The River Lathkill is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the

Peak District National Park Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. First recorded in 1280, the name "Lathkill" possibly has Scandinavian roots, the

old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''hlada-kill'' translating as "narrow valley with a barn".

Course

In times of high rainfall the source of the river is Lathkill Head Cave (), but in normal conditions the river rises from springs slightly further down the

Lathkill Dale Lathkill Dale is the valley of the River Lathkill near Bakewell, Derbyshire in the Peak District of England. The river emerges into the dale from springs below Lathkill Head Cave (or, in wet conditions, from the cave itself). Towards the head ...

valley, close to the village of

Monyash Monyash (/muhn-ee-ash/ munyash) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, west of the market town Bakewell. It is centred on a village green above sea level at the head of Lathkill Dale in the limestone area k ...

, west of Bakewell, and flows generally eastward past the village of

Over Haddon Over Haddon is a small village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Nether Haddon) at the 2011 Census was 255. It is near the small town of Bakewell, south of the B5055 road. Over Haddon overlook ...

and through the village of

Alport Alport is a hamlet in the White Peak area of Derbyshire, England. It lies east of Youlgreave, at the confluence of the River Bradford and the River Lathkill. The oldest house in the hamlet is Monks Hall. There also used to be a pub, which was ...

(where it is joined by the River Bradford) until it meets the River Wye near

Rowsley Rowsley () is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire. The population as at the 2011 census was 507. It is at the point where the River Wye flows into the River Derwent and prospered from mills on both. The border of the ...

. Roughly six and a half miles from source to outfall, it is the only river in the district that flows over

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

for its entire length. The medieval Conksbury Bridge () now carries the road from Bakewell to

Youlgreave Youlgreave or Youlgrave is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England, on the River Bradford south of Bakewell. The name possibly derives from "yellow grove", the ore mined locally being yellow in colour. The popul ...

History

The dale has a history of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

, and among the trees on the north side of the valley are the remains of the 19th-century Mandale Mine, including an old aqueduct and the ruined pump house, used as one of the last attempts to keep the mines drained and workable. The water in the river is often clear, and Charles Cotton wrote in ''

The Compleat Angler ''The Compleat Angler'' (the spelling is sometimes modernised to ''The Complete Angler'', though this spelling also occurs in first editions) is a book by Izaak Walton. It was first published in 1653 by Richard Marriot in London. Walton continu ...

'' that it is: Indeed, when the river is at its clearest the fish can be seen from one bank across to the other. The river valley, known as Lathkill Dale, is popular with tourists who visit for its natural environment and wildlife. Much of the river itself, and sections of the river valley, fall within the

Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve The Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve is a series of unconnected limestone dales in the Peak District National Park. It is managed by Natural England and has a permanent staff of wardens who carry out conservation works and ensure the dales ...

and the Lathkill and Upper Lathkill SSSIs. Among the species that thrive there are brown trout,

dipper Dippers are members of the genus ''Cinclus'' in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater. Taxonomy The genus ''Cinclus'' ...

, and the rare wild plant

Jacob's ladder Jacob's Ladder ( he, סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of th ...

. Through the use of

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

, it is now possible at particular locations in the nature reserve for visitors to download pictures of flowers and birds, and also examples of birdsong, onto their mobile phones. The dale was used as a filming location for ''

The Princess Bride The Princess Bride may refer to: * ''The Princess Bride'' (novel), 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He ...

''.

Access

There are car parks at Over Haddon, Moor Lane, Youlgrave and Conksbury Bridge, and bus services run from Over Haddon, Monyash and Youlgreave.

References

External links

Geology Trail leaflet (.pdf)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lathkill Rivers of Derbyshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Derbyshire Rivers and valleys of the Peak District 2Lathkill

Course

History

Access

See also

References

External links