I have set myself the task of writing a poem about an escarpment that curls across the moors west of Sheffield. It is a feature that I know very well because I have often walked upon it and taken photographs there. It is called Stanage Edge and in Victorian times it was little visited because it passed through "private" shooting land. Ordinary people did not get to go there.
In the clip above you can see Keira Knightley in "Pride and Prejudice" (2005). She played Elizabeth Bennet and there she is standing precariously on the very edge of Stanage Edge in a state of wistful reverie before visiting Mr Darcy at Pemberley.
As I say, I have taken many pictures of, from and around Stanage Edge as the these old blogposts demonstrate - here, here and here. And here are just four of my Stanage Edge images:-
So yes, I have it in mind to write a poem inspired by Stanage Edge and I am deliberately taking my time about it. Elsewhere, I have written down words and names that I associate with the escarpment and I am letting thoughts and ideas simply stew in my mind.
The poem's direction could be serious or meditative - perhaps peppered with history or it could be light and quite descriptive, celebrating an edge that serves as a getaway playground for walkers, runners, rock climbers and hang glider enthusiasts.
The incubation period will be as long as it takes because I want to be personally satisfied with the end result before I publish it here in the blogosphere. All I know for sure so far is that the title will be "Stanage Edge".
I always associate your pictures of Stanage Edge (which is indeed a very poetic name) with those abandoned millstones. I like the image with the snow.
ReplyDeleteStanage literally means "stone edge" so why they needed to add an extra "edge" - I am not sure.
DeleteYikes! Looks pretty precarious!
ReplyDeletePeople have died falling from Stanage Edge. In the filming, Keira Knightley was secured by a thin steel rope.
DeleteThe edge looks pretty bloody scary to me so I hope you haven't wandered out to the rim. I was a tad adventurous in my younger days but no climbing involving ropes and a partner. The photo showing the millstones is truly artistic. Looking forward to your poem.
ReplyDeleteI never get too close to the very edge as I am cowardly.
DeleteI could never stand on the edge of Stanage Edge! I'm afraid of heights like that...
ReplyDeleteMe too. I am always a few yards away.
DeleteYou'll never catch me standing on that edge!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat if I gave you ten thousand bucks?
DeleteMake it descriptive and historical for me!
ReplyDeleteAt this moment I am not sure what will emerge.
DeleteStanage Edge is a beautiful piece of countryside and I am sure whatever you write will do it justice. I remember standing near the edge of a cliff above the ocean many years ago, being buffeted by the wind, a glorious feeling, though I wasn't quite as close as Kiera Knightly is. It's the sort of place I would love to have a house and live there.
ReplyDeleteThere#s a cave there - Robin Hood's Cave. You could live in that as planning permission would not be granted for a house.
DeleteTumble the options in your mind: expand some, reject bits, reconfigure. Commit to paper. Re rework. Finesse. Repeat random steps.
ReplyDeletePublish
You have got it Kylie! Exactly that.
DeleteGreat pictures of a great place. And I am sure your poem will be equally great and well worth the wait, however long it may be.
ReplyDeleteI hope so. I hope that I am up to it. I will really try.
DeleteIt is quite a spectacular geological formation, and your photos do it justice.
ReplyDelete"in a state of wistful reverie before visiting Mr Darcy at Pemberley...". And then what happened?
Mr Darcy ****** her.
DeleteActually it is interesting to look up the word Stanage which I have just done. 'Stan' is obviously stone and 'age' = O/E haga, hedge or enclosure. Look forward to the poem.
ReplyDeleteYou are of course right about Stanage...so why was the extra word "Edge" added to the name?
DeleteThe sheep would love it, if you could include a mention, then you can go read the poem to the sheep sitting on a rock while they graze and listen. The sheep are always listening.
ReplyDeleteHa-ha! I like your idea David.
DeleteLooking forward to the end result of your creative process. What a beautiful landform.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of special. I came upon it in 1979 - having previously never known it was there.
DeleteI always find the geology of such places fascinating, how and why they formed. We have a lake not that far away, Coal Lake, and when I looked it up, turns out it formed when Lake Edmonton drained at the end of the last ice age.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Jasper fire, you can now see a lot more of the topography and the giant boulders that came down off the mountains over time, eons ago.
Such geology usually predates humans and often it predates dinosaurs.
DeleteI used to rock climb in a modest sort of way but these days looking at the picture of the climber above on the overhang makes me go quite cold.
ReplyDeleteI could have never been a rock climber. Those people are a breed apart.
DeleteWonderful photos…I look forward to reading the poem.
ReplyDeleteI find that landscape somewhat unsettling. I tend not to like landscapes without trees - moors, deserts, plains - all majestic but not for me.
I agree that Stanage Edge is raw and unclothed.
DeleteCould be a pastiche?
ReplyDelete"On Stanage Edge the Pud's in trouble...."
[later in the poem. should include]
aye, lads, forty, aye,
[but by the end why bother with anything else?]
lads, lads, lads, ladsladsladsladsladsldads
Keep taking the tablets Marcie! It will definitely not be a pastiche. I have come to feel that Stanage Edge is like an external part of me.
DeleteI take back the ladsmania because it seems Housman was basically a one-lad man.
DeleteThe director fought against that famous shot , labelling it contrived
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Thanks for that Mr Filmy Buff!
Delete