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Bridge below Thorpe Cloud

Edited by discoveringbritain (Discovering Britain) | Added on 13th June 2019

Dovedale and Thorpe Cloud © Rob Williams via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The twin sentinels of Thorpe Cloud towering away to your right and Bunster Hill to your left guard the entrance to Dovedale. Over 50 miles from the nearest stretch of coastline you may be surprised to learn that these hills were once coral reefs! They are known as reef knolls and were formed around 350 million years ago from the compressed remains of coral reefs on the edge of a warm, tropical sea, which created the limestone plateau of the White Peak.

Thorpe Cloud © Ivan Lian via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

But look at the babbling waters of the River Dove to your side. It seems impossible that this quiet river produced such a steep-sided dale. So what happened here?

At the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, meltwater from glaciers swelled the Dove into a powerful torrent. Those icy waters cut down through fissures and faults in the rock like a knife through butter. The vertical crags and pinnacles we can see are harder bands of limestone that the water could not cut through so easily.

As we walk along Dovedale we’ll see some examples of the other fascinating features created in the limestone. Follow the west bank of the River Dove beneath Bunster Hill to the famous Stepping Stones.

This trail was originally developed by Roly Smith for the Royal Geographical Society’s Discovering Britain.

Roly is a keen walker and the author of over 90 books on the British countryside. He has been recently described as one of Britain’s most knowledgeable countryside writers.

Thanks are also due to Dan Seagrave for use of his photograph of Dovedale and Thorpe Cloud (CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Dovedale is managed and cared for by the National Trust.

Roly Smith

www.discoveringbritain.org

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ilam-park-dovedale-and-the-white-peak/features/visiting-dovedale

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Connections in the Landscape

You can experience Bridge below Thorpe Cloud out in the Peak District or Derbyshire by visiting the location marked on the map below, or find it with the help of the Pocket Wonders app.

Connections in the Museum

The objects below can be found in the Wonders of the Peak exhibition. Each has a connection to Bridge below Thorpe Cloud.

  • Exhibit 20.21: Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud, Thorpe Cloud,

Connections to other Wonders

Bridge below Thorpe Cloud is closely related to other Wonders in the collection.

For the previous chapter in the story, look back at this Wonder:

  • Soaring Pinnacles and Secret Caves

For the next chapter in the story, continue on to the Wonder below:

  • Stepping Stones

Save this Wonder

Saving a Wonder adds it to your My Wonders page. You can create your very own trail featuring your saved Wonders and walk it with the help of the Pocket Wonders app.

You need to be logged in to the website in order to save this Wonder.

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