Alderley Edge Pictures

The Devil's Grave

I should never have taken that picture of the Witches house - 'yon carrion crow' followed me around all day!

Stormy Point

View from Stormy Point

Another view of Stormy Point

The Iron Gates?

Saddlebole

The Druid Stones

A Stone Circle

The Beacon - "none but a fool would bring fire to the mound..."

View from the beacon.

The Wizard's Well

View from Castle Rock (1)

View from Castle Rock (2)

View from Castle Rock (3)

Quaint Gatehouse

Secret Entrance to...

Selina Place has abandoned discretion.

'It was strange to see an inn there...'

'A village inn without a village'

Church quarry

Thieves Hole

The Beacon

Stormy Point

Alderley Edge

View fron Castle Rock

Arrived in Alderley Edge on Sunday afternoon and couldn't resist going straight up to the Edge.  I should have known better:  not even the stunning view above could make up for what Alan Garner described  in 'the Weirdstone of Brisingamen': 

It was not often they visited the Edge.  Sometimes at the weekend they could go there, but then the woods were peopled with townsfolk who, shouting and crashing through the undergrowth, and littering the ground with food wrappings and empty bottles, completely destroyed the atmosphere of the place…Nothing remained.  This place where beauty and terror had been as opposite sides of the same coin, was now a playground of noise.  Its spirit was dead – or hidden.  There was nothing to show that svart or wizard had ever existed.

So crowded, and therefore much of the appeal of the Edge was lost.
At some stage I'll put up the other pictures if  I can ever work out how"helpful" picture sharing software works!

#I'm Off to See The wizard...#

Well, I'm going to Alderley Edge in the morning, and it's a pretty safe bet I'll spot something wizardy, as most of the town seems to be wizard-branded: the Wizard Inn, Wizards Thatch Luxury Suites, 
the Merlin, or the Wizard Tea Room to mention just a few.
All derived, of course, from  the Legend of Alderley, retold here.  Though what made the story famous to a much wider audience was its use as the inspiration for Alan Garner's classic first novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.  For those who don't know the novel,  a brief summary here:  for those who do there's a lovely, brief interview with Garner talking about his writing and the Edge here.
I first read 'the Weirdstone' and its sequel, 'the Moon of Gomrath' in the mid-sixties when I was eight to ten years old.  The ideal age for those books which are a step up from the Narnia fantasies I had adored but had found the slightly patronising tone beginning to grate.  What I particularly loved about Garner's books was that his magic did not take place in a different world:  his wizards and dwarfs and elves were lurking in shadows just around the corner from where they could step, without warning, into the real world which was also vividly evoked.
And so, forty five years later, I find myself drawn to visit a place I first visited in books.  What could, if it weren't such an insufferably poncey phrase, suitable only to be spoken in a Brian Sewell drawl, as a "literary pilgrimage".  But why not?  As I child I so desperately wanted to see the places Garner described  and now I can.
Strictly above ground this time, though I would love to go to go on one of the organised trips to the mines, some pictures of which can be seen here.

Instead, if the weather holds, I intend to follow this walk  which covers most of the landmarks from Garner's books.  And, sadly, I know I'm too old to run into any wizards.  Indeed, even the big, rambling old barn of a house is more likely today to be occupied by Carlos Tevez than Selina Place.  But the edge itself, with history back to the Bronze age and the sheer physical beauty should be magical enough...