THIS week's Diary comes from the Peak District of Derbyshire, where we spent a weekend exploring some of the area's many charms.

We were fortunate with the weather because we enjoyed tranquil autumn days rich with sunshine and warm enough to remain out of doors without an overcoat. It was dry too and the colours of the trees in the Peak's deep valleys were memorable to say the least.

Our base was the beautiful spa town of Buxton with its splendid and graceful architecture. In admiring its buildings, it is not difficult to notice the similarities between other spa towns like Bath or Harrogate, but this is no accident.

Although Buxton dates to Roman times, always being a popular resort due to its natural warm springs, it became highly fashionable in the eighteenth century, so much so that the fifth Duke of Devonshire, a noted local landowner, wanted to rival the splendours of Bath.

To do this, he built the elegant St Anne's Crescent which contained shops, cafes, hotels, games rooms and other accommodation. It was completed in 1784.

Another remarkable building is the former Devonshire Royal Hospital, opened in 1859 and boasting the widest unsupported dome in the world.

This amazing building was originally built as stables for the Duke of Devonshire, with the dome being added in 1880. It was converted into a hospital in 1882.

While we were there, the entire complex, now owned by Derby University, was being restructured.

Today, Buxton is said to be the highest market town in England, although others might argue that this honour goes to Alston in Cumbria, but its climate is pleasant because it sits in a hollow surrounded and sheltered by hills.

Although this is a working town, there is plenty to occupy the visitor - the magnificent Pavilion Gardens, the Opera House, the market, the pump room, the museum and art gallery, the Old Hall dating to 1550 and Poole's Cavern, which extends 300 yards into a hillside and which was once the hideaway of a notorious robber called Poole.

Beyond the town is the spectacular countryside of the Peak District National Park with its lofty and bleak heathery hills, lots of pretty villages, reservoirs, underground caves and remote inns in high places.

This is limestone country, which is reflected in the soft, warm colour of the local stone from which castles, halls, cottages, farms, bridges and dry stone walls are constructed, while some of the country's most beautiful dales and rivers are within easy reach of Buxton.

The Goyt Valley is one of the most popular, with its tiny stone bridges, wild moorland and variety of wildlife, even if part of the dale has been transformed by reservoirs.

Another favourite is the Vale of Edale, whose name will be familiar to those who tackle the Pennine Way. This 250-mile long distance walk begins at the sixteenth century Nag's Head Inn at Edale and it was also in this area that the Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation had its beginnings.

Towering above Edale are two of the Peak's highest points - at 2,070ft, Crowden Head dominates the area, but the most famous is undoubtedly Kinder Scout at 2,088ft.

This is the highest point in the Peak District and it featured in the famous mass trespass of 1932.

Two of the Peak District's most famous villages are Castleton and Eyam. Castleton is perhaps the most popular, not only for its own rugged beauty and superb location, but also because it gives access to many cave systems. Some of these were formed by nature and others by miners, but all are worthy of exploration.

Standing above Castleton is Peveril Castle, a Norman structure which has been restored. It was made famous in Sir Walter Scott's novel, Peveril of the Peak.

Deep within the hill upon which the castle stands is Peak Cavern, one of the best of the many underground caverns hereabouts.

To explore these caves is to enter a virtual wonderland and one of them -the Blue John Mine - is the only place in the world that a special type of fluorspar can be found. This is called Blue John, which has been used since Roman times to make jewels and ornaments.

Eyam is noted because of the remarkable self-sacrifice of its inhabitants during the Great Plague of 1665.

A local tailor inadvertently brought the plague from London to Eyam in a parcel of infected cloth, whereupon the local vicar, William Mompesson, called upon the villagers to isolate themselves to prevent the disease spreading throughout the district.

And so they did, some three quarters of the population being wiped out in this remarkable form of self-sacrifice.

Large country houses are plentiful in the Peak District, with Chatsworth (the home of the present Duke and Duchess of Devonshire) being perhaps the best known, but we settled for a visit to the astonishing Haddon Hall, near Bakewell.

One of the finest medieval and Tudor homes in England, its interior rooms are regularly used in films and television drama to give visitors a real sense of deja vu.

Today is Hallowe'en, when ghosts and witches and things that go bump in the night are supposed to be abroad during the dark hours.

The day has lots of other names too, such as Eve of All Hallows, Samain, Winter's Eve, Allantide, Ash Riddling Night, Hodening Horse Day, Nutcrack Night, Snail Tracing Night, Witch Lating Night and, of much more modern origin, Trick or Treat Night.

There is little doubt that the reputation of Hallowe'en has developed from a mixture of pagan and religious sources - Samain, for example, was the last night of the year in the pagan world and a time for their greatest fire festival.

That was dedicated to the dead, the pagans believing that ghosts of their ancestors returned to their earthly homes this night. For that reason, elaborate preparations were made to welcome them - there was fire, food, music and dancing and it was also thought that bonfires would strengthen the power of the declining sun.

Huge bonfires were lit, even into the nineteenth century, but these have now been transferred to November 5, with Yorkshire-born Guy Fawkes being the modern reason for lighting them.

When Christianity came to these islands, the day was utilised as the time for remembering our own dead, the term all hallows meaning all saints.

Today is the eve of All Hallows, which in turn means that tomorrow is All Hallows Day or All Saints Day.

In this case, the term saint does not necessarily refer to one who has been canonised by the Pope, but means the deceased relatives of everyone, and the occasion was usually a day for celebration rather than gloom.

Games were played both in the houses and around the villages, one of the most popular being dipping for apples. In Cornwall, this was known as Allantide.

In all cases, whether in Cornwall or elsewhere, apples were floated in a barrel of water and had to be lifted out by the teeth of the players, with the players' hands behind their backs.

Nuts were also used by rural girls to divine the name of their future husband - the nuts were marked with the names of possible couples and placed near a fire.

If the nuts spat away due to the heat, they were examined to see whose names they bore. Those people were rejected on the grounds they would be incompatible - the names of anyone left close to the fire were considered a much better prospect on the grounds they would be peaceful and tranquil in marriage.

A snail was also used to divine one's future spouse - it was placed in a closed dish overnight and the marks it made were supposed to be the initials of one's future spouse.

In Whitby, however, love-sick youngsters climbed the tower of St Mary's Church, near the abbey, and shouted the name of their intended across the sea.

Their destiny was assured if they heard the sound of bells from beneath the waves, the bells in question having been stolen from Whitby Abbey when it was dissolved by Henry VIII prior to the Reformation.

As the bells were being carried away by ship, a storm arose and capsized it, tipping the bells into the sea. They have never been recovered.

Witch Lating was carried out in the Pennines. A person went onto the moors between 11pm and midnight on All Hallows, carrying a lighted candle.

If the flame burned steadily, it meant the person would be free from witchcraft for the next 12 months, but if it went out great evil would befall that person!

Ash riddling was done by riddling fire ash and leaving it on the hearth overnight. If a footprint appeared, the person who fitted it would be dead within the year! I'd rather tolerate trick or treat