry are living a "nightmare".
Cars lined the street and pedestrians the pavement when The Sun visited.
On Castle Street, windows and cones can also be seen outside the majority of homes with an all too familiar phrase - "resident parking only".
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Nanette Hill, who works for a community transport charity in the village, has the words plastered over her gate.
Speaking passionately about the issue, the 64-year-old said: “The tourists individually, we don’t have a problem with, but it’s the quantity of them.
“There isn’t a stable infrastructure for this many people, there just isn’t.”
She explained how the parking has gotten “out of control” referencing people parking their cars however they liked – including at a “right angle”, blocking most of the highway.
Ms Hill continued: “The road just gets narrower too, if we needed to get a fire engine up here, we wouldn’t be able to.
“We worry about the damage that’s actually being done because there are consequences of increased tourism – it impacts on not just the parking, but everything – it’s a nightmare.”
Ms Hill explained how she feels “a sense of belonging” to the village as her dad looked after Peveril Castle for 45 years, and even offered to show The Sun gravestones of her ancestors dating as far back as 200 years ago.
Interrupted by a procession of noisy motorists, she added: “We’ve got a f**king car rally going through now.”
But the High Peak village is a victim of its own success.
Cottages that go on the market are bought by investors, the majority of which become AirBnBs, and with so few children living in the area education is at risk.
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Ms Hill continued: “The village school is almost closed, when our children were here there were 760 people that lived in this village and half the houses didn’t exist – now there’s about 500 permanent residents and more homes.
“We’ve lost control, I used to play on that green [points at the Castleton War Memorial] and on a Friday you would say to your mates, ‘see you on Monday’, because of the tourism – I’ve never seen a local kid play on there for 30 years.”
Castleton was an entirely different place when she grew up, but over time its beauty has become known to more and more people – including two hikers who travelled all the way from the States.
Having been unable to find a spot in the village’s 133 bay car park, 31-year-old Shayna Boulton, of Washington, and 26-year-old Amy Haines, of Colorado, were walking back to their car parked along Castle Street.
Prior to her eight-hour flight, while still in the United States, Miss Boulton had done her research and discovered the Castleton, Mam Tor, and The Great Ridge circular trek through AllTrails – a hiking guide.
The 12.9km walk has more than 3,000 reviews on the app, and takes an estimated four-and-a-half-hours to complete.
Ms Hill said: “We live in a beautiful place, of course people want to look at it, it’s just the sheer quantity.
“I don’t know what the answer is, maybe you have to book a parking space before you arrive? But I don’t think parking restrictions will work unless it is managed better – you rarely see ticket wardens, occasionally they come down but not often.
“All I know is that if I hear one more time that tourism supports the local economy, I will blow myself.”
Driving into the town on Winnats Pass, a picturesque limestone gorge, there is ample roadside parking spaces for day trippers to help alleviate congestion in the village.
But instead of small cars, huge motorhomes and campervans are pitched up - a familiar sight to locals, with Ms Hill claiming there has previously been as many as 88 campervans parked on the road at once.
Steve and Cath Shelley, aged 76 and 75 respectively, were visiting from Barnsley to buy their grandchildren Blue John gemstones - one of the rarest minerals in the world which is found only within the Treak Cliff Cavern, in Castleton, when they were stopped by The Sun.
It is not the first time the couple have done the journey.
Speaking of residents’ frustration with the lack of parking, Mr Shelley said: “We came because it’s a nice day out; you think they would be pleased with the tourism.
“We tried to park in the car park, but you can’t get in because it’s full so we’ve parked here [on Castle Street].”
Much like the pensioners, 52-year-old Joanne and 54-year-old Phil Halligan, of Bolton, were visiting the village just for the day.
Mrs Halligan said: “It’s our first time here and we’ve come for a walk; we walk quite a bit and go to various places around Manchester.
“I can definitely see their frustration, when we come somewhere like this and you don’t know the area, we park in the car parks just so we aren’t annoying anybody – but there aren’t any restrictions so you are allowed to park anywhere.”
In the five years mum-of-two Lisa Taylor has lived in the village, she has considered moving on more than one occasion due to the congestion – and has even had to pay for parking due to the lack of spaces.
The 44-year-old property developer said: “I try to avoid DIY shopping because if I move my car, especially on the weekend, someone will park here.
“I moved here in 2019 but since lockdown the tourism really took off and some people have even moved away from here because of it.”
Meanwhile, Paul Borland, 79, a retired probation officer who moved to Castleton 15 years ago, added: “Yes, it is frustrating, but I’ve got a driveway that I can park two cars on.
“In some ways it’s a lovely village, one of the reason’s we’re here is because of its pubs and cafes, and if we didn’t have the visitors, we wouldn’t have the facilities.
“We’ve got a bakery, a Post Office, coffee shops – a lot of things within walking distance, but it gets very crowded at times.
“People park here [on Castle Street], they finish the walk and go for a pint.”
A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson told The Sun Online: “Like the local community, we support and encourage visitors to our county and to our beautiful villages such as Castleton, but we understand concerns have been raised by local residents and businesses about parking issues.
“These have caused problems such as blocking business and bus access and even stopping rescue teams getting through, so we’ve been working together with local organisations on potential solutions.
“Most recently, this has included a multi-agency meeting as well as the installation of additional double yellow lines and signage to highlight where parking would cause issues for others.
"Our officers enforce these restrictions to help prevent any issues.
“In terms of making sure everyone can enjoy the area, and their journey, we support using public transport wherever possible.
"Edale Station is nearby and the new 62 bus service from Buxton to Castleton which launches under our £47million Bus Service Improvement Plan is one example of how we’re improving bus services and travel links in the area.
"We also have our Friday and Saturday evening 272 service running from Sheffield to Castleton.
“This bus improvement plan is also funding the Peak Sightseer open-top buses with two routes this year, where passengers can enjoy the attractions of Derbyshire and the Peak District - hopefully on the top deck in the Derbyshire sunshine!
“With regard to additional car parking, while we support this where appropriate we don't own any of the local car parks so it is for the local borough council - in this case High Peak Borough Council - or the Peak District National Park Authority to consider any additional parking provision. There are rightly special landscape protections though.
"So, we are keen to work with those authorities again through the Bus Service Improvement Plan work to see if a trial park and ride could work for the area.”
