Dovedale Stepping Stones

Dovedale’s stepping stones make the crossing feel inevitable — your eye walks them before your feet would. The tree on the far side is the reward, and the small figures beneath it give the scale away.

An original watercolour of the most-walked crossing in the Peak District, on 100% cellulose paper. The stones at Dovedale lie a short walk from the village of Thorpe in the White Peak’s southern dales — the limestone of Ilam Rock and Tissington Spires shaping the river either side — and on a summer afternoon there’s almost always someone hopping across. The leafy bank, the figures small enough to nearly miss, the haze pulling the hills into a long blue distance.