• 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

Natural History

Castle Cliff Rocks

13th June 2019 by

Castle Cliff Rocks is in effect the last formation of the Roaches, though we are many metres below the heights of the escarpment. A brief clamber on a few of these boulders is fun and will help you appreciate why the Roaches is a mecca for rock climbers. Please do take care here, however, especially in wet or icy weather.

This type of rock doesn’t crumble easily and offers a firm grip. Officially known as Roaches Grit, it is very hard sandstone. It formed from coarse sand washed down into a huge river delta during the late Carboniferous period, some 320 million years ago. This rock is a subdivision of the famous Millstone Grit found widely across the Peak District.

The stack here has survived because this is a particularly hard section of rock. It has withstood the eroding efforts of rain, ice and wind much better than the less durable material which must have once surrounded it.

[Read more…] about Castle Cliff Rocks

The Confluence

13th June 2019 by

The Dane is a fabulous, beautiful river, tumbling down from the moors which loom above its ancient, wooded valley. Hidden in those woods is the most incredible church in the Peak District, with many a tale to tell.

Rather than a building, Lud’s Church is a moss coated chasm. This trail explores the Church, the identity of the mysterious Lud and the site’s connection with the surrounding Dane Valley.

River Dove © Simon Corble

The river’s source is just three miles away on Axe Edge Moor. Over those three miles, half a dozen streams converge and flow into the river.  The confluence we can see here, with a stream joining from the right, is a typical example.

At its source on the moor, the River Dane is about 500 metres above sea level. By the time it reaches here, the river has lost almost half of that height. The power gained from this great fall carves through the rock in narrow steep-sided ravines, known in these parts as ‘cloughs’. Typically, they have a ‘V-shape’ profile where the water has eroded through the rock.

[Read more…] about The Confluence

The Swallow Hole

13th June 2019 by

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?

[Read more…] about The Swallow Hole

The Arch

13th June 2019 by

Travelling back to that ancient period around 350 million years ago when these reefs were relatively new, it is not hard to imagine prehistoric fish of bright tropical colours swimming through here in a warm sea of crystal blue waters.  Perhaps the arch was part-exposed by the tide for some of the day, with waves crashing and surging through.  Stand inside and feel its sides, worn by the passage of 350 million-year-old currents.

A little further down the ridge, you will come across a small cave, (you may have already spotted it from the hilltop); just as with this arch, the cave at once reminds me of a scene on a rocky seashore.

[Read more…] about The Arch

Summit of Parkhouse Hill

13th June 2019 by

 

View from the summit

Congratulations!  That is the steepest climb of the whole walk over with and we need somewhere to get our breath back.  This pronounced summit offers an obvious place to sit, almost like a few stone stools bunched together – so take the weight off your feet.  You might need something for a cushion as you will quickly notice that this limestone is very hard indeed.

View towards Chrome Hill

The view westward is towards Chrome Hill, our next objective and at once you will see how much higher it is.  Best, for now, to ignore it and turn the other way. Take in the calming, broad sweep of the Dove Valley behind you.  The river’s course can be made out by that sinuous line of alder trees which line the riverbanks for almost its entire progress.

[Read more…] about Summit of Parkhouse Hill

Alport Castles

13th June 2019 by

Alport Castles © Chris Morgan via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)

This is one of the geological and scenic highlights of the Peak District National Park. Alport Castles is said to be the largest landslip in Britain, but it is rarely visited because of its remoteness.

View from top of Alport Castles © James Daniel via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The Alport Valley is made up of weak Carboniferous shales (fine-grained rocks made of mud) overlain by harder Millstone Grit. The large cliff face we see here is the Birchin Hat escarpment. Alport Castles formed when the softer sandstones and shales of Birchin Hat slipped away from the rock-face. The Millstone Grit on the top broke up into blocks and tumbled down the valley side, creating a chaotic landscape of fallen boulders. With a little imagination, they can resemble castles – hence the name.

[Read more…] about Alport Castles

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 7
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Did you know ...

© 2021 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