I didn't need any more persuasion. Time for another walk. Not too far away. Back to the moors and a stroll on Stanage Edge. I needed to blow the cobwebs away and add a couple more miles to my dial. But just then the telephone rang.
It was my brother Robin phoning from the L'Ariege region of southern France. Now that fellow can talk for England even though he lives in France. We always enjoy a good chinwag together, swapping news and putting the world to rights.
And when the conversation drew to a natural close, I noticed that an hour had passed by. The outside world was no longer as inviting as it had been but I still jumped into Clint's cockpit and shouted "Chocks away!"
I have been to see the millstones under the southern end of Stanage Edge many times. They were probably abandoned at the time of the first world war when thousands of men from just about every trade and every corner of the kingdom went off to fight.
I can still just about recall the first time I saw them back in 1979. I just came upon them with no prior knowledge that they would be there. It was quite a surprise. There are several other abandoned millstone workings in The Peak District complete with carved stones that never made it to their destinations for by 1918 the world had changed forever.
Back home I prepared an evening meal using the dahl curry that Shirley had made when I was at the football match on Saturday. She had carefully followed instructions set out in one of our son's "Bosh!" vegan recipe books and I must say that the end result was super tasty.
I went off to Mr. Google to read more about this. I was most curious to find out how they were made. I found nothing. That would be quite a sight to see, though.
ReplyDeleteIf you put millstones into my search box Debby, you will find three more posts that cover this subject.
DeleteGreat background to the millstone photo. Beautiful countryside.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of wild up there and yet so close to the city.
DeleteIf those millstones could talk, what would they say I wonder?
ReplyDeleteThey'd say, "I need a sweater! It's bloody cold!"
DeleteGood that you still went out after the hour-long chat with your brother. We were still thinking about a short walk on Sunday afternoon, and by the time we had almost made up our minds, the rain and wind made us stay where we were - O.K. in my yellow armchair and I on my grey settee, drinking coffee, reading and chatting at a very leisurely pace. We had been out for a run in the morning so I was not desperate to be out again.
ReplyDeleteThose abandoned stones are fascinating and sad at the same time, knowing why they are there.
Both your meals sound good! I love a nice, creamy tomato soup with fresh crusty bread. Maybe an idea for next weekend.
The image of OK in the armchair and you on the sofa reading - it's like an old married couple at peace in each other's company.
DeleteWow, you discovered the long lost wheels of Fred Flintstone's car. Well done that man.
ReplyDeleteNow I am going to be cynical about rock formations that may not be quite original.
This was the original Bedrock Quarry where Fred worked. He left his car outside but the wooden frame of it rotted away centuries ago.
DeleteMillstone grit.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite indie band.
Delete*Millstone Grit* : A book by Glyn Hughes (1933-2011) published 1975.
DeleteGlyn's book confirmed me as a Scoto-Irish honorary Yorkshireman, with Lancashire and Tyneside leanings, and a yearning to ramble in the Black Country of the industrial West Midlands with its canals and chimney stacks.
*Black Country People - Gornal 1970s.* ATV. YouTube.
Clearer than Scafell Pike, my heart has stamped on
The view from Birmingham to Wolverhampton.
Letter to Lord Byron (1937) W.H. Auden.
One thing leads to another...
DeleteI see you're under attack on Cro's burger post. Watch out there isn't a baying mob awaiting you on Stanage Edge. It would be difficult up there for the police to bundle you safely into a van.
DeleteThere are some nasty trolls in the blogosphere. I think that blog keepers ought to delete unwarranted insulting comments when they appear on their blogs or at least challenge them.
DeleteLovely photos of another aspect of the countryside. Stone lies like the backbone of our history from standing stones and the Welsh cromlechs we learnt to build beautiful houses from stone. But the millstones, great heavy things that they are, moving through prehistory to the 20th century is a tangible reminder of how hard it was to survive in our climate.
ReplyDeleteNorth west of Sheffield there's a place called Wharncliffe (Quencliffe) where querns were manufactured - long before the millstones in my pictures. They were also made from hard millstone grit.
DeleteHow great! You got to talk to your brother and do your walk! And then come home to a delicious vegan meal! Andrew's comment about Fred Flintstone's car made me laugh. I wonder if you'll be finding brontosaurus skeletons next time you visit as of course, Fred's work did require him to ride one at the stone quarry.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a boy, I had a crush on Wilma Flintstone even though she was already taken by that rough brute of a man.
DeleteAh yes, the millstones! Hard to imagine how much of a cultural shift the World War I generation experienced.
ReplyDelete"The Death of Innocence" one might say and certainly the death of millstone production at Stanage Edge.
DeleteWith my garage full of tools, it would still be extremely daunting if I were asked to replicate one of those millstones. I can't imagine how they did such fine work even 100+ years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed incredible.
DeleteMore photos with an interesting history attached to them - thank you YP.
ReplyDeleteLast night (Monday) on Mastermind, one of the contestants was a Yorkshireman and his specialist subject was Yorkshire! Surprising how many names of places you've shown us cropped up in the questions or his answers! He certainly knew his rivers too!
It was Yorkshire rivers in fact. I watched the show and with no revision at all got more correct answers than the contestant did.
DeleteThere is something sad about those abandoned millstones. That last photo makes it look very lost and lonely.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is sad that they never reached their destinations in windmills, farms or industrial premises.
Delete