Padley Gorge is nearly four and a half hours from my location! If I wanted to be there before sunrise, I had to leave in the small hours of the morning!
Padley Gorge is a truly magical place within the Peak District! If you want to record some incredible landscape images, you have to plan a visit; you will not be disappointed.
Are you arriving for the first time?
You can enter the Gorge from two easy-to-reach locations: the bottom or the top—personally, I recommend the top.
Padley Gorge is situated between the village of Grindleford and the A 61 87. Along the stretch of the A 65 21. If you have a SATNAV, enter this postcode: S32 2HY.
Parking is limited, so make sure you get there early, or better still, consider not visiting on the weekend. It can be busy, especially on a Bank Holiday weekend or during a school break.
There is free parking at the top of the Gorge on the A6521 - remember - get there early.
You can also park at the bottom of the Gorge at the Grindleford train station. At the time of writing this blog, the parking fee for the whole day was just £3.00.
If you do arrive and parking is limited, you can find additional parking at the National Trust Longshaw Estate, which is nearby.
If you are a National Trust Member, you can park at the estate free of charge! However, if you are not a Member, you will need to pay £4.50 for three hours of parking.
If you park here - follow the footpath signs through the Estate back to Padley Gorge.
My objective was to arrive just before sunrise! I needed to review the oak and birch woodlands surrounding the Padley Gorge’s Burbage Brook. Where were the best places to set up?
I was hoping for a misty morning - I had to do some research to try and predict the conditions I wanted for my visit.
The higher the humidity, the more likely chance of fog or mist.
After reviewing the weather for the next seven days in the Padley Gorge area, Wednesday, March 15th, seemed like the most likely day of the week to deliver my mist!
The forecast for the 15th of March suggested the humidity would be higher than 94%. The closer you get to 100% relative humidity, the more likely there will be mist.
Predicting the mist.
There is a way to forecast fog, but the Met Office says, “It’s one of the trickiest weather phenomena to forecast” You need - moisture, light wind and a temperature known as ‘Fog Point’. If you want to see how the Met Office forecasts fog, read this article.
I took the easier route and looked at the humidity forecast in my phone’s weather app.
However - if you want to know more about how fog and mist are formed, check out this detailed article by Meteorologist - Jeff Haby.
If you visit Padley Gorge, you need to check the weather for the likelihood of fog if you are planning to record moody and atmospheric images.
Having said this, there are many photographic opportunities at Padley Gorge and the Peak District, regardless of weather conditions. It’s more of a personal preference whether you shoot a clear vista or in the mist.
Anybody interested in visiting Padley Gorge, I recommend the following YouTube Channels for more information:
The first is a channel produced by Eddie Skelson, a photographer and vlogger from Stoke-on-Trent. Eddie has some great videos on Padley Gorge and other great locations in the Peak District. Make sure you check out his channel, and why not subscribe to it?
The second channel belongs to Nigel Danson. He is another seasoned photographer with extensive videos. Be sure to check out the videos on Padley Gorge.
You can review my images from Padley Gorge by reviewing my Landscapes Gallery.
