juamei

[visited 18/03/12] Well this is a delight I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time. Previously I’d made it to within sight (just) from the footpath and before the estate was expanded, I’d stood and stared in its general direction from a carpark. Nothing like getting up close and personal though, especially with this site which is clearly visible closeup despite its denuded state. I hadn’t noticed the amazing view when I’d been near here before. We are up quite high here, so you look across Buxton in the dip, along Brown Edge and over to the gritstone hills 7 miles or so to the North.

Its a big circularish monument crossing a small shallow dry valley, together with a perculiar bank with a 90degree bend heading off to the north east. Opinion is divided but seems to be coming down in favour of an Iron age date for this. Several things about it to tend me towards that also; henges don’t tend to lie across a dip, the bank & ditch seem unusually thin and defined for their height for a henge, it’s circle is deformed unlike Arbor Low and the Bullring and the weird attached bank would be fairly unique. This could easily be contempory to similar sized Late Bronze Age/Iron Age enclosures nearby such as that on Eldon Hill.

Access is easyish from Dukes Drive via the caravan park, up the footpath and through the farm. As this is off the footpath, permission should be sort at the farm.

[visited 29/1/12] What on earth happened at the top of this hill? I bet 300 years ago there was a ridge, with a nice big barrow and a track next to it. Now there’s a dirty gash of a road, a weird standing stone and what looks like the remains of a quarry. The stone, to me, looks modern, way too square for my tastes anyway. I couldn’t even make out the outline of the barrow, if this was done by “excavators” they really worked this one over. If it is a quarry, the stone is probably from that phase of destruction.

Access is a short walk from a layby either side of the ridge. Once I got close I couldn’t even be bothered to get into the field so just climbed the 3m verge of the road to get moderately close.

[edit] PS Good views though.

[visited 29/1/12] This is to all intents and purposes a boulder by the side of a busy road with some views. If the road and the wall weren’t here, it would still be a boulder, but at least you’d get some lovely views and nice surroundings. Is it Prehistoric though? Its certainly a different shape and feel to the Murder Stone and Whaley Bridge stone less than 5 miles away. With a different positioning in the landscape too. However, could quite easily be a waymarker for the track the main road turned into.

Access is for the stupid. There is no public parking in Ginclough, so you either have a longish walk (rubbish reward ratio), perch on the side of a busy fast road or do what I did and reverse into the track next to the stone from the main road. The benefit of which means no stiles and a 10 second walk.

[visited 29/1/12] What a glorious little stone with an equally glorious view. Its a similar profile to the near-by Whaley Bridge stone and sits in a similarish position, this one having a wider view. Its on a little knoll next to the footpath, so you may have to do a quick ninja run to get right next to it.

It’s yet another shouldered head of valley stone as well, this one made me seriously think there could be something in the stone representing an ancestor idea. Give it a biodegradable head and you’ve got a symbol that can look over your land, that can be seen from a fair way away.

Access should be easy, there are no stiles from the road, but there is a shut gate into the field then a short steepish climb. There is a space for a car to park just up the road from the farm, I however headed over from kettleshulme via the footpaths. Again this should be straight forward, just aim for the one that comes out nearest the farm, not the one the other side as this takes you through a swamp.

[visited 8/1/12] Without a GPS and with blanket mist, I found this by educated luck, basically heading downhill in the right direction from the main barrow. Its a fairly small enclosure, presumably designed to keep cattle penned in as the high land immediately next to it would have made defensive use very difficult. The banks that are left look to be in good condition, though I didn’t walk the whole thing as I was getting rushed for time by this point.

Access is the same as the rest of Eldon Hill.

[visited 8/1/12] I came up here in blanket mist, with visibility down to 40-50 metres, but I still found both definate barrows on top of the hill.

First the small “later” barrow to the East, clearly defined and reminiscent of some in the cairn fields in the more southern and eastern moors of the peaks. In the mist watch out for mine workings and just head to the high bit at the East end of the hill. Not worth the trip on its own I have to say, but worth seeing if you are up here.

Secondly I headed for the bigger barrow, keeping in mind it was on the only high point to the West, I tried to keep on the highest points and headed off into the gloom. Via an accidental detour halfway down the slope towards Eldon hole, I found the bigger barrow. This is another good sized barrow in the Northern peaks, of a similar size to Cow low, Lord’s seat et al. The obligatory massive hole in the middle didn’t disapoint, but the much more recent cairn on top was a sad sight for me. I presume because of the hole and maybe the quarry, walkers felt marking this point in the mist is necessary. To be fair to them, it certainly helps find it!

Via Eldon Hill enclosure I made the obligatory trip to Eldon Hole. A scary open wound into the centre of the earth, no wonder this hill was once called Elvedon Hill. This is definately an entranceway into the nether realm.

Access is across a few fields. I parked near the top of Winnets Pass which is a 40 minute trip to the top of the hill. You could probably park near Perryfoot and come at it from that direction. Stiles abound from either way, but its pretty firm under foot.