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| Don't Worry....Be Happy |
If you thought that wedding-related posts had finished, you are mistaken. There will be two or three more to come. However...
Late on Friday afternoon I needed to burn off some energy and take some photographs too. I jumped upon my trusty stallion - Sir Clint and galloped out into the countryside. Twelve minutes later we arrived at the little car park by the copse at Dennis Knoll.
With boots on, I began a three mile round walk that took in the middle section of Stanage Edge. Though I am not a rock climber - and never have been - I know this escarpment very well. It is composed of millstone grit and looks westward towards the setting sun. It is around three miles in length.
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| At Crow Chin |
Over on "geograph", the photo mapping site I contribute to, another member once referred to me as "The King of Stanage Edge" because I have submitted so many images of it. It is a nickname I rather like. Better than Fatty or Dragon Breath.
It was windy up on top of the edge - blowing a bloody gale it was - but not cold. I felt the energy of the wind - an invisible and mindless force - buffetting tough moorland grasses and my own mop of hair. If I had had someone to talk with we would not have heard each other.
Some who have followed "Yorkshire Pudding" for a while will remember that historically many millstones were created at Stanage Edge. That production ceased entirely around the beginning of World War One when numerous finished and unfinished stones were simply abandoned close to the rock from which they had been hewn.
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| See how the wind is blowing the bracken |
Today the symbol of The Peak District National Park - formed in 1951 - is quite appropriately a millstone.
At Clint's boot (American: trunk) I guzzled water from my steel flask before setting off home to prepare an evening meal of new potatoes, green salad and non-vegan rump steaks with fried onions and mushrooms. Getting back to normal folks.
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| Wind combed rough moorland grasses. |
I love the photo of Crow Chin.
ReplyDeleteClint has upgraded to Sir, I see. You really are privileged to drive him
I am just his chauffeur Kylie.
DeleteI seriously envy all of the great vistas and walks you have close by. Your photos are terrific, as always.
ReplyDeleteVisitors like you help to motivate me as a taker of pictures Mary.
DeleteI like the grass photo. Sounds like you needed some space.
ReplyDeleteThe grass was dancing when I took that picture though the image is still.
DeleteThe photos are wonderful but the vistas are amazing! It always makes me feel better when I'm outside walking.
ReplyDeleteI think that long country walks should be prescribed by doctors when someone's mood is low or they are suffering from anxiety or mild depression.
DeleteOK, I just left a comment, and I got an error message and then a message that said it was published. But I don't see it. So at the risk of repeating myself...
ReplyDeleteI always like it when you visit this place. I think I'd like to check out those old millstones myself, and maybe I will, if I ever get a driver's license!
You drove across Florida... I assumed you had a licence.
DeleteI wonder stuff like "did the workers who walked away from those millstones realize it would be the last time anyone worked on them?" That's the effect relics have on me - the connection with humans in the past. I suppose it's that way for everybody, not just me.It's the mystery of a moment in time, something to which we'll never have an answer.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos.
They made those millstones by hand. One millstone would have taken many hours to create. How I would love to be taken back in time to observe the millstone workers chipping away and to talk to them about this and that. I might even mention "Procrastinating Donkey".
DeleteI like the third picture so much I made it my newest desktop background. xx
ReplyDeleteI am honoured Jennifer.
DeleteI can feel the wind in my face. It's so different when one is out walking than it is when one is trying to work in the garden.
ReplyDeleteAt least your garden is on the east coast of Lewis and not the west coast!
DeleteThe photos are really, really good. I'm always fascinated by milestones. Our house, according to the title feeds is called "Shenstone" I have no idea what a shenstone is......
ReplyDeleteDid you mean title deeds? I see that the d is next to the f on the keyboard!
DeleteShenstone means shining stone or bright stone. There are two villages in England with that name.
Oh goodness! I didn't see the first typo.........
DeleteOh that's very interesting, shining stone, eh? I like that.
Thank you.
Millstone not milestone.
ReplyDeleteLay off the G&T's Christina! You are all in a muddle my dear.
DeleteHey, I like your walks. But you have to have a wedding once in a while to make things interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt was a very special day. Never again will I walk a daughter down the aisle.
Delete"The King of Stanage Edge" is quite a nice title for you with all the walks you take. I have visited the Geograph site after learning about it from you and I found it quite enjoyable. I don't believe we have anything like that here.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful as always. I love the view from the edge!
Oh...That's great that you have visited geograph Bonnie! Most splendid.
DeleteI've never been normal, so I've nothing to get back to!
ReplyDeleteIn reality, I guess there's no such thing as "normal".
DeleteYou are right, it is a good nickname.
ReplyDeleteLike Jenny_o, I wonder about practical things. Such as, were the workers paid for the last finished stones, or the last working hours they had put into the stones that were never finished?
A wind-blown walk is great to clear one's mind, provided one is dressed accordingly.
History tends to champion rulers and power, not lowly stoneworkers chipping away on a lonely moorside. Most of their history was blown away on the west wind.
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