We walked away from the National Trust car park at Longshaw towards Fox House, a delightful pub just inside the Sheffield boundary ...
We were greeted almost immediately with a rather ominous sign ...
From Houndkirk Road you get a great view of Carl Wark, with Higger Tor rather dwarfing it behind ...
Houndkirk Road is an ancient road [I don't know how ancient] and heads northward towards the western side of Sheffield ...
A mile or so along it it we could see some of the buildings of the city beyond Houndkirk Hill ...
There was still plenty of moorland between us and Sheffield though ...
It was at this point that we left the old road and turned westwards to eventually cross Burbage Brook ...
The path we were following took us between Higger Tor and Carl Wark. In the photograph below Higger Tor rises above us as we cross the sometimes boggy ground ...
Carl Wark is an Iron Age hillfort dating back four to four and a half thousand years. Here's part of the man-made stone wall that forms part of its defences ...
The wall must be between eight and ten feet high.
The hills to the west stretched away into the distance ...
We turned south, past the remains of a millstone ...
There are some unusual gritstone landmarks up here, besides the man-made ones ...
Then we reached Mother Cap which merits a few photographs ...
A few paces beyond there's the head of a creature in stone ... with a smile and two eyes [or are they nostrils]. It looks like the head of a tortoise to me ...
Then on the floor, with the sun's ray coming in at a low angle I noticed this stone. Whether the markings have any significance ... whether they're ancient or modern I don't know.
What we could age more easily were the two or three millstones lying near a disused quarry below where I stood. I was reading some blurb at Caudwell's Mill just a day or so ago and it said that when metal grinders/rollers became readily available in watermills the need for millstones ceased almost overnight. This is rather supported by the fact that there are so many millstones lying around in this part of the Peak District ... still awaiting removal or collection ...
We passed through silver birches ...
... and I found another of the Peak Park 'poetry benches' ...
The nearby car park only dealt in credit cards ...
Surely there's something to be said for a Ranger with a high powered rifle being positioned nearby ? OK ... I jest ...
On the far side of the A6187 we followed the ancient sunken lane which runs back towards Fox House and the Longshaw Estate ...
We crossed Burbage Brook again but this time by a much more modern bridge ...
On the National Trust's Longshaw Estate further work has been undertaken clearing rhododendrons ... work that the Derbyshire Dales Group of the Ramblers were involved in 15 years or more ago ...
I think this ant forms part of a Trail of some sort ...
I never tire of taking photographs of Carl Wark with Higger Tor behind [as you may have noticed over the years] ...
The sun was setting quite quickly as we neared the car ...
This walk was followed on the 27th April 2011
Length of stroll ~ 5.02 miles [very approximately] *
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 147.09 miles
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 27th April 2011 ~ 675.14 miles
33 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just over 4.45 miles a walk.]
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap
Houndkirk Road is an ancient road [I don't know how ancient] and heads northward towards the western side of Sheffield ...
A mile or so along it it we could see some of the buildings of the city beyond Houndkirk Hill ...
There was still plenty of moorland between us and Sheffield though ...
It was at this point that we left the old road and turned westwards to eventually cross Burbage Brook ...
The path we were following took us between Higger Tor and Carl Wark. In the photograph below Higger Tor rises above us as we cross the sometimes boggy ground ...
Carl Wark is an Iron Age hillfort dating back four to four and a half thousand years. Here's part of the man-made stone wall that forms part of its defences ...
The wall must be between eight and ten feet high.
The hills to the west stretched away into the distance ...
We turned south, past the remains of a millstone ...
There are some unusual gritstone landmarks up here, besides the man-made ones ...
Then we reached Mother Cap which merits a few photographs ...
A few paces beyond there's the head of a creature in stone ... with a smile and two eyes [or are they nostrils]. It looks like the head of a tortoise to me ...
Then on the floor, with the sun's ray coming in at a low angle I noticed this stone. Whether the markings have any significance ... whether they're ancient or modern I don't know.
What we could age more easily were the two or three millstones lying near a disused quarry below where I stood. I was reading some blurb at Caudwell's Mill just a day or so ago and it said that when metal grinders/rollers became readily available in watermills the need for millstones ceased almost overnight. This is rather supported by the fact that there are so many millstones lying around in this part of the Peak District ... still awaiting removal or collection ...
We passed through silver birches ...
... and I found another of the Peak Park 'poetry benches' ...
The nearby car park only dealt in credit cards ...
Surely there's something to be said for a Ranger with a high powered rifle being positioned nearby ? OK ... I jest ...
On the far side of the A6187 we followed the ancient sunken lane which runs back towards Fox House and the Longshaw Estate ...
We crossed Burbage Brook again but this time by a much more modern bridge ...
On the National Trust's Longshaw Estate further work has been undertaken clearing rhododendrons ... work that the Derbyshire Dales Group of the Ramblers were involved in 15 years or more ago ...
I think this ant forms part of a Trail of some sort ...
I never tire of taking photographs of Carl Wark with Higger Tor behind [as you may have noticed over the years] ...
The sun was setting quite quickly as we neared the car ...
This walk was followed on the 27th April 2011
Length of stroll ~ 5.02 miles [very approximately] *
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 147.09 miles
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 27th April 2011 ~ 675.14 miles
33 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just over 4.45 miles a walk.]
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap
I love some of these photographs, Charlie. The last one is lovely. Any idea how the five people died?
ReplyDeleteThank you Pet. No, I don't know how the five people died but I suspect they might have been motor cyclists.
DeleteAhhh, now this is my kind of walk, and my kind of scenery. As you know from my US travels, I like impressive rock formations. Now, this area might not be on the scale of the Grand Canyon, it still has plenty of interest.Mother Cap is really interesting, and I'd really like to climb Higger Tor myself. Have you ever climbed to the top?
ReplyDeleteI thought this might appeal to you Mitch. I have been up on Higger Tor ~ there are some easy ways to get up and down it ...
DeleteBrilliant walk Charlie,so many interesting features.I love seeing the mill stones,I believe it's illegal to take them now which is a good thing as it would be sad to see them disappear.At a mill here in Dorset they said that they bought French mill stones as they were harder than the gritstone one's and lasted longer.Ann
ReplyDeleteThank you Ann. I can believe that about the French millstones ~ I remember reading something about some of the grit from the gritstone millstones being found from time to time in the flour.
DeleteYou do have the best walks around where you are, Charlie. Almost every footstep brings you in range of some other piece of history. Fab!
ReplyDeleteIt's a marvellous place to live Jenny. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else ...
DeleteThat looks grand - is it near the Toad's Mouth and Surprise View area?
ReplyDeleteThis walk basically swings round Toad's Mouth aliqot ... it's a great area as you can see.
DeleteYes, I think that's a warning to beware of motorcylists. I'm never quite sure what to make of these signs; near me there's one that says '7 motorcyclists killed in the last 3 years'. It's been there for ages, years maybe. But I don't know whether to think that 7 is not very many or whether it's 7 less mad bikers on the road (only kidding of course).
ReplyDeleteI liked Mother Cap. Unusual to find it surrounded by three sisters too.
I think the markings on the stone on the ground are a Michelin Latitude Tour HP, probably an HV 205.
Love the last pic, Charlie.
The warning notices are brought up to date fairly regularly around here. Three motorcyclists were killed in one accident ten miles away recently ~ it sounds as though one motorcycle ran into another that was parked up.
DeleteOn the A6 nearby there's an image of a motorcyclist with 'To Die For ?' emblazoned above.
Yes, I rather like Mother Cap too ~ we seem to specialise in these weird features up in the Dark Peak.
You might be right about the markings on the ground ...
The last photo is particularly soothing to spend a while gazing at it. I also think that the tortoise rock looks like you on a slow stroll home from a pub. ????
ReplyDeleteYes, I like the last photograph ... as for strolling home from the pub this onlt happens very occassionally. Usually I have a pint and then have to drive home [or sometimes I'm driven home ~ much better].
Delete