I had an extremely nice walk yesterday with @Glitterboots at Stanton Moor Edge in Derbyshire. The plan was to go and visit the “Nine Ladies”; a 4000-year-old stone circle which legend states are nine women who were turned to stone for dancing on the sabbath. A tenth stone was apparently discovered during the drought of 1976, but it has since disappeared under the ground again. There is also a mysterious stone some 40-metres away and no-one is quite sure of its purpose. But it’s clearly part of the site as it seems to overlook the other stones at the end of a clear path.
Anyway, back to the day itself. We got a bit lost to begin with as the map we had wasn’t altogether clear which road we should have taken. So if you have a look at the unedited photos on Flickr, you’ll see that the first few were taken miles away from the moor and the stone circle. After a bit of driving and (in the end) a spot of good luck, we ended up on a path through the moor. At the time I felt it unfortunate that we’d entered the moor from completely the wrong end, but we’d never have got to see some of the stunning Derbyshire scenery if we’d entered closer to the “Ladies” themselves. So if you take a trip yourself, make sure you stroll along the moor rather than going straight for the circle.
It is quite remote and hard to find if you don’t know it’s there, but it is well worth the trip. Just make sure it’s going to be a nice day before you head off as you’re not going to find much shelter. Also, please do what the signs tell you and keep your dog on a lead. There was an incident with an unleashed dog and a small lamb which pelted off into the forest and didn’t return.
I’ve added some photos to a number of locations on the web, so take your pick if you do want to have a look. This is mainly because iLife 09 makes it extremely easily to publish pictures to the web, so I’ve just clicked on all the options and had them delivered everywhere! I think this is going to be what I’ll do for all my photos from now on. But anyway:
- Flickr :: For all of the unedited pictures.
- Flickr :: For the stylised pictures.
- Photo Gallery :: This website’s photo gallery, containing the stylised pics.
- MobileMe :: I pay for some space on the web as part of my subscription, so I might as well use it!
- Facebook :: I’ve started putting some on Facebook just because I can.
Overkill? Maybe. 
I have made it back to Derby for the week, which is a most pleasant feeling. Now I must shower to get Bedford off me!
I’ve not got many plans for the week, other than getting out at some point with the camera and taking a few photos of Derbyshire. So I’m hoping the weather can stay rain-free for at least some of it. Preferably those days I’m planning on going out, though chances are it won’t!
Obviously being back does have one major drawback. At some point I’m going to have to suffer my mother’s cooking. A prospect I think I’m only going to get through by sneaking to the shop for bags of Space Raiders and Transform-A-Snacks, whilst serupticiously scooping what’s on my plate under the table for the cats to nibble!
Seriously though, I do hope to take a good number of pictures and if some of them are pleasing to the eye you’ll eventually find them on Flickr.
