2020 vision

Twenty-twenty vision indicates perfect sight. And for 2020 we celebrate 20 perfect Derbyshire vistas to enjoy across the year in a county of extraordinary diversity. Some of them are found in nature – in woodlands, on hilltops and escarpments or down in the dales.

These places of beauty are enhanced by the changing light of the day from sunrise to sunset. Each season brings its own vision of loveliness: springtime flowers, summer verdancy, autumn mists and winter frosts. Perfect Derbyshire vistas don’t have to be restricted to nature; they are also found in man’s sacred creations: the atmospheric chapel at Haddon Hall; the translucent marble figure of a sleeping child at St Oswald’s Church in Ashbourne and the exquisite painted ceiling of St Edmund’s in Fenny Bentley. They can include secular manmade vistas as well, of course, such as at Scarthin Books in Cromford.

1. NEW YEAR SUNRISE ON MAM TOR

The brooding wall of the ‘Shivering Mountain’ sits high above Castleton. Take a torch and climb the steep steps from the car park in the pre-dawn, then wait for the sunrise to reveal The Great Ridge and Hope Valley in all their magnificence. It’s a glorious way to start the year.

2. HOPTON HALL SNOWDROP WOODLAND

Early in the year snowdrops push through the hard winter earth against all the odds: ethereal, ephemeral and perfectly formed. Drink in the drifts of delicate snowdrops in the five acres of woodland at Hopton Hall near Carsington Water, then head to the café for a warming drink.

3. MYSTERIOUS WATERFALL SWALLET

East of Foolow on the Eyam road, a grassy lane leads through a wooden gate down a steep, stony path to a sunken basin surrounded by cliffs and woodland. After heavy rain, water cascades over the moss covered limestone. Perch on a rock and soak in the atmosphere of this otherworldly place.

4. OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF EDENSOR