The Hope Valley is a

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

area centred on the village of

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

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 Highland, 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, whe ...

in the northern

Midlands of England The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in th ...

. The name also applies to the

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

that includes the surrounding villages.

Valley

Although the Hope Valley appears to be a single valley, the name of the river changes several times. The head of the valley lies below Mam Tor at Castleton, widely regarded as the capital of the valley. From here, the

Peakshole Water Peakshole Water is a stream in the Derbyshire Peak District named after its source, Peak Cavern. It flows through the village of Castleton to join the River Noe in nearby Hope. Despite its name, much of its flow actually emerges from the Russ ...

flows to Hope, where it enters the lower reaches of the River Noe, which has flowed from

Edale Edale is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, whose population was 353 at the 2011 Census. Edale, with an area of , is in the Borough of High Peak. Edale is best known to walkers as the start, or southern end ...

. The Noe then flows to Shatton near Bamford, before entering the River Derwent, which has travelled about ten miles from

Bleaklow Bleaklow is a high, largely peat-covered, gritstone moorland in the Derbyshire High Peak near the town of Glossop. It is north of Kinder Scout, across the Snake Pass ( A57), and south of the A628 Woodhead Pass. Much of it is nearly 2,0 ...

. The valley is now technically the Derwent Valley, but the term "Hope Valley" is still used as the Derwent flows through Hathersage and

Grindleford Grindleford is a village and civil parish in the county of Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 909. It lies at an altitude of in the valley of the River Derwent in t ...

. Other streams in the area include the Burbage Brook, which runs down from Burbage Valley through Padley Gorge and into the River Derwent near Grindleford station. The area is a popular tourist destination, particularly as the Hope Valley Line railway from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

runs through it, from the western end of the

Totley Tunnel Totley Tunnel is a tunnel under Totley Moor, on the Hope Valley line between Totley on the outskirts of Sheffield and Grindleford in Derbyshire, England. Construction Totley Tunnel was constructed by the Midland Railway on its line betwe ...

near Grindleford to the eastern end of the Cowburn Tunnel near Edale. In the centre of the valley is a long-established cement factory, the UK's biggest, run by Hope Construction Materials. It is somewhat infamous locally because it is a prominent industrial operation in the middle of a National Park and is very visible from many locations. However, the factory provides valuable local employment outside the tourism sector. The

Hope Valley College Hope Valley College, ''Castleton Road'' (A6187), Hope, Hope Valley, Derbyshire in England is an academy school, adjacent to the Peakshole Water, in the High Peak district for pupils aged 11 to 16. History The school was first opened in Septe ...

is the only secondary school in the Hope Valley. Castleton Church of England Primary School (one of several primary schools in the valley) and the surrounding area was featured in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's new (in October 2017) ident which shows images of the valley from Mam Tor.

History

There is evidence that Hope has been extremely significant in the region throughout its long history. The village is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as having both a priest and a church, the only place in north Derbyshire to have such status at the time. St. Peter's Church, opposite the Old Hall public house, dates from around the 13th century. The parish of Hope covered two thirds of the Royal Hunting Forest of north Derbyshire and was one of the largest parishes in the country. From earlier times there are traces of a Roman fort at Brough, just to the east of the village. Its Roman name Navio was later replaced with the Old English word for fort, Brough. Many ancient relics from the site can be seen in Buxton Museum. It is thought that the fort was probably built to protect Roman lead-mining interests in the Peak District. The village is built on the A6187 Sheffield to Castleton road, near the junction of the B6049 that runs northward from

Tideswell Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire D ...

to Edale. This minor road closely follows the route of the old Portway, which was an ancient trading route used by Jaggers, a local term for men driving

packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

s carrying salt and other goods from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

. Names such as Saltergate Lane and Jaggers Lane probably originate from this period.

Post town

The Hope Valley post town lies in the postal area of

. It encompasses the S32 and S33 postal districts, and includes the following villages: * Bamford * Bradwell * Brough * Calver * Castleton *

* Eyam *

* Hathersage *

* Stoney Middleton

References

{{Coord, 53.34727, -1.74550, display=title, format=dms Valleys of Derbyshire Valleys of the Peak District