The Pennines /ˈpɛnaɪnz/ are a range of mountains and hills separating North West England from Yorkshire and North East England.Often described as the "backbone of England", the Pennine hills form a more-or-less continuous range stretching northwards from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of Lancashire and Greater Manchester, through the Yorkshire Dales past the Cumbrian Fells to the Cheviot Hills on the Anglo-Scottish border.