Nine of us set off from Monyash on a fine morning. Bagshaw Dale led us to the top end of Lathkill Dale before we took the steep climb up into Ricklow Quarry. The crinoidal limestone quarried here, when highly polished, was much prized as a decorative stone for the interiors of grand Victorian homes. The Neolithic burial site of Ringham Low was next but not lingered over as there is little to see amongst the trees which cover it now. We took a break near Haddon Grove and then dropped back into Lathkill Dale to climb out again via Cales Dale and up to One Ash Grange. Once the property of Roche Abbey near Rotherham, this medieval monastic grange still has a few buildings which date back to the 14th century. Sadly, several of the cottages and outbuildings are rather dilapidated, although some notices seemed to suggest there are plans for renovation. We passed the head of Cales Dale, where Mesolithic hunter gatherers once sheltered, and made our way to Arbor Low. This impressive Neolithic site has a large circle of stones surrounded by a ditch and bank and once had a stone chamber at its centre. Around four thousand years old, it remained in use for several hundred years.. After exploring the site we ate lunch in the lee of the bank and then made our way across the fields back to Monyash. A ‘grand day out’ walking through ten thousand years of history, thanks for sharing it with me everyone.
Cheers
Steve W
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