Hathersage and Longshaw Moors
Perhaps you joined us yesterday when we climbed up past the cascades in the damp, dark wooded Padley Gorge. Today we continue that trek in what would seem a very different world. Indeed it is a marked contrast to the dark sided gorge, out onto the open moorland.
On the distant horizon there is a Gritstone edge, an Iron Age Hill Fort , a site later taken over by a Roman garrison as a look out post. The Gritstone is the underlying rock, it is easily worked so no surprise that there are signs of many small artisan quarries.
But there are other contrast. The wide open moorland in more recent centuries has experienced attempts to tame it. The Steel City of Sheffield is only a few miles away and the success of that City brought much wealth to a few. That wealth was used to establish large houses in there own private estates or parklands. Longshaw Moors is one such estate. Whilst the edges of the moors are cloaked in trees the moors were bare, so in amongst all the boulders in a rather hostile environment Pines were planted and along with Silver Birch have created a new style of moor for this part of Derbyshire…
It is a struggle, illustrated by the many jaunty angles of the trees that have battled against strong winds in this exposed location….
This was indeed a bonus day for us….certainly cold with a sharp wind that added to the chill….and after the shade of the gorge we were glad to take advantage of the bright sunshine, the long shadows and the contrasts in views.
As the day came to a close the clouds began to roll in from the northwest and with them came hints that winter still has away to go….
17th February
(C) David Oakes 2018
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