The River Dove, Derbyshire, is the principal river of the south-western Peak District, in the East Midlands and is around 65 km / 40 miles in length. It rises on Axe Edge Moor near Buxton and flows generally south to its confluence with the River Trent at Newton Solney. For most of its way it forms the boundary between the counties of Staffordshire (to the west) and Derbyshire (to the east).
From Hartington to its confluence with the River Manifold at Ilam the river flows through a scenic limestone valley, usually known simply as Dovedale. However, from Hartington south to Ilam, a distance of eight miles, the dales of Dovedale are more properly named:
- Beresford Dale
- Wolfscote Dale
- Mill Dale
- Dove Dale
Good riverside paths make the whole route accessible to walkers. For many years the Ashbourne-Buxton railway line ran within a few miles of the Dove, to the east of the valley, making the dale easily accessible to walkers. This line closed in the mid 1960s and was converted into a walkers' and cyclists' path known as the Tissington Trail. A few miles to the west of Dovedale the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway was also similarly converted (though fully tarmacked) some thirty years earlier and is now known as the Manifold Way. Much of the dale is in the ownership of the National Trust, being part of their South Peak Estate. Dovedale itself was acquired in 1934, with successive properties being added until 1938, and Wolfscote Dale in 1948. Dovedale was declared a National Nature Reserve on 14 October 2006. The river is a famous trout stream. Charles Cotton's Fishing House, which was the inspiration for Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, stands in the woods by the river near Hartington. It is also the focus of the annual cross-country running event the Dovedale Dash. At the southern end of Dovedale stands Thorpe Cloud (942 ft/287 m at grid reference SK151510), an isolated limestone hill of the kind known as a reef knoll, which affords a fine viewpoint north up the dale and south across the Midland plain. On the opposite bank is the higher, but less isolated Bunster Hill (1,079 ft/329 m at grid reference SK141516), this is also apparently a reef knoll. Dovedale was featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the Midlands. Dovedale's other attractions include a series of stepping stones across the river, Lovers' Leap and Reynard's Cave.
External links and references
This area along the river was used in Franco Zeffirelli's 1996 version and the BBC's 2006 version of Jane Eyre.
