PICTURESQUE MATLOCK

Take a peek at the Peak District, with panoramic views of the best bits, from Matlock to Dovedale.

A portal to a past landscape, as crystal-clear as the waters of the River Dove which run through it. The valley towers above tiny figures - scrabbling on the rocks, leaping across stepping stones, or casting their fishing rods. Panning almost 360° around Dovedale, the camera eschews towns and villages and revels in the timeless beauty of the setting, producing some stunning compositions.

Sadly some parts of this film have been attacked by decomposition of the original nitrate stock, causing some of the image to literally melt away and 12 feet of the film to be lost forever. The surviving element in the BFI National Archive is the original camera negative, which is what gives the best parts of this new scan a pin-sharp quality.