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Landscape

Dales

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narrow with steep sides often cloaked in scree and ash woodlands valley bottom (often dry) gradually change upslope through scrub of hazel, hawthorn and elder.

In the White Peak there are many valleys or dales with no rivers in them.   They are thought to be relicts of a frozen landscape during the last Ice Age.  These rivers have since disappeared leaving only their impression on the landscape.  Only one river, the Wye, flows across the plateau today.

The missing river - Cavedale is a dry valley

For more information about the limestone dale habitat click here.

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Plateaus

Much of the plateaus are used for grazing cattle for beef and dairy farming. This is because the limestone soils are generally thin and alkaline and so cannot support arable crops such as wheat.

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Caves

Stalactites and stalagmites in Treak Cliff cavern, Castleton

The dissolved limestone can come out of solution in the ground water to form fascinating features underground such as cave straws and stalactites.

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Dew ponds

These man-made ponds provide a much needed watering-hole for cattle as well as being an important habitat in an otherwise dry landscape.

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