River Wye, Derbyshire
The River Wye is a limestone river in the Peak District of Derbyshire. It is twenty-two miles long, of which fifteen miles are within the Peak District National Park.
The Wye is one of the major tributaries of the River Derwent, which itself is a tributary of the River Trent.
The source of the river lies just west of Buxton, on Axe Edge Moor, at the bounds of Staffordshire. Part of the flow passes underground through Poole's Cavern before rising at Wye Head,[1] and flowing through the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton.
Below Buxton, the river flows east through the dales of the Wye Valley, along a route roughly followed by the A6 road. It flows just south of Tideswell, then through Ashford in the Water and Bakewell, and south of Haddon Hall, before meeting the River Derwent at Rowsley.
The main tributary of the river is the River Lathkill, which enters the Wye just a mile from its junction with the Derwent.
Along the river
The River Wye is popular with anglers owing to the large numbers of wild brown, rainbow trout and grayling it contains. The alkalinity of the Wye provides a rich source of nutrients that leads to an abundance of insects, invertebrates and other wildlife. This ensures that the trout and grayling grow quickly on a diet of freshwater shrimp, sedge and upwinged flies (to name but a few of the foods available). Some of the largest populations of water voles in Britain can also be found along the River Wye.
It is possible to walk alongside much of the length of the river, mostly following a former railway line, part of which is now the Monsal Trail and provides views of the river. In Monsal Dale the former railway line emerges from a tunnel at Monsal Head, over a viaduct high above the river below. When this structure was built John Ruskin was enraged, and spoke of the gods being banished by a scheme intended to convey "every Buxton fool to Bakewell in half an hour" and vice versa, "and you call this lucrative exchange—you fools everywhere".[2] The railway is now closed, but the viaduct is itself a listed structure.[3]
References
- ↑ Huggett, Richard J. (2011). Fundamentals of Geomorphology (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 389. ISBN 9780203860083. https://books.google.com/books?id=sxynYFQ2LBoC&q=%22poole%27s+cavern%22+%22wye+head%22&pg=PA389. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ↑ Ruskin, John (1871). Fors Clavigera: Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain. 1. Orpington, Kent: George Allen. Letter V, page 10. https://archive.org/details/forsclavigeralet01ruskrich/page/n99/mode/2up.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1109915: Monsal Dale Viaduct (Grade II listing)