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Burbage Edge is a gritstone escarpment overlooking the Burbage district of 
The boundary of the Peak District National Park runs along the ridge and across the summit. The ridge of Burbage Edge marks the western gritstone edge of the Derbyshire Dome, extending south as Axe Edge and to the north as 
The disused Cromford and High Peak Railway line (which connected the High Peak canal at
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, in the Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...
. The hill's summit (marked by a trig pillar) is above sea level.
The boundary of the Peak District National Park runs along the ridge and across the summit. The ridge of Burbage Edge marks the western gritstone edge of the Derbyshire Dome, extending south as Axe Edge and to the north as Combs Moss
Combs Moss is a plateau-topped hill between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The summit, Combs Head, is above sea level.
The moorland plateau is flanked by Combs Edge and the Goyt Valley to the west, the vill ...
. The ridge is the watershed between the River Goyt
The River Goyt is a tributary of the River Mersey in North West England.
Etymology
The name ''Goyt'' may be derived from the Middle English ''gote'', meaning "a watercourse, a stream". Derivation from the Welsh ''gwyth'' meaning "vein" has bee ...
( Mersey river basin) and the River Wye ( Trent river basin). To the west is Goyt's Moss moorland, the Cat and Fiddle Inn
The Cat and Fiddle Inn is the second-highest public house in England, the Tan Hill Inn being the highest. In 2020, the outlet was sold to a distiller, who intend to open Britain's highest-altitude whisky distillery.
It is in the Peak District ...
and the Upper Goyt Valley
The Upper Goyt Valley is the southern section of the valley of the River Goyt in North West England.
Position
The source of the Goyt River is on Axe Edge Moor above Goyt's Moss to the south. The western side of the valley is a long ridge, runn ...
. Following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000.
Right to roam
The Act imp ...
, the area of the upper ridge and moorland were designated as "Open Access" land for the public.
Coal was mined at Goyt's Moss colliery from the early 17th-century until 1893 when the coal deposits had been exhausted. The coal was initially extracted by surface mining, then in the 1700s using shallow shafts (with coal raised using hand winches) and later in the 1800s from deeper shafts using horse-drawn winding gins. Most of the coal produced was supplied to the Duke of Devonshire's limekilns at nearby Grin Low. The site of the colliery's remains is a protected Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
Burbage Edge is part of the Goyt Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Heather is the main plant but the heathland is habitat for a variety of native grasses, rushes, sedges and shrubs including bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...
, crowberry
''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but there ...
, cowberry and cross-leaved heath
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europ ...
. Hare’s-tail cottongrass and sphagnum moss
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store w ...
are common. The area is important for upland breeding birds including a large population of golden plover
'' Pluvialis '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere.
In breeding plumage, they all have largely black underparts, and golden or silvery upperparts. The ...
, as well as red grouse, curlew
The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...
, lapwing
Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...
, whinchat
The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now placed in the Old World flycat ...
, snipe
A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a ...
, twite
The twite (''Linaria flavirostris'') is a small brown passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.
It is similar in size and shape to a linnet, at long. It lacks the red head patch and breast shown by the linnet and the redpolls. It is bro ...
, ring ouzel
The ring ouzel (''Turdus torquatus'') is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, in length and weighing . The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females ...
and merlin.
The disused Cromford and High Peak Railway line (which connected the High Peak canal at Whaley Bridge
Whaley Bridge () is a town and civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. It is situated on the River Goyt, south-east of Manchester, north of Buxton, north-east of Macclesfield and west of Sheffield. It had a population ...
with the River Derwent in Cromford
Cromford is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Derwent between Wirksworth and Matlock. It is north of Derby, south of Matlock and south of Matlock Bath. It is first mentioned in the 11th-century Do ...
since 1831) ran through a tunnel beneath Burbage Edge. This stretch of the railway line was closed in 1896. The Peak District Boundary Walk
The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District (a ...
long distance footpath follows the disused railway line from Burbage Edge down to Errwood Reservoir.
In October 1934 a De Havilland Moth
The de Havilland Moths were a series of light aircraft, sports planes, and military trainers designed by Geoffrey de Havilland. In the late 1920s and 1930s, they were the most common civilian aircraft flying in Britain, and during that time ever ...
plane crashed on Burbage Edge in heavy mist, while struggling with strong winds. The plane was en route from Broxbourne
Broxbourne is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Hoddesdon, in the Broxbourne district, in Hertfordshire, England, north of London, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 I ...
in Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
to Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and ...
at Blackpool. The ex-RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
pilot and passenger took half an hour to escape from the overturned wreck and walked to the Cat and Fiddle for help. In May 1943 an Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...
RAF plane also crashed on Burbage Edge while on a solo circular night flight from Wheaton Aston
Wheaton Aston is a small village in Staffordshire, England about 9 miles south west of Stafford and 7 miles west of Cannock. It is located beside Bridge 19 of the Shropshire Union Canal. The civil parish is called Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton ...
. At dawn in low cloud, the plane hit the dry stone wall along the ridge of Burbage Edge. The pilot Sergeant John Wilson was killed by the impact.
References