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Burbage Edge is a gritstone escarpment overlooking the Burbage district of 
The boundary of the Peak District National Park runs along the ridge and across the summit. The ridge of Burbage Edge marks the western gritstone edge of the 
The disused
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...
in Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, in the Peak District
The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...
. The hill's summit (marked by a trig pillar) is above sea level.
The boundary of the Peak District National Park runs along the ridge and across the summit. The ridge of Burbage Edge marks the western gritstone edge of the Derbyshire Dome
The Derbyshire Dome is a geological formation across mid-Derbyshire in England.
The White Peak area of the Peak District is named after the limestone plateau landscape of the 'Derbyshire Dome' anticline. The plateau is generally between 200m a ...
, extending south as Axe Edge and to the north as Combs Moss
Combs Moss is a plateau-topped hill between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The summit, Combs Head, is above sea level. At its northern tip is a prehistoric promontory fort called Castle Naze.
The moorland pl ...
. The ridge is the watershed between the River Goyt
The River Goyt is a tributary of the River Mersey in North West England.
Etymology
The name ''Goyt'' may be derived from the Middle English ''gote'', meaning "a watercourse, a stream". Derivation from the Welsh ''gwyth'' meaning "vein" has be ...
( Mersey river basin) and the River Wye
The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...
( Trent river basin). To the west is Goyt's Moss moorland, the Cat and Fiddle Inn
The Cat and Fiddle Inn is a former public house in the English Peak District, close to the border between Cheshire and Derbyshire. It sits on the A537 road from Macclesfield to Buxton, which runs across a high and remote area of moorland. A sec ...
and the Upper Goyt Valley
The Upper Goyt Valley is the southern section of the valley of the River Goyt in North West England.
Position
The source of the Goyt River is on Axe Edge Moor above Goyt's Moss to the south. The western side of the valley is a long ridge, runn ...
. Following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), also known as the CRoW Act and "Right to Roam" Act, is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000.
Right to roam
The Act impleme ...
, the area of the upper ridge and moorland were designated as "Open Access" land for the public.
Coal was mined at Goyt's Moss colliery from the early 17th-century until 1893 when the coal deposits had been exhausted. The coal was initially extracted by surface mining, then in the 1700s using shallow shafts (with coal raised using hand winches) and later in the 1800s from deeper shafts using horse-drawn winding gins. Most of the coal produced was supplied to the Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...
's limekilns at nearby Grin Low
Grin Low is a hill overlooking Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The summit is above sea level.
Grin Low was the main location for the early Buxton lime industry. It was an extensive area of limestone quarrying and was licensed for lim ...
. The site of the colliery's remains is a protected Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
.
Burbage Edge is part of the Goyt Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
(SSSI). Heather is the main plant but the heathland is habitat for a variety of native grasses, rushes, sedges and shrubs including bilberry
Bilberries () are Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bear edible, dark blue berries. They resemble but are distinct from North American blueberries.
The species most often referre ...
, crowberry
''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere.
Desc ...
, cowberry
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throug ...
and cross-leaved heath
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe.
Description
It is a perennial subshrub with glandular leaves in whorls of four (whence the name). Appearing in summe ...
. Hare’s-tail cottongrass and sphagnum moss
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...
are common. The area is important for upland breeding birds including a large population of golden plover
'' Pluvialis '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere.
In breeding plumage, they all have largely black underparts, and golden or silvery upperparts. The ...
, as well as red grouse
The red grouse (''Lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in Calluna, heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland.
It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan (''Lagopus lagopus'') ...
, curlew
The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been infl ...
, lapwing
Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (Family (biology), family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, ...
, whinchat
The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small bird migration, migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and Palearctic, western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now pla ...
, snipe
A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. ''Gallinago'' snipe have a nearly ...
, twite
The twite (''Linaria flavirostris'') is a small brown passerine bird in the finch family (biology), family Fringillidae. It is a partially migratory species that is found in a strongly disjunct distribution in northern Europe, and in Asian mount ...
, ring ouzel
The ring ouzel (''Turdus torquatus'') is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, in length and weighing . The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females ...
and merlin
The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
.
The disused Cromford and High Peak Railway
The Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was a Standard-gauge railway, standard-gauge line between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built t ...
line (which connected the High Peak canal at Whaley Bridge
Whaley Bridge () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the High Peak Borough Council, High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. It is situated on the River Goyt, south-east of Manchester, north of Buxton, north-east of Mac ...
with the River Derwent in Cromford
Cromford () is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Derwent between Wirksworth and Matlock. It is north of Derby, south of Matlock and south of Matlock Bath.
Cromford is first mentioned in the 11t ...
since 1831) ran through a tunnel beneath Burbage Edge. This stretch of the railway line was closed in 1896. The Peak District Boundary Walk
The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District (a ...
long distance footpath follows the disused railway line from Burbage Edge down to Errwood Reservoir
Errwood Reservoir is a drinking-water reservoir in the Peak District National Park, within the county of Derbyshire and very close to the boundary with Cheshire. The reservoir was the second of two reservoirs built in the Goyt Valley, the oth ...
.
In October 1934 a De Havilland Moth
The de Havilland Moths were a series of light aircraft, sports planes, and military trainers designed by Geoffrey de Havilland. In the late 1920s and 1930s, they were the most common civilian aircraft flying in Britain, and during that time eve ...
plane crashed on Burbage Edge in heavy mist, while struggling with strong winds. The plane was en route from Broxbourne
Broxbourne is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is located to the south of Hoddesdon and to the north of Cheshunt, north of London. ...
in Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
to Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...
at Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
. The ex- RAF pilot and passenger took half an hour to escape from the overturned wreck and walked to the Cat and Fiddle for help. In May 1943 an Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...
RAF plane also crashed on Burbage Edge while on a solo circular night flight from Wheaton Aston. At dawn in low cloud, the plane hit the dry stone wall along the ridge of Burbage Edge. The pilot Sergeant John Wilson was killed by the impact.
References