Somewhere, perhaps in the National Museum of Art in Washington DC. I saw a painting of Peveril Castle from Cave Dale by one of the masters who was visiting Derbyshire, UK. The painting left a lasting impression on me given the rocky area and the forlorn keep sitting at the top of its limestone cliff. I have since tried to find the paining and who created it but with little success. In any event, when my wife and I were traveling to the UK, her for some family research and me with my camera, we committed to spend some time in the Peaks District. So one of my photo goals was to visit Castleton and the Cave Dale, the scene of the painting embedded in my mine.

Peveril Castle dates back to the 11th century, being founded sometime between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Domesday Survey of 1086 by the feudal barony of William Peverel and in reading about its history, it seems to have had a rather unremarkable history.

Staying in Rowsley, it was about a one-half hour drive to Castleton where I left my wife to wonder the town while I hiked up the Cave Dale to get my images. It was a rather gloomy October day when we set out and stayed that way which meant that I would not have to deal with strong highlights and shadows and the dark gray clouds helped promote the gloominess of the subject. Walking up Cave Dale I found that I had to walk a fair amount to put myself at approximately eye level of the castle and keep most of the sky out. For this image I ended climbing up the side of the Dale and zoomed in at 85mm on the castle so as to keeping the hills of Hope Valley in the background.