Vale of Edale

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Vale of Edale
Hillside of Horsehill Tor towards Vale Of Edale - geograph.org.uk - 1407758.jpg
Looking east from Horsehill Tor
Lengthc.7 kilometres (4 mi)
Widthc.2 kilometres (1 mi)
Depthc.300 metres (984 ft)
Geography
Location Derbyshire, England
Coordinates 53°22′08″N1°51′27″W / 53.3688°N 1.8574°W / 53.3688; -1.8574
Rivers River Noe

The Vale of Edale is the upper valley of the River Noe, in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The village of Edale lies in the middle of the valley. [1]

Edale Head, on the Kinder Scout plateau, is the source of the River Noe (a tributary to the River Derwent). The River Noe flows out of the foot of the Vale of Edale into Hope Valley, past the village of Hope and through Brough-on-Noe, where the Romans established Navio fort. [1] [2]

View from Mam Tor over the Vale of Edale to Kinder Mamtor-valley.jpg
View from Mam Tor over the Vale of Edale to Kinder

On the north side of the valley is the Kinder moorland plateau. On the south side is the ridge of Rushup Edge and Great Ridge, over Mam Tor and Hollins Cross to Lose Hill. The other settlements in the valley are the hamlets of Upper Booth, Barber Booth and Nether Booth. [1]

The Hope Valley railway line (Manchester to Sheffield) runs along the Vale of Edale. The train line, built by Midland Railway, and Edale railway station were opened in 1894. At the western end of the Vale of Edale the line heads through the 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi) long Cowburn Tunnel at Dale Head, under the moorland hill of Brown Knoll. [3]

Packhorse bridge at the foot of Jacob's Ladder Packhorse Bridge and Jacob's Ladder - geograph.org.uk - 616482.jpg
Packhorse bridge at the foot of Jacob's Ladder

Edale is the start of the Pennine Way long distance footpath, which runs from Derbyshire to Scotland. The trail heads west through Upper Booth and up Jacob's Ladder footpath to the Kinder plateau. [4] At the foot of Jacob's ladder is a gritstone packhorse bridge, with a single span which crosses the River Noe. It is a designated Grade II structure. The bridge is on an important medieval packhorse route over the Pennine moorland between Hayfield and Edale. Salt and cheese from Cheshire and cotton from the Lancashire mills were transported to the east, while coal and lead were carried to the west. [5] [6] Doctor's Gate Roman road ran along the hillside at the eastern end of the valley. [7]

The land along the banks of the River Noe between Barber Booth and Jacob's Ladder is protected as Edale SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). The banks and riverbed contain important fossils from the rocks known as Edale Shales. There are kestrels, buzzards and curlews in the valley. The trees along the hillsides include birch, rowan and alder. [5] [8] Jacob's ladder footpath runs across land that is owned and managed by the National Trust. It is also part of the Kinder Scout SSSI, which was designated as a National Nature Reserve in 2009. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peak District</span> Upland area in England

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. The historic Peak District extends beyond the National Park, which excludes major towns, quarries and industrial areas. Nearby Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield send millions of visitors. Inhabited from the Mesolithic era, it shows evidence of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Settled by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, it remained largely agricultural; mining arose in the Middle Ages. Richard Arkwright built cotton mills in the Industrial Revolution. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennines</span> Range of uplands in Northern England

The Pennines, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennine Way</span> Long distance footpath in England

The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for 268 miles (431 km) from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes described as the "backbone of England". Although not the United Kingdom's longest National Trail, it is according to The Ramblers "one of Britain's best known and toughest".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Noe</span> River in England

The River Noe is a tributary of the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. It flows approximately 12 miles (19 km) from its source, the confluence of two streams running off Kinder Scout in the Peak District, east through Edale and then southeast through the village of Hope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edale</span> Village and parish in the Peak District, England

Edale is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, whose population was 353 at the 2011 Census. Edale, with an area of 7,030 acres (2,840 ha), is in the Borough of High Peak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hope, Derbyshire</span> Human settlement in England

Hope is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. The population at the 2011 Census was 864. It lies in the Hope Valley, at the point where Peakshole Water flows into the River Noe. To the north, Win Hill and Lose Hill stand either side of the Noe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Peak, Derbyshire</span> Local government district in Derbyshire, England

High Peak is a local government district with borough status in Derbyshire, England, covering a high moorland plateau in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. The district stretches from Holme Moss in the north to Sterndale Moor in the south, and from Hague Bar in the west to Bamford in the east. The population of the borough taken at the 2011 Census was 90,892. The borough is unusual in having two administrative centres for its council, High Peak Borough Council; the offices are in Buxton and Glossop. Other towns include Chapel-en-le-Frith, Hadfield, New Mills and Whaley Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark Peak</span>

The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern section but also extending south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire but parts are in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinder Scout</span> Mountain in northern England, UK

Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and national nature reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at 636 metres (2,087 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak District, in Derbyshire and the East Midlands; in an early text this summit was identified as the Peak, and the whole area is often referred to locally as The Peak or The Peaks. In excellent weather conditions, the city of Manchester and the Greater Manchester conurbation can be seen from the western edges, as well as Winter Hill near Bolton and the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hope Valley, Derbyshire</span> Valley in Derbyshire, England

The Hope Valley is a rural area centred on the village of Hope, Derbyshire, in the Peak District in the northern Midlands of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowburn Tunnel</span> Railway tunnel on the Hope Valley Line in England

The Cowburn Tunnel is a railway tunnel at the western end of the Vale of Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The tunnel is 3,702 yards (3,385 m) long. It is the deepest railway tunnel in England, at 875 feet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Kinder</span> River in northwestern Derbyshire, England

The River Kinder is a small river, only about 3 miles (4.8 km) long, in northwestern Derbyshire, England. Rising on the peat moorland plateau of Kinder Scout, it flows generally westwards to its confluence with the River Sett at Bowden Bridge. En route it flows through the Kinder Gates rocks, over the waterfall known as Kinder Downfall, and through Kinder Reservoir, built in 1903–12 by the Stockport Corporation Water Works. Until the 19th century at least, the name was formerly also applied to the River Sett as far as its confluence with the River Goyt in New Mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burbage Brook</span> River in England

Burbage Brook is an upper tributary stream of the River Derwent in the Peak District of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grindslow Knoll</span>

Grindslow Knoll is a hill in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England. It is joined to Kinder Scout by a high col though from most angles appears as an independent peak. It is the high point at the western side of Grindsbrook Clough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Knoll</span>

Brown Knoll is one of the highest hills in the Peak District in central England. It rises to a height of 569 metres (1,867 ft) above the head of the Edale valley and about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south-southwest of the Peak's highest point, Kinder Scout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, adjacent to the east side of the town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. Having been a disused and flooded quarry since the 1970s, it now consists of the large Hay-a-Park Lake and three smaller ponds, besides associated reedbeds, scrub, woodland and grassland. It was designated as a SSSI in 1995 because it supports a number of wintering birds, including a large flock of goosander. This site is "one of the most northerly inland breeding populations of reed warbler in Britain." Hay-a-Park was once part of a royal park, an early landowner being Edward II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mar Field Fen</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Mar Field Fen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, north of Masham, North Yorkshire, England, in a rural area known as Marfield. It is situated on land containing woodland carr, fen, spring-fed marshy grassland and drier calcareous grassland, between the River Ure to the east and Marfield Wetland nature reserve to the west. As "one of the best examples of fen habitat in the Vale of York," it is a protected habitat for a variety of plants, including the common butterwort, a carnivorous plant. There is no public access to this site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totley Moor</span> Hill in the Derbyshire Peak District

Totley Moor is an open moorland hill to the west of the Sheffield suburb of Totley, in the Derbyshire Peak District. The summit is 395 metres (1,296 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor's Gate</span> Roman Road between Glossop and the Hope Valley

Doctor's Gate is a Roman road in the Derbyshire Peak District of England, which ran between Melandra fort at Glossop and Navio fort at Brough-on-Noe. Doctor's Gate was recorded in 1627 as "Docto Talbotes Gate", named after Dr John Talbot who is attributed with improving the summit section in the late 15th century and 'gate' is derived from the Scandinavian word for road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob's Ladder, Derbyshire</span> Bridlepath in the Peak District of England

Jacob's Ladder is a bridleway between Kinder Scout plateau and the hamlet of Upper Booth in the Vale of Edale, in the Derbyshire Peak District of England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 OL1 Dark Peak Area (Map). 1:25000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey.
  2. "Navio Roman Fort, Brough". Wonders of the Peak. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. "The Hope Valley Line" (PDF). Today's Railways UK magazine issue 121 p.42-48. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. Wainwright, Alfred (2004). Pennine Way Companion. Frances Lincoln. pp. 169–171. ISBN   978-0711222359.
  5. 1 2 "Walking in the Peak District: Day one". National Trust. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  6. Historic England. "PACKHORSE BRIDGE AT FOOT OF JACOBS LADDER (1096620)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  7. "MNA112649 | National Trust Heritage Records". heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  8. "SSSI detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  9. "Dark Peak SSSI detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  10. "Kinder Scout designated a national nature reserve". The Guardian. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2020.