Our Reserves

Millers Dale Quarry SSSI

(Grid reference SK140731)

Location: Wye Valley

Nearest Town:  Buxton

Grid reference:  SK 140731  (OS Landranger sheet 119 Buxton & Matlock)

How to get there:  The B6049 leaves the A6 Bakewell-Buxton road a mile west of Taddington. It runs through Blackwell, and Millers Dale station is a mile further on. Park in the car park here. Access to Millers Dale reserve is via the Monsal Trail over the viaduct or via the Wormhill road down to the eastern point.

Until 1930 Miller's Dale was a bustling limestone quarry, with smoke billowing from the kilns and quarrymen hauling limestone to be burnt.

Things have certainly changed since those days. With the departure of the quarrymen, nature has taken hold and the quarry is now inhabited by many unusual plants and animals.

The quarry floor is a special place, and the best time to enjoy it is on a hot July day when the scent of fragrant orchids fills the air. Walk carefully here to avoid treading on these delicate plants.

Many other wildflowers flourish on the poor soil, where they do not have to compete with other plants and grasses. From early summer the reserve puts on a colourful show,with cowslips, early purple orchid, harebell and wild strawberries among the flowers that grow here.

As you enter the reserve you climb wooded slopes where ash, hazel and willow have established themselves.

Other parts of the reserve have not been affected by the lime industry and very different plants grow here. Look for valerian, rosebay willowherb and ladies bedstraw, among others.

With such a variety of plants around the reserve, it is a haven for insects. On a sunny summer's day you'll see butterflies such as the common blue, as well as the day-flying six-spot burnet moth.

The quarry face contains crevices which provide safe nest sites for jackdaws and sometimes a pair of kestrels. Watch the sky above for swifts feeding on insects.