River Dove

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The River Dove is the principal river of the southwestern Peak District, rising on Axe Edge Moor near Buxton and flowing roughly 45 miles south to its confluence with the River Trent at Newton Solney. For almost its entire course it forms the boundary between Staffordshire and Derbyshire, meandering past Longnor and Hartington before cutting through a series of deep limestone gorges — Beresford Dale, Wolfscote Dale, Milldale and Dovedale. The river is fed by winter rains percolating through limestone bedrock, producing water whose temperature and clarity are well suited to brown trout and grayling. Approximately 10.5 kilometres of the river, including the Dovedale section, is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its limestone river habitats, supporting brown trout, grayling, and invertebrates adapted to gravelly riffles and weed beds. The river carries healthy hatches throughout the season — blue-winged olives, hawthorn flies, sedges and iron blues are reliable staples — and the mayfly fishing in May and June, when fish feed hard for two weeks or more, produces some of the most active sport of the year. Later in the season, smaller patterns such as the black gnat, fished on a fine leader, can draw the larger fish. Dry fly and upstream nymph are the standard methods; most beats require some wading, though bank fishing is possible on many stretches. Agricultural run-off has historically been the main pressure on water quality, though this is being addressed and the river has shown steady improvement over recent years. Following a programme of salmon reintroduction, facilitated by weir removals, the Dove is slowly recovering its potential as a habitat for migratory species. The Dove holds a singular place in angling history: Charles Cotton, who fished this water from Beresford Hall near Hartington, co-authored the fly-fishing chapters of Izaak Walton's *The Compleat Angler*, and his section on fishing the Dove remains one of the earliest and most influential treatises on the sport. Cotton built his fishing house in 1674 — known to anglers as "The Temple" — with the inscription *Piscatoribus Sacrum* carved above the door, and it still stands in Beresford Dale today. Several fisheries operate on the river, most requiring membership of the Derbyshire River Anglers' Conservancy (DRAC), with additional day-ticket and syndicate beats available along the lower reaches near El

Derbyshire