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Fieldnotes
| Sunday 13 July 2003 Out of the car we turned our attention to the left of the road from Birchover towards Stanton in Peak. As we walked up to the second layby (on the left) we immediately spotted the Andle Stone in its dinky enclosure. We were soon standing at the foot of this benign monster. The big papery version of TMA says it's 15 ft long, by 10 ft wide and 10ft high. Pah! Pah! and thrice Pah! with multiple exclamation marks!!!!! The proportions sound about right, but absolutely NO WAY is it that small! You can call me Susan if it's not so. As Droood remarks in his fieldnotes, you need to stand on the pile of rocks to even reach the first handhold! And John's over 6 ft! Julian must have had on some serious platforms that day!!!! I reckon it's more like 17 or 18 ft high. Possibly more than 20 ft. It was more than high enough for me to give the climb a miss and for John to just climb up the side but not get on top! It commands a beautiful view of the wide valley to the north-west. Blessed with such a clear and sunny day, we were spellbound. Retracing our steps from Doll Tor stone circle later, John and I were both so invigorated that we took our courage (!) in both hands and climbed the Andle Stone after all. And WOW!!!! Is it worth it?!!!!!! Hell yeah! Sod the cupmarks (sorry) and Victorian etc graffiti… FEEL that view and sense of importance!!!!! The extra elevation and adrenaline add so much… BUT, a word of warning: unless you're pretty confident with heights, don't do it! Certainly not on your own! The turn back over the edge to climb down is very awkward, as it's very difficult to see over the edge and know what you are doing. With us, John went first, and although he had to negotiate his own 'sticky' moment or 2, was able to help direct me from below. But it was extremely touch-and-go as far as this Moth freezing solid with fear is concerned!!!!! Definitely plenty more than 10 ft. Blimey, even I could 'dangle & drop' or at a push maybe jump 10 ft. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Delerious in Derbyshire
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Posted by Moth17th July 2003ce Edited 22nd July 2003ce
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