Edale: a Study of a Pennine Dale

Scottish Geographical Magazine ISSN: 0036-9225 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsgj19 Edale: A study of a Pennine Dale C. B. Fawcett B.Litt., M.Sc. To cite this article: C. B. Fawcett B.Litt., M.Sc. (1917) Edale: A study of a Pennine Dale , Scottish Geographical Magazine, 33:1, 12-25, DOI: 10.1080/00369221708734256 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00369221708734256 Published online: 28 Jun 2010. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 27 View related articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rsgj20 Download by: [University of California Santa Barbara] Date: 18 June 2016, At: 02:09 12 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE. EDALE: A STUDY OF A PENNINE DALE.1 By C. B. FAWCETT, B.Litt., M.Sc. (With Sketch-Map and Figures.) THE dale marked on the large-scale maps of the High Peak District as the "Vale of Edale" is the high-lying valley along the south- eastern side of the Peak. From the heights above Dalehead to Edale End the valley stretches for nearly five miles in a line from west-south- west to east-north-east. In its widest parts the breadth from crest to crest reaches three miles ; but most of this is moorland, and the width of the habitable portion nowhere exceeds one mile, and averages little more than half that distance. The total area of the civil parish of Edale is eleven square miles, of which the greater part is uncultivated and uninhabited moorland. The highest parts of the surrounding moors lie to the north-west, where the Peak exceeds an altitude of 2000 feet for a length of nearly three miles overlooking the dale ; though its highest summit reaches only 2088 feet. These figures indicate clearly the fact that the " Peak " is really a very flat moor. The other summit heights of the moors show a general decrease in altitude towards the south-east as they recede from the Peak until Lose Hill, at the opposite corner, reaches only 1563 feet above Ordnance datum. Until the railway reached it in the present generation (1894) Edale, in the heart of the High Peak District, surrounded by empty moorlands, and with little to attract attention, was one of the most isolated valleys of the Pennines. It is sufficiently large and compact to form a distinct township, but too remote and poor to be a populous one ; and its people were compelled by their isolation to be self-supporting. A brief study of the conditions and modes of life in such a valley, and of the changes wrought in them by its being brought into communication with the outer world, may be of some interest, and may help to throw light on larger and more complex problems. Scottish Geographical Magazine 1917.33:12-25. Edale is the upper part of the valley of the river Noe, one of the headstreams of the Derbyshire Derwent. Where this stream leaves Edale it is still more than 600 feet above sea-level; though for more than two-thirds of the length of the valley its bottom is below the 800- feet contour. Hence the depth of the valley is approximately a thousand feet. The river lies nearer to the southern than to the northern edge ; but the latter is much the higher, and the two slopes are about equally steep. From all parts of these slopes small streams have cut gullies leading down towards the river. Most of these gullies are very small—only a few feet in depth—and some of the smallest are occupied by wet-weather streams only. In the longer northern 1 It has not been our usual custom to publish here detailed regional surveys of areas outside Scotland. An exception has been made in the case of the present paper because the region treated has more than a local importance, and the deductions based upon the survey are applicable to parts of Scotland as well as of England.—ED. S.G.M. ED ALE : A STUDY OF A PENNINE DALE. 13 slope from the edge of the Peak some of the gullies, locally termed doughs, I I to g 5 2 "b !"fe» g g •a s C! c^ Scottish Geographical Magazine 1917.33:12-25. -§•5 s, ~W> reach depths of as much as 200 feet. And from this side come the only important tributaries of the Noe, of which Grinds Brook is the chief. 14 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINK. The topography of the dale shows three well-marked natural divi- sions, which are of very unequal importance to its inhabitants (see Figs. 2 and 3). From the edge of the moorland the upper slopes plunge steeply downward at such angles that they have but a thin covering of stony soil; in many places precipitous slopes occur, and the angle of these steep slopes is often over rather than under 30°. The "scars," or precipices, of the Millstone Grit occur in only a few places. They are locally named " tors." At an elevation of from 1000 to 900 feet above the sea this upper slope passes, usually by a distinct break of slope, into the second topo- graphic division, the valley floor. This is an area of moderate slope from the foot of the hills towards the axis of the valley, with a surface which is smooth in its general outlines but contains numerous small irregularities, especially where the side streams have cut miniature ravines in crossing it. At several places on the steep upper slopes landslides have occurred in fairly recent times. In each case the view seen is the steep bare cliff left as a scar on the upper slope, and below it an irregular mass, with a hummocky surface, formed by the fallen material when it came to rest on the shelf. When seen from a distance the more recent of these landslides bear some likeness to large quarries. All the fallen masses are now covered with vegetation, and on several of them trees have grown. One of them, situated below Eroadlee-bank Tor to the east of Upper Booth, still has a pond and some small marshes in the hollows of its surface. Apart from the evidence they give as to the mode of formation of the valley, the landslides are of importance mainly as encroachments on the habitable valley floor. An encroachment in some respects similar to these, but not yet covered by vegetation, is formed by material excavated in the boring of the Cowburn tunnel and dumped in a huge heap near its entrance. Along the axis of the dale the valley floor is intersected by the younger and narrower valley in which the river now flows. This inner valley reaches a depth of twenty to thirty feet, with a very variable Scottish Geographical Magazine 1917.33:12-25. width. In a few places it is almost a ravine ; and at its widest, near the mill, it is less than a hundred yards across. It is usually marked off by very abrupt slopes. This younger valley has cut the main valley floor into two sections, •which present the appearance of broad green shelves projecting from the base of the upper slopes towards the middle of the dale, and running back with the contours into every side valley. On these shelves are to be found practically all the cultivated ground, nearly all the dwellings, except three or four houses about the mill, and the road and railway. The steep slopes above and the gorge below are alike of minor importance. The physical geography of Edale may be described briefly in terms of the development suggested above. Along the line of a minor upfold of the rocks (cf. Fig. 2, A B), in the surface which is now represented by the tops of the high moorlands, and was the Tertiary peneplain of the Pennine region, with a south-easterly slope, the ancestor of the river Noe cut out a narrow valley to a depth of a little more than a thousand feet. EDALE: A STUDY OF A PENNINE DALE. 15 At this depth downward erosion ceased to be dominant; and the valley was gradually broadened until its floor reached a width of about half a mile. Over this floor was spread a layer of soil formed by weathering, by the wash and creep of rock-waste from the slopes above, and by stream deposits. Where the streams have cut through it the maximum thickness of this layer of soil is seen to be now from twelve to fifteen feet. It may be more in some other places; but it is probably deepest along the centre of the dale.1 At a later stage in the evolution of the valley the streams again began to cut downward, and so formed the present youthful inner valleys of the Noe and its larger tributaries. The Peak 1. Kinder Scout Grit. 4. Sandstone. 2. Shale. 5. Shales and Thin Limestones. 3. Shale Grit. 6. Mountain Limestone. x y S shows the inclination of the Sun's rays at noon on Midwinter day, and x y shows the portion of the valley which is then in shadow. At y the ridge is 1347 feet high. This is below the average height of the southern ridge ; and hence x y is less than the average width of the shaded portion. Scottish Geographical Magazine 1917.33:12-25. FIG. 2. —Sections across Edale along the lines A-B and C-D indicated on the edges of the map (Fig.

Load more