Dovedale, Peak District, Autumn
From the Dark Peak to the White.
In my last post, I talked about how the Peak District can be broadly split into two areas: the Dark Peak and White Peak. They reflect the predominant underlying geology: gritstone for the Dark Peak, and limestone for the White Peak.
After exploring the Dark Peak’s Froggatt and Curbar Edges, it was time to navigate the deep valley of Dovedale in the White Peak.
Dovedale is a particularly famous area in the Peak District—and the UK in general—seeing around 1 million tourists a year. It features stepping stones, rocky spires, craggy hills, and caves.
We elected to hike the full route, south to north, from the main car park to Milldale and back. In my view, Dovedale exceeded spectations.
All photos shot on my Sony α7ii using my Sony FE 28–70mm f3.5–5.6 OSS zoom and Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC prime lenses. RAWs were developed and edited in Lightroom for iPad, and finalised with the help of Darkroom for iPad.
Dovedale, Peak District, Autumn by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Upon entering the valley, it became immediately apparent how steep and craggy the valley sides were.
Arguably Dovedale’s most recognisable landmark, the stepping stones. Used to cross the River Dove and continue up the valley. This photo was unfortunately timed. I waited for this composition, looking for someone to cross the river to provide context for the photo. Instead, I managed to snap the moment just before this poor gentleman fell into the river. He wasn’t hurt, thankfully, and was quickly helped out.
Further into Dovedale and glorious autumn colours revealed their hues in the woods of the valley.
The first tastes of what was to come. This limestone spire is part of the Tissington Spires that line the eastern side of the valley past Lover’s Leap.
We paid particular attention to finding this spot, and were not disappointed. Beyond Tissington Spires an inconspicuous trail branches off the main valley footpath. It climbs up the steep valley side, revealing this monumental scene: a limestone archway, beyond which is Reynard’s Cave. A stupendous scene.
Beyond Raynard’s Cave, Dovedale narrows and deepens further into an area known as the Straits. Passage is possible only via a raised boarded trail. Once off the boards, we noticed a small cave with a clear and tempting stream trickling out of it.
The most accessible, and driest, caves in Dovedale are the Dove Holes, pictured here high above the trail.
Another solitary limestone spire pierces the sky above the woods.
The Dove Holes caves. They were formed during the last two ice ages by glacial water erosion. The caves became dry as the meltwater and river cut deeper into the gorge.
I got closer to the caves with my ultra-wide angle lens attached. It’s easy to imagine various ancient peoples and cultures have used these caves as shelter and storage.
The other, bigger, cave of Dove Holes, separated by a spire.
At Milldale, we paused for lunch and took the opportunity to wander around this bonny little village.
Milldale probably got its name from the corn mill that once stood on the River Dove here. Nowadays, it’s a sleepy little village with old stone cottages. Proper lovely.
After lunch it was time to take the return trip back down south the valley. This scene very much put me in mind of something like Yosemite.
One of the more famous spires in Dovedale can be seen on the right: Ilam Rock. Facing it is Pickering Tor. Ilam Rock rises 80 ft high from the valley floor, and is an impressive sight from any angle.
Near the Tissington Spires, Jacob’s Ladder rises above the woodland and catches the late afternoon light.
From below, the Tissington Spires are an imposing sight. Here they catch the golden afternoon light as the valley floor recedes into cold shadow.
Nearing the stepping stones once again, Dovedale’s most famous peak—Thorpe Cloud—comes into view. Here I took two exposures: one with my thumb covering the sun and one unobstructed. Blocking the sun with my thumb allowed me to blend the exposures with minimal lens flare.
Thorpe Cloud is an impressive pyramidal peak from across the River Dove.
One final look back into Dovedale before exiting for the day. An absolutely spectacular place.