• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Wonders of the Peak

Buxton Museum & Art Gallery

  • Objects
    • Search by Location
    • Dig!
    • My Museum
    • Go Mobile
  • Facts & Stories
    • Search by Location
    • Choose a Theme
    • View Films
    • Go Mobile
  • Artworks
  • News
  • The Museum
    • Shop
    • Partners
    • Learning
  • My Wonders
    • My Museum

The Swallow Hole

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

A trickling noise gives away the presence of flowing water, the first we have encountered, since climbing Chrome Hill; but where does it go?  Seemingly nowhere. In fact it plunges down a swallow hole at the bottom of that pit, whose rim is just visible from here.  Get closer to the tiny stream and you will see a small pit, with a large, rusty metal disc lying in its bottom.  Gently and carefully lift this by the handle and suddenly you are staring down a shaft.  Unless you have come prepared for serious pot-holing, do nothing more than replace the cover.  This disappearing little stream brings us to the final chapter in the story of the Dragon’s Back.

Having been built up by tiny organisms in a tropical sea, left high and dry as a playground for dinosaurs, covered by muddy shale, scoured and cleaned by ice, it is fresh water that has the final word.  Ever since the retreat of the last glacier, rainwater has been exploiting small weaknesses in the rock. The water has found, found secret routes down towards the river, further eroding the rock as it travels on its journey, creating dark, underground caverns for the adventurous to explore and the perfect home, perhaps, for sleeping dragons?

Continue up the hill on the concessionary path; where it  then turns sharply to the left, along a stone wall.  Follow the wall until you meet the farm track (for Stoop Farm), turning right onto this, to meet the minor road.  Turn right and walk about half a mile along the road down Dowel Dale.  Quite deep down in the dale, just where it makes a turn to the right, take the public footpath on the left, steeply over a ridge, through an open field.  Go over a stone stile and then follow the wall to emerge onto another minor road.  Right onto this takes you back into Earl Sterndale and The Quiet Woman.

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

Simon Corble is a theatre director, playwright and actor based in Derbyshire’s Peak District, is passionate about the countryside and discovering the hidden secrets of the natural world.

http://www.corble.co.uk/

www.discoveringbritain.org

 

Tweet

Connections in the Landscape

You can experience The Swallow Hole 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

The Swallow Hole is closely related to other Wonders in the collection.

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

  • The Arch

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.

Login

Footer

Did you know ...

© 2022 Derbyshire County Council (DCC) unless otherwise attributed
Unless otherwise indicated, DCC content is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License
Creative Commons Licence
Produced by Ben Bedwell and powered by WordPress | Status