Edale Valley > Start of the Pennnine Way

The history information below is for the whole area of Edale Valley.

The farming families of Edale lived a pretty isolated existence until the end of the 19th century when the railway was built, providing a vital communication link with the rest of the country. Until then, it was the packhorse routes that enabled the valley’s produce of sheep wool and later cotton to be transported to factories in neighbouring towns from the mill, situated by the River Noe halfway down the valley.
The rest of Edale consists of five ‘booths’, established in the 13th century as cattle farms that later became hamlets where most of the population live.

Discover more about the Peaks past from prehistory to the modern day with our history timeline..

The habitat information below is for the whole area of Edale Valley.

Edale boasts a range of habitat types, including some flower-rich hay meadows in the valley bottom. These support many different flora as well as a diversity of butterflies and other insects. The valley slopes include damp flushes and small wooded cloughs which add to the landscape character and ecological variety of the valley.

It’s worth watching out for dippers and heron alongside the River Noe. Evocative bird song you might hear include the bubbling sound of the curlew at the upper end of the valley, and the high-pitched song of the skylark as they perform their characteristic display flight.

Explore these habitats and learn more about the wildlife that inhabit them by selecting the links below:
Moorland   

Please leave a comment