Birchover & Stanton Moor, Derbyshire

Todays walk was teeming with history. We drove about half an hour out towards Matlock to the small village of Birchover. The first place we saw was the Druids Inn. This is a highly recommended pub which is famed for it's food and somewhere I've been wanting to try for many years. Now that we know how to get there we'll have to go for an evening meal sometime soon. The Inn is so called because of the Druids who used to practice their magic amidst Rowter Rocks, immediately above the Inn. The rocks consist of several tunnels, with caves and carvings and is close to several prehistoric monuments including several stone circles on Stanton Moor.

Stanton Moor was the location of our walk today so we parked on the main road of the village. From the outset there was an unusual feel the village. It's only coming home that I've researched the area, and found out its unusual history, but the quaint cottages of the main road give the impression that they are occupied by modern day wizards, or hippies, or just people at one with the place. It wasn't an unsettling feeling, quite the contrary, everything just felt so 'right' about the place. I wish I had better words to describe it, but these will have to do. We came to a farm and followed the footpath through a farm and a field of, would you believe, Alpacas.

This is the route we took.





















We started at Lees Road, taking the left hand fork up to the Nine Ladies Stone Circle. On the way to the stone circle we passed the Earl Grey Tower built by William Pole Thornhill dedicated to the Reform Act of 1832.




















A short way past the tower we found the Nine Ladies Stone Circle. Its location is quite unusual as it is surrounded by woods, most stone circles are on the open landscape. Legend has it that nine ladies were turned to stone for dancing here on the sabbath. It really is a wonderful location and has the most tranquil of atmospheres. In fact for the rest of the walk I felt a deep sense of peace and a sense of having been somewhere almost magical. It was most unusual. A truly lovely place.















We walked through some open woodland and heather moors for a short while and came to the Cork Stone. This is one of a number of granite blocks remaining on the moor after the softer stones of the plateau had been worn down through the ages. It is 15 feet high has iron foot rests driven into it to aid climbing.





















The area is very rich in archeological remains, especially Bronze Age, as well as having ecological and spiritual significance. It's a walk I will remember for a long time, and will certainly be researching further, and hopefully a few more return visits are in order.

This walk took us just under 2 hours and wasn't at all strenuous. I think we need something a bit more challenging next week though!