Dovedale

Dovedale, dubbed by Compleat Angler co-author Charles Cotton as “the Princess of rivers,” hit the headlines recently when Derbyshire County Council capped the famous stepping stones at its entrance to make them safer for the million or so annual visitors.

Sir Richard Fitzherbert of Tissington whose late Uncle Sir John sold the Dovedale site to the National Trust in 1973 claims that he would have been shocked at this development.

Let's Stay Peak District believes this to be yet more evidence of the urbanisation of the Peak District, joining Kinder's growing number of flagged paths as another example of unwarranted meddling in what are supposed to be untamed wildernesses representing an antidote to our overprescribed, 'modern' way of life.

Undeniably beautiful, Dovedale could become an innocent victim of its own natural splendour.