Family Joester had a good slog round the White Peak today in the sunshine (get it whilst you can!). The walk had a couple of suprises in store, which is mainly why I wanted to share with you.
We parked at Friden Brickworks, near Newhaven.
A short trot down the road leads you to the head of Long Dale, which is a bit sloppy underfoot (and not much fun, to be honest) before you leave the cattle behind and enter Long Dale proper:
It was so peaceful in there (apart from my kids!).
We went right down Long Dale and into the more verdant Gratton Dale, eventually popping-out at Dale End.
Back into lush pasture at Gratton Grange Farm, after a while we encountered this:
I found it is the last lines of 'In Praise of Limestone' by WH Auden. It reads:
"but when I try to imagine a faultless love
Or the life to come, what I hear is the murmur
Of underground streams, what I see is a limestone landscape."
Here is the setting for this strange installation:
There was more strangeness to come.
We walked on past Mount Pleasant Farm and Kenslow Farm, before getting on the road again to get onto 'Green Lane'.
On Green Lane, not far before getting onto the High Peak Trail, we found this:
I have discovered that 'Aquae Arnemetiae' is the what the Romans first called Buxton, and there's an obvious reference to the Derwent there too.
I have also found that both the Roman inscription and the Auden cobbles are part of some Millenium project called 'Sites of Meaning' - there are quite a few more round and about, apparently (I'll have to seek the others out).
Unfortunately, any references I could find to the Roman inscription did not translate it, and it is damn hard to translate latin without knowing the grammar.
It begins 'this road...' and then somthing about management or curation.
The next line seems to be about a 'road not sustained' (looked after?).
If there any scholars amongst you that could help me out? (or just people that are better at searching the Internet than I am!)
A fine afternoon out with some unexpected suprises.
I love it when the countryside yeilds these little secrets.