Paul Lydon: Stanton Moor

There was still plenty of snow on the ground, although the roads are largely clear, and the sun was shining.
I left Karen transferring some old cassette tapes to her PC and went for a local walk to Stanton Moor.
Leaving the house I walked across Main Street and then through the jitty opposite hoping the very large icicles on the guttering above didn't chose that moment to break off and fall on top of me!
Following the Public Footpath down the large field, I stepped over a stile and then continued through the small wood until I reached a track which leads to the Elton – Winster road and pops out opposite Winster Cemetary.
Turning right, I followed the road for a few tens of metres the right to the narrow road of Birchover Lane.
Following Birchover Lane I reached a small crossroads where Birchover Lane crosses Clough Lane and again turned right. Passing a farm I saw some Shetland Ponies out in the snowy field enjoying the sunshine despite the cold.
At the side of the large barn next to the track were some birds you normally wouldn't expect to see in the Derbyshire countryside: emus!
Continuing down Clough Lane, I passed though a squeeze style into a large field with some cattle and made use of the groove they had worn in the snow to reach another farm and then following the continuation of the Public Footpath through the farmyard then through the farm's empty camp site to reach the lane leading past Birchover Quarry.
There is a stile a short way along the lane which is an access point onto Stanton Moor and I stepped over this to follow the path across the moor which led to the small circle of standing stones known as the Nine Ladies Stone Circle .
Luckily either a groove had been worn through the snow by others, which made the walking through the snow easy, or I just made use of the deep foot steps left by others.
Leaving the Nine Ladies, I followed the route of another path which crosses the moor to arrive at the Cork Stone. This isolated pillar of gritstone was equipped with footholds and metal staples in Victorian times to allow those who want to to climb on top.
Passing the Cork Stone, I followed the path which soon leads onto the same lane which I had been on earlier, leading past Birchover Quarry.
There is a Public Footpath which leads through the Quarry Car Park to bring you at a bend in the road at the Druid Inn pub in the neighbouring village of Birchover.
I followed the track which leads past the pub and the church to the lane leading to Rocking Stone Farm, then up the slope leading to a higher track. Following this track for a short distance passing a house, then through a stile by a gate leading to a Public Footpath which follows a small ridge with views across to Winster.
After several stiles I arrived back at the crossroads with Clough Lane and Birchover Lane. I continued along Clough Lane following the same route I had taken earlier and where I had previously gone through the squeeze stile on the left into the field, I instead passed through a gate to the right which leads across another field until I arrived at a path leading down through the small plantation of Stoop Wood.
The path now dropped down a slope to another stile into a larger field. Hereabouts there is a path laid with narrow gritstone slabs which was the route miners from Birchover used to take to get to work many years ago when the Winster lead mines were still being worked. Today there were no sign of the slabs as they were buried under snow.
At the bottom of this very wide and shallow valley, there is another stile and a path leading past the Winster village pond then back into the Main Street by the Village Shop.
I then just had to follow the Main Street for a hundred yards or so to arrive back home.
The weather was perfect for something I haven't worn for ages: my Buffalo Mountain Shirt. I've had this for years and it is basically a fibre pile smock with a pertex cover which is warm even when damp and is easy to ventilate as it has a zip at the neck and also a zip either side leading from beneath the armpits down to the hem at the bottom. Although it kept me warm all the time, despite only wearing a thin thermal shirt underneath, I never got too hot due to the excellent ventilation provided by the zips.