Christmas in England 2006

DAY 14: Thursday 4 January

Carsington Water and Brassington

Thursday was cold with frequent heavy showers, forecast to brighten during the day. We headed east along the B5035 to Carsington Water, and stopped at the picnic area near Carsington village. We then headed west on a minor road to Brassington.

Carsington Water.

Looking across the lake

Brassington

Nine Ladies Circle and the Cork Stone at Stanton in Peak

Near Stanton in Peak is Stanton Moor on the B5056. The moor is a high, heather-covered plateau. When we arrived it was raining heavily, but this eased and eventually stopped. I was then able to walk across the moor to find the Cork Stone and the ancient Nine Ladies Circle. The track through the heather was well worn, but the heavy rain had turned it to mud. Winter is not the ideal time to be walking these high moors !!

Stanton Moor. (Click on each photo for a larger version)	>The Cork Stone	The rear of the Cork Stone with Victorian-aged climbing holes and iron rings.
>View across to Stanton Lees	Stanton Edge	Tracks through Stanton Moor.
After recent rain	A gorse bush!	Nine ladies Circle.
The Nine ladies	A different angle on the Ladies	Looking from the ladies towards the King Stone
Stanton Lees through the trees	One of many ancient cairns	Grove of birch trees
The sun does shine - sometimes.	Heather on the moor	A commentary on the wind....

The view from Birchover Road as it drops down the hill to Stanton in Peak

Haddon Hall with Youlgreave in the background

Disused quarry

Stanton in Peak

Arbor Low

From Stanton in Peak we drove to another Stone Age site, the stone circle at Arbor Low. This is a circle of large stones enclosed within a dyke and bank, so that the stones are not visible from beyond the hill top. Today, the stones have been pushed over, or laid flat but the significance of the place can still be appreciated. We walked through the farm yard and across the field to get to Arbor Low, and as we approached another storm could be seen in the distance. Strong cold winds and imminent rain chased us back to our car.

The signs for Arbor Low (Click on it for a larger version)		Arbor Low is hidden on the hill-top.
More useful information		Looking towards Gib Hill from the track to Arbor Low.
View across the ditch to the stone circle	The stone slabs	Stone slabs. They were originally upright..
Looking north-west across the slabs in the direction of Buxton and the River Wye.	Another storm arrives	Me - wet, cold and muddy at Arbor Low.

Fenny Bentley

A few years ago, when I began the family history research, I was sent a faded, smudged copy of some baptism data. One of the place names read as Penny Bentley, so I enquired on the Derbyshire Newsgroup for information about Froggatt records there. I received a swift response informing me, in faint tones of indignation, that the place I was referring to was most likely to be Fenny Bentley, with an "F". Thus enlightened, a visit to Fenny Bentley was required.

The church of St Edmund is now famous as the home of the Beresford family, recorded by the elaborate carved tomb of Sir Thomas and Agnes Beresford in the church. There is more information about the church here.

The Parish Church of St Edmund, Fenny Bentley	The Church in the late afternoon sun.	The main entrance to the church
Detail of the stone arches	The imposing wooden roof trusses
General view of the church.	Detail of the stained glass window behind the altar.	A side window
The Beresford Tomb information. (Click for larger view)	The carved top of the Beresford Tomb. One story tells that the top was carved many years after the death of the Beresfords, and the carver chose to depict them in burial shrouds as he did know what Thomas and Agnes would have looked like	The 21 children of Thomas and Agnes are recorded on the tomb. This side lists 8 of the Beresford children.
A sketch of the church from 1790, about the date of the Froggatt records.	The church, dated between 1860 and 1861	The church in 1954

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Last updated: 30/06/2017