The Park
Tourism
Land Use
Conservation
Design 
Farming
Castleton
Dovedale
Upper Derwent
Geology
Minerals
 Nature
Burbage Valley
Erosion
Bakewell
Population
Langsett
The Rangers
The Pennine Way
The Goyt Valley
Longdendale
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WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION

North of Hartington, the river Dove follows the boundary between the limestone (on the Derbyshire bank) and the shales (on the Staffordshire bank). This affects the vegetation and wildlife, so that different species can be found on each side of the river. South of Hartington, it is in the limestone dales that the most varied and interesting wildlife is found.

Orchids in Wolfescote Dale
The whole dale system of the Dove Valley is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geology flora and fauna. Three habitats are of particular interest:

Dovedale Wood is one of the best ashwoods in the country (but not open to the public). Ancient woodlands like these have much more wildlife value than plantations or other new woodland. Rocks and screes which have resulted from the effect of frost on the cliffs above, have developed specialised flora with mosses, lichens and flowers such as Herb Robert. If movement stops, eventually screes become flower rich grasslands, or woodland, with a great variety of attractive flowers. The flowers encourage a range of insects including butterflies and moths.

The best grassland has been maintained by sheep grazing. The reduction in sheep grazing in some dales over the last 100 years has allowed scrub (shrubs such as hawthorn) and long grasses, to grow. The National Trust have cut back shrubs which hid famous rock features and have re-introduced sheep grazing. One area that has recently been cleared is around the Twelve Apostles (famous rocks).

On the shale area north of Hartington, the cuckoo flower is common on the grassland. This provides food for the caterpillars of the orange-tip butterfly. Herons often feed in the quiet, northern stretches of the river. Trout, dippers, grey wagtails, moorhens and water voles can be seen in, on and by the river.
Hartington
SETTLEMENTS

Some of the Peak District National Park’s best known and most attractive villages, such as Longnor, Hartington, Alstonefield and Thorpe are all close to the valley and Ilam lies in the Manifold Valley, close by. Tissington, which is famous as the earliest known village to have a tradition of Well Dressing, is just to the east of the valley.

Conservation areas have been created in the villages of Alstonefield, Ilam, Butterton and Hartington. This reflects the historic and architectural importance of the villages and has resulted in programmes to preserve and improve the best features of each village. New parking facilities have been provided on the outskirts of Hartington to reduce congestion in the centre of the village.

The population of these villages is gradually falling as more houses become holiday lets or second homes. The combination of high house prices and lack of work in the area has also meant that many young people have left the area.


TOURISM

In the 18th century and later, a popular summer activity with visiting gentry was to visit the beauty spots of Dovedale and Ilam.

As road transport improved and the arrival of the railways brought easier travel, Dovedale continued to grow in popularity with visitors.

Dovedale was proposed as a separate National Park in the 1930s. It was eventually included within the Peak District National Park when it became Britain’s first National Park in 1951.

In the Peak National Park Visitor Survey on 1986/87 it was found that distinctive landscape was the characteristic most appreciated by 66% of visitors to the Peak Park - and Dovedale is rightly famous for its distinctive landscape.


Visitor pressure in Dovedale

Of the 22 million visits made to the Peak Park every year, a high proportion of people stop in the Dove Valley. Over 2 million visits are made each year to the Dove and Manifold Valleys. Of these visits, 9% of the people come for sightseeing along and a further 21% visit the area to walk (Peak National Park Visitor Survey 1986/87). There are popular walks for both the serious and the casual walker - the most frequent trodden being that along the river bank between the car parks at Dovedale and Milldale.

Fishing is another popular activity and some of the fishing rights are owned by the Izaak Walton Hotel (itself part of the Duke of Rutland’s estate).

A footpath count in Dovedale on a typical August Sunday in 1990 notched up 4421 walkers on the Staffordshire bank of the river and 3597 on the Derbyshire bank. It is the enormous popularity of the Dovedale area and the pressures brought by the many thousands of pairs of feet, that has caused serious problems of congestion and erosion.
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POINTS TO CONSIDER