What better way to celebrate your birthday than a walk with your chums around Castleton taking in Mam Tor, Back Tor and Lose Hill. Well that's just what Martin did on "his" day. He even brought a birthday cake (Tesco's finest) to go with our lunch and bought us all a pint in the pub after the walk. What a star. Thanks Martin.
We met up in Castleton and wished the birthday boy a joyous day - we did however draw the line at actually singing "happy birthday" to him in public!
We also welcomed John to our team - he currently has "special guest" status
We started our walk along Cave Dale. This dale was initially formed by glacial meltwater carving a deep narrow valley in the local soluble limestone. The river then found a route underground leaving a dry valley with caverns underneath. Later on the caverns below Cave Dale collapsed making the valley even deeper and gorge-like at the northern end.
The Castleton entrance to Cave Dale had a narrow natural arch as recently as 200 years ago, a relic of the roof collapse. The lower slopes of the dale have large amounts of scree, frost on the higher limestone cliffs having caused the rock to shatter. Halfway up the valley is an outcrop of basaltic lava with a few small columns.
In 1983 Cave Dale was the scene of the murder of a 21-year-old Manchester Polytechnic student, Susan Renhard. Norman Smith, a local 17-year-old youth, was subsequently jailed for life at Nottingham Crown Court in 1984.
The Castleton entrance to Cave Dale had a narrow natural arch as recently as 200 years ago, a relic of the roof collapse. The lower slopes of the dale have large amounts of scree, frost on the higher limestone cliffs having caused the rock to shatter. Halfway up the valley is an outcrop of basaltic lava with a few small columns.
In 1983 Cave Dale was the scene of the murder of a 21-year-old Manchester Polytechnic student, Susan Renhard. Norman Smith, a local 17-year-old youth, was subsequently jailed for life at Nottingham Crown Court in 1984.
Cave Dale also featured in the 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl.
Peveril Castle (also Castleton Castle or Peak Castle) overlooks Castleton (and Cave Dale). It is named after its founder, William Peveril. He was a follower of William the Conqueror and was rewarded for supporting him during the Norman Conquest and held lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire on the king's behalf. The castle was built some time between the Norman Conquest in 1066 and its first recorded mention in 1086, in the Domesday Survey.
In the 1370s the ownership passed to John of Gaunt and this marked the start of Peveril Castle's decline. It was inherited by his son Henry Bolingbroke, later crowned Henry IV. As the 15th century progressed, Peveril became less important as administrative duties were moved elsewhere. The castle hosted local courts until 1600. A survey in 1609 found that Peveril was "very ruinous and serveth for no use".
At one point, the castle was used to house animals. With the advent of the railways in the 19th century, the area became a tourist attraction. The Duchy of Lancaster undertook maintenance in the 19th century to ensure the castle's condition did not deteriorate further, mostly clearing rubble and adding mortar. Sir Walter Scott's 1823 novel Peveril of the Peak featured Peveril Castle; set during the mid-17th century, the novel described the castle ruins.
Martin keeping us all on the straight and narrow as we head up Cave Dale and then on to Mam Tor
As ever, the views from the top of Mam Tor are superb - even when there's a slight haze.
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I could regale you with loads of information about the history of Mam Tor, how it is known as Heights of the Mother, or how it is also known as the Shivering Mountain on account of the instability of its lower shale layers, or how the summit of Mam Tor is encircled by a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age hill fort (Radiocarbon analysis suggests occupation from around 1200 BC) - but I won't!
Instead I will give you some details about the trigpoint. It is on top of a tumulus which probably dates from the Bronze Age, and a bronze axe head has also been found here.
According to http://www.trigpointinguk.com/ - the Trigpoint Logging System website designed for those people who are unable to walk past a trigpoint without “bagging it” – Mam Tor Trigpoint (Flush Bracket number S4230) is ranked joint 372nd with 10 other trigpoints.
Interestingly eight of the ten are in Scotland with Golden Cap (Flush Bracket S3752) near Lyme Regis the only other English one in joint 372nd place. There is also a trigpoint at Back Tor (FB number S2145) which is only ranked joint 470th
I know you’re all keen to know what is number 1 – well it’s St Kilda in the Western Isles. The “worst” one on the database is Bredisholm Branch Cutting (Strathclyde) – it’s ranked 7684th. I might pop along and see it sometime just for interest to see how bad it is!
The guys were really impressed by my knowledge of trigpoints!
Then on past Hollins Cross and up Back Tor
Then up Lose Hill ...
... before descending to Castleton via Lose Hill Farm
The heavens opened as we entered the last mile with Peveril Castle once more in view
We took refuge in the excellent Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn in Castleton. This 17th Century Coaching Inn has an old, traditional pub atmosphere with homemade meals and award winning, local cask ales including Castle Rock’s Harvest Gold - and of course, Martin was buying.
Great Trevor - love Castleton, last time we were in England (December 2007), we leased a dear little cottage in Castleton for a week - the Christmas lights and Pubs were great.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Liz