Peak Experience

 

The outstanding landscape of Dovedale, Manifold and the Hamps Valley makes this area one of the most visited parts of the Peak District. Its origins date back millions of years to a tropical sea.  You can still see much of that history in the rocks as you walk in the River three dales.

 

A picture of a mountain

 

A map of the Manifold Valley

 

Around 350 million years ago, during the Carboniferous Period, this area was near the equator.  Layers of sediment built up on the sea floor and slowly created the grey limestone you see here today.  Later, river silts, sand and grit washed in.  Geologists believe the limestone was buried under thousands of metres of grit, sand, silt, mud and coal. Now the gritstone is gone, worn away by erosion.  Once again the ancient sea floor is revealed.  Visit the area and  stand on it!

 

Look out for fossils in the stone walls of buildings and field boundaries, and at Dovedale’s famous Stepping Stones, where visitors’ feet have worn the stone smooth.  The fossils are a reminder of tropical sea creatures who once lived in the Peak District and whose remains make up the limestone.

 

 

Softer rocks have eroded into gentle slopes with no caves or large crags, but its narrow rocky sections are made of dramatically shaped harder limestone.  This tough limestone resists gentle erosion, but breaks and erodes where there are fractures in the rock that allow water in.

 

Looking up at Thorpe Cloud you see a typical example of hard erosion-resistant limestone formed from an ancient knoll reef.  These sea-floor hills were made of lime mud, probably generated by micro-organisms.  Some grew over 50 metres high, and they still affect the landscape today after 350 million years.

 

The dales house numerous caves, some you can explore and some you cannot.  They were carved out over thousands of years as water entered rock fractures and dissolved the limestone away.

 

Perhaps our ice age ancestors took shelter here.

 

 

The geological processes that shaped Dovedale, Manifold and the Hamps still happen today.  Erosion, ground movement and climate change all play their part.

 

A picture of the Hamps Valleys A picture of the View from Wetton Hill

 

Geologists believe that the limestone originated in the tropics.  They know this because lava within Peak District limestone contains tiny iron ore particles that preserve the magnetic field of the place and time when the lava cooled into solid rock.  They reveal a latitude near the equator. So how did it get here?

Continental drift theory was disputed for years because geologists did not know how drift happened.  Now plate tectonics explains how large plates of the Earth’s crust move and gradually pull apart or collide.  Plates moved thousands of km in the past and still move today, causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

 

Around 300 million years ago a collision of plates buckled and folded the rocks in Dovedale, Manifold and  the Hamps dramatically.  You can see the results all around you.  The tilted rock layers near Milldale reveal where the limestone folded after it formed in flat layers on the sea floor.

 

For 2 million years the Peak District climate has alternated between ice ages and milder times.  Daleside scree slopes probably date from the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago.  The ground froze and then thawed over and over again.  These cycles broke up the rocks into sharp-edged angular scree.  Now grass, small plants and insects find their homes here.

 

 

Geology determines even more than the shape of the land.  It affects which plants can grow here, and how we use the land.

 

Our ancestors sheltered in caves and we still build farms, houses and walls from this 350-million-year-old rock.  Dry porous limestone is not good for growing crops, but sheep and cattle can graze here.

 

People have been working small-scale mines and quarries in the area for centuries.  Although it is not the Peak District’s main mining area, The limestone contains some mineral deposits, including lead.

 

 

Be sure not to leave without visiting Ilam Hall’s visitor centre. Jackson’s Geology is a fascinating and informative multimedia exploration of Dovedale, celebrating the work of Dr J Wilfred Jackson.  This well-known local geologist and cave archaeologist worked in Dovedale during the 1920s–1930s.

 

There are two self-guided trails of Dovedale and the Hamps and Manifold which are both available as leaflets from local visitor centres.

 

The National Trust visitor centre at Ilam Park has an excellent interactive multimedia display about the geology of Dovedale and the Manifold Valley and lots of information about activities and places to visit in the area.  The centre is set in beautiful grounds, by a youth hostel in the historic hall building, with easy parking and refreshments available.  The area is accessible by public transport.  The Manifold Valley trail runs along the Hamps and Manifold valleys along a disused railway line for cycling and walking.  Bicycles can be hired at Waterhouses and there is a visitor centre at Hulme End.

 

 

Public transport information for all locations can be found by calling Traveline on 0871 200 2233.

To plan your journey, visit the Staffordshire journey planner and look for journeys to Waterhouses, Wetton or Ilam, or look for journeys to Thorpe on Traveline.