Arbor Low, Derbyshire, England, Environmental, Everyday Life, Historical, March, Neolithic, Peak District, Photography, Prehistoric Burial Site, Spring, Stone Circles

Very Nearly a Sunset……

A Post Scrip (or addition) to my earlier post.

I cannot remember when we last enjoyed a sunset, it must have been some time last year. But this evening we very nearly achieved that magical moment.  It was all the more unexpected as this morning, after a bight start had turned into yet another grey, cold day.  But come the afternoon and the skies started to clear, the sun shone and you could have been fooled into thinking spring had arrived.  As the afternoon progressed and the sun slowly sank towards the horizon it cast a warm glow, throwing the hills and moors into relief…….

Arbour-Low-Stone-Circlel-02988DO

But cloud soon built up along the horizon and killed off any chance of the hoped for sunset.

The location is Arbor Low high above the Derbyshire Peak District.  This is the regions most important Neolithic monument.  Arbor Low is a stone Henge within a circular raised ditch.  The stone circle itself consist of 50 Limestone slabs (now all lying flat) surrounding a central stone cove – a major prehistoric sacred site.  Within the area there are numerous other Lows (burial grounds) and Stone Circles.

30th March (2)

© David Oakes 2013

8 thoughts on “Very Nearly a Sunset……”

  1. My experience, David, that you can’t ever be sure what the sunset’s gonna be.
    Yes, the sun dips under the horizon and encounter layers of clouds that you can’t see. What might seem like a sunset dying between your fingers, might develope into something fantastic only 5-10 minutes later.
    If it hasn’t inside 30 minutes, however, you may go home remebering that there will be a new day and a new sunset tomorrowe! 🙂

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  2. What a beautiful spot–surely one can feel the spirits here. And you still have snow in the deeply-shadowed, protected spots. It must still be chilling, in more than one sense of the word, when the wind howls.

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      1. What a beautiful spot, David. I can believe you will feel good ‘vibes’ there as in the old days, the people would celebrate spring too. Although not Easter, but the light is back and the days lengthen and that alone is hope for a summer with good crops. Of all sorts. Yesterday my friend and I went to ROtterdam to visit the SS Rotterdam. We had lunch on board and although it was too cold to linger on deck, we saw ourselves sailing through blue waters under sunny skies and discovered a glove behind a pillar…. left hand yes. We started to laugh out loud and other visiters must have thought that these two elderly women must be daft. Which we are. 😀 Have a wonderful Easter all of you.

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  3. I think I’d have a field day in England as an archaeologist….this field looks most interesting. I guess these particular stones weren’t thick enough at the base to remain standing during high wind days or major storms; however, nothing deters the determined. Lovely photo.

    PS: As I type, our Autumn day of slight fog hiding buildings in the distance, that cool winter light is streaming through my garden’s trees and bushes, alighting on some shiny leaves and emphasising those fine spiderwebs launched between leaves and tree trunk. The light is quite bright, the air is still, with a lone magpie carolling quietly, a lovely sound. A lovely Autumn day all-round! (Jealous….?!!) 🙂 This is a lovely respite considering the recent really hot days we had. Hope you have a great Easter, David!

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    1. Thanks. I think we missed Autumn out of our seasonal calendar (I even doubt we had summer) we went from Spring direct to winter and it still seems as if winter is staying with us!! Oh for spring.
      As for the stones…they are limestone which isn’t the most durable and I guess rains and snow round the foundations over all those years didn’t help plus as you say high winds….and it is a very exposed location.

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  4. And sometimes, I dream things that really did not happen. I forgot to tell that this was my dream last night. But we were there and enjoyed ourselves on this big ship. She will never sail again, but she is so beautiful.

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