9 September 2017

Panoramic

Yesterday, I scaled Win Hill once more. I hadn't been up there for twenty five years even though it has figured in plenty of my photographs of The Dark Peak.

I parked by The River Derwent near Yorkshire Bridge and began the steep three hundred metre climb through the woods up Parkin Clough. Following recent rain, the roccky path was slippery so I took my time. Apart from anything else I needed to protect my right knee and avoid a tumble. I contemplated descending via the same path and vowed to take a different, more gentle route back down - even if it was going to be longer.
One Sunday afternoon twenty five years ago, when Shirley was working at the hospital, I climbed Win Hill with my children - then aged four and nine. I took pictures of them sitting on the triangulation pillar you can see in the top photo. In those days nobody owned digital cameras and the internet was in its infancy. I still have those two pictures. They are in frames, sitting on the window sill of our landing window and as each year passes the images become slightly more faded - as if the colour is gradually being leaked out of them.
In the picture above, I am looking from the summit of Win Hill to the conical summit of Lose Hill. Between these two hills a lane links Edale with The Hope Valley. A legend says that in ancient times, before the idea of a country called England had been conceived, Win Hill and Lose Hill accommodated two warring tribes, battling for territory. The winners occupied Win Hill and the vanquished were at Lose Hill. It's probably just a fanciful tale.

Below, I have just reached the rocky summit, looking towards the triangulation pillar. The views from Win Hill are tremendous. It's a 360 degree panorama which includes The Hope Valley, Stanage Edge, The Derwent Valley and open moorland beyond which lies Cottonopolis - the fabled city of Manchester. I sat up there for ten minutes, taking it all in as a stiff breeze ruffled my hair and whispered that winter is on his way.

23 comments:

  1. Nice photos. I can almost feel the winter wind scoring my face and making me look like Ken Dodd's sister. Good job your knee didn't give way and leave you stranded up there. There looks to be nobody around to rescue you.

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    1. Ken Dodd's sister? You mean Gertrude Dodd? And yes there was nobody there until a fell runner ran by!

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  2. Terrific!

    With my wonky hips I wouldn't be able to do that...perhaps, with someone else's hips I could. I wonder if there is anyone around who will loan me theirs....hmmmmm....

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    1. Are you a hipster...or perhaps a hippy? Try some rosehip syrup. You'll soon be feeling hip again.

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  3. Anonymous12:21 pm

    Having just paid a $100 annual subscription to what was once known as The Manchester Guardian, I hope Manchester and its fellow cities are not too fabled.

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    1. I was being ironic Andrew. Perhaps the word I should have chosen was "sprawling".

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  4. It looks like quite a climb.

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    1. I was sweating like a Tory minister in a brothel as I left the wooded slopes of Win Hill.

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  5. A long way up but some fabulous views. My knee aches just looking at that climb.

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    1. Paul could easily piggyback you up there.

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  6. What wonderful views. Absolutely beautiful. Your blog makes me more and more determined to visit England someday soon!

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    1. I could take you to the village of Barlow in Derbyshire. We could have a drink in "The Tickled Trout".

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  7. I learn so much by reading these comments. I had never heard of Ken Dodd and I've been watching British TV for 40 years. So now I know...Ken Dodd...ew. But I still don't know who Gertrude Dodd is, and I googled her, too. I guess there is no way to be truly fluent in another culture unless you marry into it.

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    1. I made up Gertrude Dodd as I am sure that my blogging friend ADDY would not like to be called Gertrude. It is an unfashionable Victorian girl's name. In other words, it was a joke!

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  8. Looks like a beautiful spot, and I love the names! I hope you've scanned those photos of your kids atop the pillar. Scanned photos never fade!

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    1. I like the fact that they are fading - just as my son and daughter are ageing. We might take photographs of things and people but we cannot really freeze time.

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  9. Steve beat me to it, suggesting you scan those photos. Or take a picture of them, which is what I have to do as I don't have a scanner. That is such a wonderful view you had, and always these things are even better in person than in photos. You did well. I'm pretty sure I would never have made it even halfway up there. How was the knee the next day??

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    1. It was a bit sore Nurse Jenny but nothing too bad.

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  10. Fantastic photography, there's so much natural wonder in your area. Also, I wonder what happened to the top half of that pillar?

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    1. That pillar was set up by the British Ordnance Survey - like hundreds of other pillars around our land. Its purpose concerned surveying and accurate mapping. There is nothing missing from the top of it Chris.

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  11. I was thinking of your knee as I started to read this post and then you mentioned it. I always found that going down hill was worse than going up.
    You certainly have some beautiful countryside where you live. We have the downs but they do not compare with your hills.
    Briony
    x

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    1. The downs have a special chalkland beauty of their own don't they Briony?

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  12. I wouldn't be able to do that...perhaps, with someone else's hips I could. I wonder if there is anyone around who will loan me theirs

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