Wooden pole in a field

[xltim 10]

can anyone shed light on the strange pole stuck in the middle of a field in derbyshire.

it has a tourist sign on it saying "wooden pole".

is this some kind joke.

i went into the field (with a workmate, just in case) but it is what it says it is, a wooden pole.

it looks like it has been there a long time as it is a bit battered.

does it need doing up a bit, can it be replaced with a new wooden pole or is it special.

please let me know

[onedizzybird 10]

hmmm... where abouts in derbyshire??? perhaps it's the local farmer having a bit of fun, bit like superglueing a pound coin to the floor maybe...

[Draggletail 52]

It's great isn't it:) We have wondered about it for years.

Google search reveals nothing......

 

On National Trust property I seem to remember.

[xltim 10]

yes the sign is a national trust sign

it is just past the fox house on the way to calver

[algy 11]

Is it the one on the Longshaw Estate near the triangular junction where the road turns down to Froggatt and Calver? If it is, it's a packhorse route marker from the 1700's, marking the route up from Hathersage. The track in a hollow way just below it is the old road. It's not the original, but it's been there many years, and the place is now known as Wooden Pole.

[leddi 10]

Is that stanage pole? uuugghghh we walked all the way from a pole to castleton for my duke of edinburgh award.. i only did bronze lol.

[xltim 10]

yes thats sounds like the one.

thankyou for letting me know.

is it the only one or are they quite common.

just that i have never seen them before

[graceomally 10]

Should we all trek out to visit it? It sounds like a good excuse to hike across bogs and heather. Where's a good spot to start walking from?

[CJB444 10]

It won't be Stanage Pole as that is bizzarely enough on the stanage moor (can be walked too from Stanage Edge of from Redmires Reservoir in Lodge Moor). The pole in question is most probably that on the road to Calver (off from the Fox House) at the road junction that also leads back to Totley.

 

Both Stanage and "wooden pole" are historical waymarkers for old packhorse routes. If you go to Stanage Pole carvings in the rocks at the base date back until the mid C17th I believe one of the oldest dates is around 1636!

 

Must have been a little different around here back then!

[dishwasher 10]

Algy

 

You've got the one I think he means, near to Fox House.

 

My grandad always used to tell me (when I was a child) that there was a penny placed on top of the pole and that it was mine if I climbed up to collect it.

 

When my kids were younger I told them there was a £1 coin on top!

 

I always thought it was a boundary pole, marking the spot where Yorkshire becomes Derbyshire (or vice versa).

[alchresearch 212]

Originally posted by CJB444

It won't be Stanage Pole as that is bizzarely enough on the stanage moor (can be walked too from Stanage Edge of from Redmires Reservoir in Lodge Moor).

 

Also bizarre is that it's called Stanedge Pole, but Stanage Edge! Obviously a variation of the same name.

[algy 11]

Originally posted by xltim

yes thats sounds like the one.

thankyou for letting me know.

is it the only one or are they quite common.

just that i have never seen them before

I'm not sure about other poles, but there are plenty of waymarkers from the period around. If you're interested there's a book called "The guide stoops of the Dark Peak" by Howard Smith that lists them and gives their exact locations, and another "Guide stoops of Derbyshire" by the same author. The moors between the road to Froggatt and the Baslow road from Owler Bar are criss-crossed by old packhorse routes, and there are quite a few stoops around. There's a good book by David Hey called "Packmen, Carriers and Packhorse Roads" about this area that's worth reading too.