Coombs Dale

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View across Coombs Dale

Coombs Dale is a steep-sided, dry carboniferous limestone valley in the White Peak area of the Peak District, in Derbyshire, cut into the hills on the east side of Longstone Moor. Half a mile to the east is the village of Calver, while Stoney Middleton is half a mile to the north.

The dale is two miles long, and about 500 feet deep and almost 500 yards wide. The upper end of the dale is known as Rough Side. Several springs flow down the dale during winter and after heavy rains.

Limestone outcrop above Coombs Dale

The fossil-rich limestone was formed from deposits in a warm shallow sea in the 'Brigantian' stage of the Carboniferous period (around 330 million years ago).

Nature and conservation

Coombs Dale is a designated 'Site of Special Scientific Interest'.[1]

Ash trees and hazel grow on the scree slopes of the dale sides. Varied shrubs and wild flowers include dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), common rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium), wild thyme (Thymus praecox), bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum), lily-of-the-valley, mountain melick (Melica nutans), woolly thistle (Cirsium eriophorum), maiden pink (Dianthus deltoides), leadwort (Plumbaginaceae), cowslip (Caltha palustris), rare dark-red helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens) and orchids.

The local limestone fern Gymnocarpium robertianum thrives on the scree and the rare fingered sedge Carex digitata can be found in places. Grazed native grasses are mainly meadow oat-grass (Helictotrichon pratense) and glaucous sedge (Carex flacca). The dale is also habitat for dark green fritillary and brown argus butterflies.

History and industry

Longstone Edge, above the south side of the dale, has been mined for minerals for many centuries. Lead mining heaps and beehive mine shafts are spread across the terrain. Nearby Cavendish Mill has been a processing centre for fluorspar since 1965. Sallet Hole Mine is a 19th-century fluorspar mine in the centre of Coombs Dale, which closed in 1998. There is a disused quarry at the foot of Coombs Dale.[2]

Black Harry Gate is at the head of the dale, leading onto Black Harry Lane (an old packhorse route across the moorland). In the early 18th century, a notorious highwayman called Black Harry ambushed and robbed travellers crossing the local moors. He was finally caught by the Castleton constabulary and was hanged, drawn and quartered on the Gallows Tree at nearby Wardlow Mires. There also used to be a Black Harry Farm but it was demolished in the 1970s when the Blakedon Hollow lagoon was built to treat the waste from the fluorspar industry.[3][4]

Walking

Coombs Dale is designated as 'Open Access' land. There is an easy-going footpath along the length of the valley floor. There is access into the dale from both ends, as well as footpaths from Stoney Middleton and Calver into the central section of the valley.

The Dale was featured on the television programme Walks Around Britain in 2016 (season 2 episode 6).[5]

References