Lathkill Dale

Lathkill Dale is a National Nature Reserve located only a ten minute drive away from Bakewell. There is a pay and display car park in the little village of Over Haddon from where a steep lane leads down into the heart of this picturesque and fascinating valley, which must surely rate in the top ten of Derbyshire Dales.

Lathkill Dale has not always been beautiful however. During the 18th and 19th centuries it was a thriving lead mining area with rich veins of lead ore running through the carboniferous limestone. In the last hundred years nature has healed over the scars to make Lathkill Dale even more beautiful then before as it now contains fascinating remnants of the lead mining era including an accessible ‘secret shaft’, ruins hidden amongst the trees and the tell-tale dips and hollows of old workings, now made safe amid a woodland rich in wild flowers, flora and fauna.



Lathkill Dale starts as a wide, grassy, dry vale just south of Monyash. After passing through a jumble of rocks and boulders and the remains of the old and disused Ricklow marble quarry, it becomes a rocky gorge where orchid can be found in the spring and rare Jacob’s ladder in summer. A gaping cave heralds the overground source of the River Lathkill, its true source being underground a couple of miles to the north beneath Knotlow. Dramatic scenery surrounds this dribble of a stream which swells on its journey downstream, bolstered by springs emerging from the sides of high banks which flank its course.

The upper end of Lathkill Dale has steep sides and slitherbanks topped with rocky bluffs and crags, home to rooks, kestrel and buzzard, whilst down by the waters edge you may catch sight of a dabbling dipper or an elusive vole.

The River Lathkill is a disappearing river – in summer months and during spells of drought or dry weather, the river follows a subterranean course in the bedrock below, bubbling up from a series of boil holes in an area known locally as the Blue Waters.

Downstream from the 16th century corn mill and fishing lodge below Over Haddon, the River Lathkill swells in a series of eleven weirs en route to the long, long medieval bridge at Conksbury. Here you can see trout swimming in the crystal clear water where moorhen, coot, mallard and occasionally swans nest during the spring.

From Conksbury Bridge the River Lathkill flows down beside meadows with set-aside areas of nature reserve, flowing beneath Coalpit Bridge, an idyllic spot and perfect camera moment. This old packhorse bridge on a former packhorse route sits beside a quaint summer house and fish breeding pools owned by the Rutland Estate at nearby Haddon Hall. Raper Lodge on the opposite bank is an attractive gamekeeper’s cottage which featured in the 1970’s film ‘The Virgin and the Gypsy’, an adaptation of the book by D H Lawrence.

Lathkill Dale ends at the picturesque village of Alport where the River Lathkill joins forces with the River Bradford in a babbling cocktail of water behind Monks Hall.

As well as a wonderful riverside path, there are many wonderful walks around Lathkill Dale through fields and stiles, along grassy lanes and quiet country roads.