Middle Moor

It is described as such on both the latest OS map and the very first OS map, surveyed back in the 1880s. Whilst certainly rather ramshackle, the bigger main building on the left is nevertheless ageing very well if it is coming up to 150 - I dare say some alterations must have been made in the intervening years. However, the mysterious square building on the right (there are no windows, just a padlocked door) definitely looks pretty new; intriguingly though, there was a building of the exact same size, on the exact same spot, on that very first map. What function it serves is unclear. It is far too big to be a toilet, and I would be surprised if that much space was/is needed to chop up the shot birds and animals. Despite there being countless online articles mentioning the shooting cabin, and it being a prominent landmark, there is nothing at all concerning its history, ownership, or current use.

There has been a lot of talk about reservoirs falling to worryingly low water levels this summer - whilst it does look quite low here initially, comparisons with other pictures on this site show that the water is probably only slightly below its average height. The reservoir was completed in 1911 and officially opened in 1912. A very informative information board, put in place to mark the reservoir's centenary just West of the camera location, states that it was built in order to meet the increasing water demands of Stockport, an expanding mill town to the West. Although the old filter-house directly below the reservoir has now been superseded by newer technology, substantial amounts of water are still piped to the new treatment facilities, providing some of Stockport's drinking water as well as most of a number of nearby villages' supplies, including Hayfield, a short distance downstream. As is traditional when trying to get people to visualise vast volumes of water, Olympic-sized swimming pools are wheeled out (Kinder Reservoir could fill 916 according to the information board). An Olympic pool measures exactly 50 metres by 25 metres, and they are generally three metres deep (deeper are preferred, in order to reduce turbulence which in turn reduces the speed of the Olympians, though two metres may be grudgingly accepted by the authorities if budgets are stretched). Considering that England has only seven such pools, the Republic of Ireland three, Scotland two, and Wales and Northern Ireland one apiece, it always seems a bit odd that this is the go-to comparison. While I realise that there are a lot of narrower 50 metre pools around too, it is still surely the case that most people never see one on a regular basis, if at all. Why not just use the standard 25 metres long pool, that most people will have got their swimming badges in, to give a more familiar yardstick? This would also increase the number about sixfold, making it sound far more impressive.

For reasons entirely down to nosiness, if time permits I usually read the plaques on memorial benches, if that is the correct term for them. Usually they are just slightly jollier epitaphs than would appear on gravestones - which is fine - but occasionally you come across something a bit out of the ordinary, such as this (but for all I know, this appears on his grave too). The words on the plaque are: In remembrance of John Rowland A working class intellectual Listen for the song of his soul Why the working class bit gets mentioned raises questions. Was it because his intellect went unrecognised or unrewarded, due to his status, because he had to go against the grain in order to pursue whatever intellectuals do, or just that he overcome barriers to fulfil his potential I wonder? I also wonder when these kind of benches first became a thing. I then wonder, if a bench is particularly well-made, and therefore lasts a long time, whether the plaque will ever get replaced by another one, dedicated to somebody more recently deceased, at some point. In much the same way that censues are only released to the public a century after they were taken - due to the fact that the people who may have been keeping secrets which would be betrayed by the census information will all be dead by this point - I have always thought that gravestones should be removed 100 years after death. This is because by this point there will be nobody alive with an actual memory of the deceased, and therefore the grave no longer serves it purpose, as a place to mourn and remember the dead. This would then free up space, although it would make visiting cemeteries far less interesting I suppose. It is notable that our working class intellectual's plaque has no date of death mentioned, proving he might well have been very clever indeed. Staying one step ahead and seeing into the future maybe - therefore bypassing the upcoming 100 year rule, sitting pretty for centuries to come.

According to three other contributors to this square, this small copse is known locally as 'Twenty Trees', though one of them notes that there are actually only 19 trees here. Snake Path starts in the village of Hayfield, just South of here, and eventually finishes a few miles to the NorthEast, at a section of the A57 (a road built in the 1820s linking Sheffield and Manchester) that crosses through the Peak District, known as Snake Pass. The path is named after the road, which got its name neither from its winding nature, nor the presence of snakes, but because a snake was included in a coat of arms that appeared on the sign of a pub along the high road. There are a couple of significant hollows immediately in front of the trees. Although old maps offer no clues, there were a number of small quarries once operating in the area so this seems the likeliest cause.

Lantern Pike seen from Monks' Road.

River through Hayfield

Walking the Snake Path from Hayfield to the Snake Pass

It's a bit of slog reaching here, especially when approaching from the south with the heather in full bloom. It's clearly worth the effort however.

This is the 3rd of five restored iron gates dating back to the inception of the Snake path.

Situated on Kinder Road in Hayfield.

Our bed for the night before we started the 84 mile Inns Way to the Peak District, how many Geographs? will tell when we get back, 6 days walking beats using my bus pass

This row of well kept houses are on Kinder Road on the way to the Snake Path part of our 17.5 miles to Hathersage

Founded in 1859 they purchased the ground in 1976 thanks in part to a fund raising game between Hayfield and a "Dads Army" team including Arthur Lowe, "Captain Mainwaring"who was born in Hayfield 22nd September 1915

An historic route between Hayfield and the Snake Pass Inn via William Clough and Ashop Clough