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| Above Gardom's Edge with "The Three Men" cairns ahead |
Yesterday I had another ramble in the beautiful countryside south west of Sheffield. I parked near "The Robin Hood" pub east of Baslow and climbed up on to Birchen Edge. Then I traipsed along to Nelson's monument and three stone outcrops that are known as The Three Ships.
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| "Defiance" - one of The Three Ships |
Soon after England's glorious victory over the combined French-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), the names of three of our nation's warships were carved on the stones - "Victory", "Defiance" and "Royal Soverin"(sic). These names are still clearly visible. Yesterday a family were practising their rock climbing skills on the stones.
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| Moorside Farm |
I walked along to the triangulation pillar and then headed down the rocky escarpment across a wide moorland meadow that would normally be very boggy but because of our hot summer it was dry and relatively easy to traverse. I passed a couple of rough cairns that are thousands of years old and marked on Ordnance Survey maps. Neolithic people inhabited this area.
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| On Gardom's Edge with a failed attempt to make a stone trough. It must have cracked. |
Soon I reached Gardom's Edge and wandered along the top, noting precipitous rock faces. I came across three more recent cairns together and only later discovered that they had been built in the eighteenth century in memory of three local shepherds who died nearby one particularly harsh wintertime.
Then onward, passing The Cat Stones and the aptly named Moorside Farm, back through the bracken by ancient stone walls and down to the main road that links Baslow with Chesterfield and along to "The Robin Hood". The circle was complete and all was good with the world.
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| The Cat Stones |
What a lovely walk. Thank you. I am learning about stone these days. In NZ we don't get much good hard stone, being such a young country. I am beginning to see how stone shapes thinking. And of course thinking shapes culture.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of stone in that way Kate but I believe that ancient people venerated rocky outcrops like The Cat Stones. They were places where you could scan the world around you and talk about hunting, the stars or life in general.
DeleteI love the skies in all of these photos! The clouds match the colors in the stones. You have the very best places to walk, so beautiful. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the skies sometimes echoing the stones - both in shape and colour. Well-observed Jennifer.
DeleteYou do have beautiful walks! I think about the differences between where you take your walks and I take mine. Not exactly different planets but close.
ReplyDeleteI will never in my life understand why people climb rocks. This just seems like an insane pastime to me.
I agree Ms Moon. I don't mind scrambling up rocks to get to a summit but those who scale rock faces! Well, it seems far too dangerous to me.
DeleteGreat pictures (as always), making me once more long for walks/hikes of the quality you find in your area.
ReplyDeleteOn Tuesday, OK and I are going to travel to the Bavarian Forest (a National Park) where we will hopefully enjoy miles and miles of woodland and moorland walks for 1 1/2 weeks.
Those poor shepherds! To have three of them die in the cold, it must have been a particularly cold winter, as I guess the men were used to harsh conditions.
I hope that you and OK get some nice weather for your Bavarian adventure. Will OK be wearing lederhosen?
DeleteHe does not own any, so unless we buy a pair...
DeleteImagine a time when shepherds would die outside during a harsh winter. We do have it relatively easy now, don't we? Though I suppose some people still die of exposure while sleeping rough. Funny how carving the ships' names into the rocks could have been considered vandalism in the short term, but now it's history!
ReplyDeleteI mean to carve my own name into a remote Peak District outcrop that hardly anybody ever visits. Is that wrong of me?
DeleteI enjoy that beautiful walk! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGlad you came along Bonnie. Next time please don't forget the sandwiches!
DeleteInteresting times while traipsing. You take your time and find some interesting things.
ReplyDeleteNobody's hurrying me along. I can traipse at my own pace.
DeleteI've only ever heard one other person using the word traipse -- my mother, a former teacher. I may be seeing a pattern here.
DeleteBeautiful countryside once again. I wonder if the words chiselled into the rock will ever weather away?
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing place to walk even I would enjoy that. Never been a great walker... loved horseriding & still am a bike rider but walking not my thing. Great history, thanks for sharing.
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