Cotton's Fishing Temple

Sitting on a narrow meander of the River Dove in Beresford Dale, Derbyshire, Cotton's Fishing Temple beat carries more angling history than almost anywhere else in England. Charles Cotton built his fishing house here in 1674, its stone doorway inscribed with the entwined initials of Cotton and Izaak Walton — Piscatoribus Sacrum, a sacred place for anglers — and Cotton's account of fishing the Dove remains one of the finest early treatises on modern fly fishing. The beat runs for just under 0.68 miles through this limestone gorge, where the tree-lined river tumbles over weirs and through pools on the upper Dove, close to Hartington.

The fishing is predominantly for wild brown trout and grayling, lightly stocked and fished on a strict catch-and-release basis. This is expert-level water: the temperature and clarity of the limestone-fed river are ideal for both species, but the clear water and educated fish demand precise presentation. Flies revolve around olives, caddis, and terrestrials, with a worthwhile mayfly hatch in late spring — reflected in the beat's higher Mayfly Season day-rod price of £125. Grayling hold station on the shallow, clean gravel beds and fish well into the winter on nymph and dry fly, with a dedicated Grayling Season rod available from £35.

Up to three rods fish the beat, with a fishing hut on site for shelter. A #5 or #6 weight outfit is ideal, with general patterns in sizes 12 to 16. Early Season rods are priced at £75, with the Main Season at £65. The beat is accessed near Hartington in the Peak District — just under a mile from the village — and the season runs from 31 March through to 27 February, covering both the trout and grayling seasons in full.