If you know The Peak District you will know that there are quite a few edges. I’m not really sure how many there are exactly but I’ve been to a fair few and this last weekend I think I found my favourite. It’s hard to say that really because I’ve been once to each of the ones I’ve been to, so maybe I should reserve judgement. Maybe the weather helped, maybe it was the people, I’m not sure but I definitely enjoyed my walk around Curber Edge and Baslow Edge. I decided to try out a few technique’s that I’ve researched on Youtube and I have too say the results from Dove Dale are really quite good, well I think so.

Curber Edge

There are a few things that I have started to check before I go out into The Peak District, the weather and the access. The weather for obvious reasons but the access because I’m not as young as I used to be and can do without a big climb if I can help it. 

Both of my bits of research pointed in the same direction and my interest had been pricked when I passed the sign the previous week on my trip to Chatsworth House. The village of Calver is lovely and Curber sits just above it. A quick pit stop for provisions and the call and nature and the drive up the narrow lane to the National Trust car park commenced. I managed to find a spot and was soon on my way up the path, past the picnic area and onto the edge itself. 

It was such a clear day and you could see for miles and miles, but the sky was cluttered with various forms of clouds (please don’t ask what sort, I only got O level geography!!). As I searched around for my first few images I noticed the clouds had formed into a weird shape, and I’m sure you’ll agree when you look at the first image below.

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There are quite a few different edges that can be seem (and visited) when at Curber Edge, and there are some great spots for climbing. The second image gives you a sense of the scale of the place with the people stood on the top of the edge, whilst what I think is White Edge pans out into the far distance, that will definitely be a place to come back to explore.

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I was so lucky with the light on Friday, not only was it a super clear day, it also had good light that moved around a lot, and illuminated various parts of the valley and edges as I explored. The third image shows just that, Curber Edge in all its glory bathed in some mid-afternoon sunlight. I’m really pleased with this.

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Dotted across the whole of The Peak District are millstones. They are remnants of the industry in this area in years gone by, but they also make for some great photographs. It’s almost as if they’ve been placed just so I could come along and use them as a subject in one of my images……..maybe not!!

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There are various things that strike me every time I explore across the peaks and on this occasion it was “the big sky”. It was sky like every other time, but the clear blue and white was just lovely. 

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The one thing that is common to all of the edge’s that I’ve visited is the rocks, and the shapes and formations that you find. Created centuries ago, by vast earth movements, maybe even the weather! One thing is for sure and that is that they make for some great images. I spotted one such formation, it wasn’t overly big but it was stuck out and look like it was balanced on a “sixpence”. I took various shots of this particular “funky looking” outcrop, and I hope you agree that it certainly is very photogenic in these surroundings.

As I was reviewing the image on the screen as I was setting up, I noticed you could see Chatsworth House, off in the distance. More about that place soon!! 

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The last image is a similar composition to a few I’ve taken when I’ve visited the other edge’s, and that’s a wide shot of the edge and the vegetation that grows on the hills below it, with a wide sweep of the countryside behind it. I like this one, there are a few different colours here than elsewhere.

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Dove Dale

The Peak District spans not only a vast area but also a good few counties, including Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire. There are others but as you’re probably aware I’m slightly geographically challenged and rely on Sat Nav to get me to these places. 

I decided on a trip to the south part of the peaks and as I followed the Sat Nav I went past a sign that told me I was on the Staffordshire Moorlands, and very nice they are to. I could see off in the distance the tell tale signs of a big ravine. My research had told me that Dove Dale has a large ravine through it, and I could see it as I approached. 

The car park was huge, I should have realised that there would be lots of folk around, but as I parked up and gathered my gear, there were only a handful of cars in the car park. The National Trust do a great job with their car parks, and this was no exception, lots of wayfinding. The River Dove meanders through the ravine, no surprise there but it was so good to see such clear water.

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My good friend Google told me that there are stepping stones across the river, and the information board showed me the easy and hard way to get to the spot, I chose the easy route. For those who know about photography taking pictures of water can be a tricky business. The light reflects and the water runs too quick to get a clear image, and numerous other things. I was there to experiment.

The next two images are of the stepping stones, the first with no filters at all, and the second with a circular polariser and a 6 stop ND filter (affectionately known as Little Stopper). The polariser is like sunglasses, it reduces glare, whilst the ND filter allows you to slow the shutter speed down. The slow shutter speed makes moving things look blurry, and in this case, almost milky looking. That was the effect I was after, so I’m pleased with that outcome.

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stepping stones are a popular spot, not least with our four legged friends, who romp about in the water whilst their owners try to cross the stones without ending up in the drink!! Thank fully nobody did.

Just beyond the stepping stones is what I will call a small weir. I’m sure this is not the right description for it but it will do for now. Pleased with the results from the use of the polariser and the little stopper, I wanted to try more images with this effect. So again there is a before and after shot of the small weir, without filters and then with. This time though I decided to use the 10 stop ND filter (Big Stopper) this really slowed the shutter speed down and the camera was exposing this image for 1 minute and 42 seconds, and it’s this long exposure that gives the milky effect for things that are moving in front of the camera. I’m really pleased with this image.

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Boyed by my success with the long exposure images I decided to explore a little more of Dove Dale, and saw a sign that said the summit of Thorpe Cloud was ¾ mile along a trail. Off I went along the trail and followed the trail all the way to just below the summit. The summit itself isn’t very big and there were lots of folk sat on it, so I decided to leave that for another day. As I descended my eye caught this next image which is of a smaller hill but what caught my eye most was the tree. I like this image and it balances the small hill and the tree quite nicely I think.

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usual my stomach was rumbling so I decided to head back to the car park, to get a coffee to go with the sandwich I had bought. On the other side of the river near the stepping stones I saw some old trees that had either been knocked down by the weather, or by some other means. These looked like some good foreground interest and the final image is of the river dove and the various tree branches etc that had fallen into the river. 

Another place that is on my list to visit another time to explore other parts.     

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