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Stepping Stones

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

This is one of the most popular places in the Peak District National Park with over a million visitors a year. The series of square-cut stones which cross the river here are not particularly ancient; they were put in around 1890 when donkeys were stationed here for hire to take you further into the dale.

Stepping Stones © Speedygroundhog via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The appetite for sublime landscapes, encouraged by writers like William Wordsworth, Lord Byron and Alfred Lord Tennyson and the paintings of JMW Turner, made the dramatic limestone features of places like Dovedale a “must-see” on the Victorian tourist’s wish-list. Writing to a friend, Byron asked: “Was you ever in Dovedale? I assure you there are things in Derbyshire as noble as in Greece or Switzerland”. The coming of the railway to Ashbourne in 1852 and the Ashbourne-Buxton line (now the Tissington Trail) in 1899 made Dovedale even more accessible.

Polished by millions of pairs of boots and shoes, the Stepping Stones were recently and  capped by the National Trust. The Trust’s action shows how many popular beauty spots such as Dovedale can be loved to death by a constant stream of visitors. They perform a difficult balancing act to protect this precious landscape while providing safe access to visitors.

Keep your eyes peeled for fossils in the steeping stones, rocks and walls as you move through this area. A warning though: you still need to watch where you are putting your feet!

Crinoid sea lily fossil in limestone © British Geological Survey

Once across the river, the path passes through a double squeezer stile and winds up on rock steps to the first major viewpoint in the dale, Lover’s Leap.

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 Stepping Stones 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 to other Wonders

Stepping Stones is closely related to other Wonders in the collection.

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

  • Bridge below Thorpe Cloud

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

  • Lovers Leap

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.

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