Alderley
Edge - The Edge
After a number of inconclusive
forays I think I now have sufficient decent shots to put together
a page on this most popular of countryside venues south of Manchester.
The wooded sandstone escarpment
- The Edge proper - sits above the well-heeled settlement of Alderley
Edge.
Now owned and managed by
the National Trust
...
... it was acquired for
its extensive views across NE Cheshire to the Pennines and for
its historical significance. The copper
mines, some of which burrow deep in the sandstone, were worked
for millennia before the Romans arrived and took them over and
are now a geological SSSI protected by the Derbyshire Caving Club.
The Engine Vein fault, now
capped to prevent unauthorised access to the extensive workings
below and for safety, is the set of workings believed to be the
oldest because of the remains of stone axes found there.
Off to one side is the substantial
locked entrance to the vein, and from thence to miles of 19th
century tunnels, which is labelled "Barclays Bank Night Safe"
which may be a warning to would-be intruders as well as a pretty
well hidden piece of advertising.
The NT Information Centre
and Tea Room near the car park and The Wizard restaurant beyond
...
... and over the road opposite
the restaurant this small building, not dissimilar to the tiny
house perched on the bridge in Ambleside. As well as being a place
of history, The Edge is a place of mystery.
King Arthur and his knights reputedly sleep underground awaiting
the call to arms. Local author Alan
Garner has written best-selling books based on the mythology.
His first, "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen", incorporates
the story of the wizard and the knights.
As well as mining there
has been quarrying of the sandstone for local building with sharp
edged evidence still around.
Probably totally cleared
of primeval forest 3000 years ago The Edge was replanted during
the 18th century with native species. Time and benign neglect
has been replaced in the last 50 years by sympathetic management
by the NT. Open rides are interspersed with renewal areas and
more tangled undergrowth, but for all its mysterious and industrial
past the woodland is on the civilised side of wild nature.
Mature beech, oak and pine
with concentrated and rhythmical plantings can, on occasion, have
an architectural feel ...
... or even a monumental
one.
Continued
in Part II
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