Big Moor is a large tract of moorland around five miles south of this house. Most people who drive past it won't realise that it hosts many remnants from times past including medieval guideposts like the one shown above, stone circles, ancient field systems and the degraded remains of a Bronze Age settlement that is known as Swine Sty for some inexplicable reason.
On Thursday, I rambled upon Big Moor after leaving Clint in the lee of a stone wall by the Curbar Edge road. The first person I saw was a middle-aged woman with a dog. We smiled at each other and said "hello" - following the unspoken ramblers' code of good fellowship. Then a young man with a heavy backpack approached. "Hello" we said to each other.
When I reached Swine Sty I met two men - a father and son. The son is in the army. We said "hello" but then we got talking for a few minutes. They were from Powys in Wales. I told them about Big Moor and that we were standing in what what was a Bronze Age settlement 4000 years ago. Suddenly, I seemed like an expert guide or something. Not a role I am used to.
Swine Sty
To be frank, Swine Sty just looks like a bunch or random rocks here and there with a raised plateau above it. Only archaeologists who have studied the site understand what the rocks mean and of course the story has been confused by quarrying activity, grouse shooting and military training. However, it is most certain that there was a small community there. The climate was warmer then. They raised crops and a few animals above the boggy ground.
The population of the British Isles at that time was less than a million. This was many centuries before Christianity first arrived on these shores. Bronze Age people lived in harmony with Nature, revered their dead and paid homage to the sun, the stars and the passing of seasons. Their lives would have been unbelievably hard as they battled for survival with each passing moon.
As you can see, it was a grey day - but thankfully dry. I even used the flash on my camera to enhance the signpost picture shown above. I walked a further mile up to the triangulation pillar on White Edge. Two couples passed me on the rocky path. Of course we said "hello" to each other and smiled in the usual friendly way. It's just part of British country walking culture and that's all there is to it.
Yesterday, I was back in the area. It was still grey but also remained dry. I didn't walk far - jut up onto the ridge by Fox Lane. I took this picture of another guidepost that sits upon an ancient cross-Pennine trade route.
Further along the ridge, I spotted this exposed spruce tree bent double by the prevailing wind. What an amazing sight! I plan to take a few more photographs of that tree in different light conditions. Nearby a man was sitting in the heather admiring the view with his watchful Alsatian dog. Of course we exchanged polite "hellos" - the man and I, I mean - not the dog. That would have been weird. Almost as weird as having a talking silver car called Clint.
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ReplyDeleteHallelujah for all the reciprocated "Hellos".
DeleteApropos of nothing, other than your photos, there are landscapes I don't particularly feel at home in. Be they in the North of the motherland (Heide), Corsica (Maquis), the New Forest's (Dorset/England) intermittent coarse Erica-like vegetation. Give me trees. Forests. Mountains. Not that I don't appreciate the odd flat land (no choice when driving through Belgium - and they do liven it up with windmills. Oh, to keep driver's fatigue at bay). Yes, sigh, windmills. Good old Don Quixote. He knew how to find a battle. And fight it. Next time your Clint complains tell him that he ain't no Rosinante. And what of Sancho Pansa?
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"What man can pretend to know the riddle of a woman’s mind?"
Delete- Miguel de Cervantes in "Don Quixote"
I like the tree photo. It looks magical. I always say "hello" to walkers and cyclists when I am on one of my saunters over the hills and along the sides of the roads.
ReplyDeletePart of the reason for saying "hello" is to let the other person know that you are friendly - you do not represent a threat.
DeleteThat last photo is a wonder. It looks like a very, very old picture which was hand-colored. I love it.
ReplyDeleteIt adds an extra layer of magic to your walks, knowing that you are treading ground which has been occupied by humans for so very long.
Thank you Mary. You say such nice things. Perhaps you feel the same sensations about those who went before when you consider the Apalachee tribes that occupied your region of Florida.
DeleteI do! In fact, I was thinking about that as I write my comment. Once, when I lived a few miles from here out in the woods, I found an arrowhead laying on top of the ground, just there...
DeleteI felt suddenly as if I was in the presence of someone else. I'll never forget.
The man and son tricked you into teacher mode. The dog thought "Don't say hello then you ignorant sod!" Then off you loped across the land like a Leven leveret.
ReplyDeleteWere you there? Were you watching me? Perhaps you were in camouflage gear with your binoculars.
DeleteI love the picture of the tree with the purple heather. That's one for your photo competition! Also a great idea to use the flash on the sign. I never use a flash because usually they look so horrible, but your pic is a good reminder that they DO work well sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThat day, I suddenly remembered my flash facility. I have hardly ever used it.
DeleteIn my limited experience, speaking to others on trails in the US is regional. In Arizona almost everyone acknowledges approaching hikers. In the area around Seattle, people will NOT make eye contact or respond to a friendly hello. They will stare at the ground, the trees, anywhere but at other people. It's very weird in Seattle. There's a term for it, the "Seattle Freeze."
ReplyDeleteGosh, Allison. I never knew that! I thought people in the northwest were more than friendly. How strange!
DeleteInteresting input Allison. Thank you for that.
DeleteI love that last photo too. The heather in turn seems to adjust to how the shape of the tree. The 'hellos' remind me that it's been a long time since I had the opportunity to go for a walk in the countryside. In the woods near where my parents lived, people used to say 'hello' as well - and it always took me by surprise, because I was used to city life. Strangers saying hello in the city would seem scary rather than friendly! (Preferably, don't even look at people...)
ReplyDeleteYou are right DT. There are different "rules" for the countryside and urban areas.
DeleteOh, the purple heather is magnificent! As is that old tree. All the heather seems to be growing windward as is the tree, of course. I rather think it is a much better photo on a gray day than when you snap the same one neath a blue sky. It is very interesting to read about Big Moor in the history of the Bronze Age.
ReplyDeleteWell. I am glad tat you could join me again Big Sis. I enjoyed the sandwiches by the old guidepost and your tales of Colorado. Til we meet again...
DeleteI like barren unoccupied land. The arctic was barren. The prairies are flat and vacant.
ReplyDeleteSuch landscapes are a big part of who you are Red.
DeleteSo are you saying I'm kind of a vacant old timer!!!
DeleteI always enjoy hearing about the ancient history of an area like Big Moor. I would love to see an area that was once a Bronze Age settlement and your pictures were wonderful!
ReplyDeleteTHanks for another encouraging comment Bonnie. You are a good woman.
Delete"Most people who drive past it won't realise that it hosts many remnants from times past"
ReplyDeleteThat is alright; they surely realize other things that keeps the world turning. And it's fortunate there are some of us who realize the value of the past. I wonder what the next generation will expound and point out.
Surely, there always be people who are enraptured by history Joanne.
DeleteI also like your last photo, such subtle colours.
ReplyDeleteThe "to say hello or not" conversation in the comments here is interesting.I am city born and bred but I still say hello to strangers. Some people are obviously happy to greet others and some avoid eye contact. I don't mind either way.
On a bush walk though, only the rudest would ignore another walker
Effectively this was a walk in the Derbyshire bush..."G'day mate!"
DeleteOn the whole most people in the Yorkshire countryside are friendly, even the older cyclists who pedal past. The younger cyclists are too busy looking cool:) Those windswept trees on the moors, raggedy hawthorns are also picturesque.
ReplyDeleteHow can anybody look cool in lycra and a helmet?
DeleteIt's amazing how many think they do!
DeleteDo you wear lycra and a helmet CG? I imagine pink and baby blue.
DeleteI think we all agree that the last photo is something special - not that the others aren't excellent too, YP.
ReplyDeleteIt's a long time since I've been on a country walk or ramble, but I do walk the dog each day. People I pass make some acknowledgement, even those I haven't seen before. Dog walking is usually a common bond, and it's good that some walkers are keen to stop to chat.
Walking a dog does seem a good way of breaking the ice even when the dog walker in question is dressed in bright lycra with a helmet and cycling goggles.... Only teasing CG!
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