THE DERBYSHIRE DISTRICT i8i 



of the finest kind; for the waters run clear, and the 

 high banks on each side screen the streams from the 

 influence of the wind. 



Dove Dale has been, from time immemorial, a subject 

 of admiration and eulogy among all classes of tourists. 



" If we enter the Dale by the north of Thorpe Cloud — a lofty 

 hill, with an interesting-looking village at its base — we shall 

 obtain some delightful views of the couTity. There is a singular 

 character of wild simplicity about it which makes a deep impres- 

 sion on the feelings, and brings up to the surface the contemplative 

 and reflective powers— those vague and shadowy abstractions 

 which most men have of vacuity and chaos. We stand and gaze, 

 almost without the faculty of either utterance or active thought. 

 After, however, the first sensations have passed away, we begin to 

 scan the landscape as if it were by piecemeal, and to detect and 

 define the individual beauties of which the whole is composed. 

 The eye fixes itself upon patches of furze and aged thorns, 

 scattered over the edges of the Dale, and then traces out the 

 glassy stream as it meanders through the naked and desolate- 

 looking-scene. As we move forward, the Dale assumes a deeper 

 and more concenti'ated aspect, and appears completely hemmed 

 in near a locality called Sharplow, which rises very abruptly 

 from the edge of the waters. Here the stream becomes extremely 

 imposing. " 



The river Blytli is a stream worthy of the angler's 

 attention : it falls into the Trent at King's Bromley. It 

 has two feeders, the Soar and the Peak, in both of 

 which trout are to be had, especially with worm, after a 

 summer's rain. The river Tame comes from the vicinity 

 of Coleshill, and has many fine rippling streams, which 

 an angler's eyes delight to look upon. The minnow, 

 especially after a flooded state of the waters, does great 

 execution. We have witnessed fine baskets of fish 

 taken at such times. 



The Derwent is a first-rate river : the chief angling 

 stations upon it are Baslow, Rowsley Bridge, and 

 Matlock. The stream below the last-named place is not 

 so fruitful of sport as the several localities above it. 



The whole course of the river is about sixty miles. 



"In the space of forty miles,'' says a writer, "which includes 

 the whole course of the river from the highest and wildest parts 

 of the Peak to the town of Derby, scenery more richly diversified 



