Earl Sterndale is situated in the northern end of the Dove valley and the pub in the village main street has a sign which shows a headless woman with a caption 'Soft words turneth away wrath'. It is said to illustrate the sad fate of a publican's wife who talked too much. The parish Church in the village, opposite the pub, was the only Derbyshire church to suffer a direct hit from a Second World War bomb. It was restored 10 years later.