For my first walk as leader this year, I thought it would be a wonderful idea to re-visit our "old friend" - but this time from afar. We met, as we did last year, outside what used to be the Market Hall in Longnor.
Regular readers of this blog may recall that Longnor - which sits high on the Staffordshire Moorlands with the river Dove to the east and the river Manifold to the west - was once a market centre for the region and has a little cobbled market square and a Victorian market hall which dates back to 1873. However, Longnor's ambition to be a thriving market town was hindered by the demise of the turnpikes and its lack of a railway link.
Our route took us out towards High Wheeldon - another challenging climb which we tackled last year. However, this time we turned towards Crowdecote (a corruption of Cruda’s Cot - Cruda was a Saxon landowner, and a cot is a form of shelter) and then onto Pilsbury Castle.
Dave had done some considerable research on this castle. He told us that it occupies
an area of high ground approximately 175 yards by 150 yards overlooking the
River Dove, near the village of Pilsbury. The castle was probably originally an
Iron Age fortification before being used by the Normans, and indeed the name
"Pilsbury Castle" forms from the Celtic "pil", the Saxon
"bury" and the Norman "castle", all meaning "fortified
site".
The Normans built a substantial motte-and-bailey castle on the site. Dave explained that a motte in French is a raised mound in the form of a small, often
artificial hill and topped with a wooden or stone structure known as a keep. A bailey is an enclosed courtyard, typically surrounded by a wooden
fence called a palisade which would be overlooked by the motte.
Stuart was amazed at Dave's expertise - some of which was undoubtedly gleaned from this excellent website:
The view back towards Chrome Hill was superb - it seems to have its own sunny micro-climate.
Chris then decided that he wanted to have his photo taken in a "non-pose" position on the peak immediately overlooking the castle. Despite several attempts to look as if he wasn't posing, this is the best I can offer
I tried to catch him "unawares" on a few more occasions on the walk - with varying success - judge for yourselves
We lunched at Hartington by the side of the Stanner Pond. According
to the English Place-Name Society the name of the village derives from the Old
English for 'Stags' hill'
Hartington was mentioned in the Domesday book as belonging to Henry de Ferrers and being worth forty shillings. In more recent times it is probably more well-known for its cheesemaking. The former creamery in the village, often called the cheese factory, was founded by the Duke of Devonshire in the 1870s; it was one of the three sources of Stilton, and also produced its own unique Dovedale cheese and others such as Buxton Blue cheese and Shropshire Blue.
John M. Nuttall expanded the cheesemaking business and in the 1920's obtained a
Royal Warrant to supply Blue Stilton to King George V and it became known as
The Kings Stilton. Because of this the cheese became world famous and the
demand increased. John also obtained a Certification Trade Mark which confined
the legal production of Blue Stilton to the three neighbouring counties of
Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The cheese factory closed in 2009 but the famous Cheese Shop has re-opened and is run by a local family.
Stuart proudly telling Andy about his Shropshire Blue ...
... and a nonchalant Chris with his Stilton.
We headed back to Longnor on the ManifoldTrail
Recent rain made the going a bit boggy at times
... Dave showed that he was definitely no stick in the mud - in fact he's got two!
We then adjourned to one of our favourite pubs - The Royal Oak at Sparklow - where we sampled some excellent Whim Ales, which is brewed by Whim Brewery based in Hartington (it began brewing in 1993 at Whim Farm).
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