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 | Darley Dale is a long, drawn out Derwent Valley settlement that lies A6 to the north-west of Matlock. It is principally residential now but was the location of the Mill Close Mine - the last major lead mine in the Peak, which closed in 1939. Now there is a lead smelter on the site. Largely ignored by the traffic passing through it nonetheless has some very interesting nooks and crannies. The old town is down and to the west of the road towards the river and the parish church has a Norman font and a very old and impressive yew tree with a 33-foot girth. The tree is claimed to be over 2,000 years old. On the main A6 road above the church is the Whitworth Institute, founded by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a local industrialist and local benefactor.
Either side of Darley Dale there are excellent walking prospects and scenery. To the West is Stanton Moor with both ancient and industrial heritage while to the east is the much quieter Fallinge Edge, now largely accessible thanks to the CROW act. Both Stanton and Fallinge are gritstone and sport incredible heather in late July and August.
Darley Dale Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Restaurant car at Peak Rail | 
1 - Peak Rail engine | | |
Local places of interest | Caudwell's Mill, Rowsley | Caudwell's Mill, Rowsley, Derbyshire, is a working 19th century flour mill which still mills and sells flour. It is open for guided tours and there is also a mill shop and tea room. | Gulliver's Kingdom | Gulliver's Kingdom is a theme park for young families, in a situation overlooking Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. | Haddon Hall | Haddon Hall, a medieval manor house and home of the Dukes of Rutland, the Manners family, formerly home of the Vernons, in the Peak District by the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire. | Heights of Abraham | Heights of Abraham are a tourist centre with two show caves - Rutland Cavern and Great Masson Mine - plus a cable car and other attractions, above Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. | High Tor, Matlock | High Tor is a lofty limestone crag which towers over Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. There is a public park on top. | Lead Mining Museum, Matlock Bath | The Lead Mining Museum at Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, is owned by the Peak District Mines Historical Society and is in the Pavilion Building alongside the River Derwent. They also run the nearby Temple Mine, where you can see what a lead mine was like. | Masson Mills | Masson Mills, Matlock Bath are Sir Richard Arkwright's masterpiece, a magnificent early 19th century mill. The mill has been converted into a shopping village, with exhibition and conference centre, but it also has a working textile museum. | Peak Rail | Peak Rail have re-opened a section of the former Midland railway which ran between Matlock and Buxton. They are based at Rowsley South station and run services from there to Matlock. | Robin Hood's Stride | Robin Hood's Stride is a spectacular tor of gritstone rocks perched on a ridge between Harthill Moor and the Alport-Winster road in the Derbyshire Peak District. | Stanton Moor | Stanton Moor, and the Nine Ladies stone circle, Derbyshire - a scenic area with many bronze age relics and burial mounds overlooking Stanton in Peak and the Wye and Derwent valleys. |
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