Birch Vale is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, just outside the boundary of the Peak District National Park, between New Mills

New Mills

New Mills is a town in Derbyshire, England approximately south-east of Stockport and from Manchester. It is sited at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Sett, on the border of Cheshire. The town stands above the Torrs, a deep gorge, cut through Woodhead Hill Sandstone of the Carboniferous period...

 and Hayfield

Hayfield

Hayfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of High Peak, in the county of Derbyshire, England. The village lies approximately east of New Mills, south of Glossop and north of Buxton by road....

. Most of Birch Vale, including the attached village of Thornsett, comes under the administration of New Mills Town Council, though the small part to the east of the Grouse public house is within the boundaries of Hayfield.
There are no shops, but five public houses: the Grouse, the Vine Tavern and the Waltzing Weazel on the main A6015 road and the Sycamore and the Printers Arms in Thornsett. There is a primary school in Thornsett. Until 1970, Birch Vale had a railway station on the branch line from New Mills Central to Hayfield with through trains to Manchester Piccadilly. Today the nearest railheads are the stations in New Mills — Central

New Mills Central railway station

New Mills Central railway station serves the town of New Mills in Derbyshire, England. It is on the Hope Valley Line between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield...

 and Newtown

New Mills Newtown railway station

New Mills Newtown railway station serves the town of New Mills in Derbyshire, England. The station is 23 km south east of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchester to Buxton line...

 — about two miles away. There are frequent bus services into New Mills

New Mills

New Mills is a town in Derbyshire, England approximately south-east of Stockport and from Manchester. It is sited at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Sett, on the border of Cheshire. The town stands above the Torrs, a deep gorge, cut through Woodhead Hill Sandstone of the Carboniferous period...

, Hayfield

Hayfield

Hayfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of High Peak, in the county of Derbyshire, England. The village lies approximately east of New Mills, south of Glossop and north of Buxton by road....

, Glossop

Glossop

Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...

, Buxton

Buxton

Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...

 and Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

. The trackbed of the former railway line now carries the Sett Valley Trail

Sett Valley Trail

The Sett Valley Trail is a cycle- and bridleway in Derbyshire, England, linking the village of Hayfield and the town of New Mills . It runs along the lower valley of the River Sett and follows the trackbed of a former branch railway line from to , which opened in 1868 and closed in 1970...

.

Birch Vale's most famous daughter is the TV presenter Tess Daly

Tess Daly

Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly is an English television presenter. She is married to the presenter Vernon Kay.-Early life:Daly was born in Derbyshire to Vivian , who died of emphysema, and Sylvia Daly...

 who grew up there.

Factory fire 2009

In the early evening of Friday 2 October 2009 a large explosion was heard by residents as the Stirling Lloyd factory on a local Industrial Estate caught fire. It took around 16–20 hours to bring the fire under control. Local residents were evacuated shortly after police arrived. New Mills Fire and Rescue Team were among the first on the scene.