On Saturday, 9^th July, a small band of SPAGettes climbed from Edenfield to the stone quarries on the shoulder of Cowpe Lowe and then onwards to Waugh’s Well. The weather was glorious and we were accompanied in spirit by Marshall Mather who did the same walk in 1886. I read extracts from his ramblings (in both senses of the word) at appropriate points along the route, which enabled us to compare Victorian and modern views of the same locations.

At the top, we met Arthur Baldwin who gave us an authoritative conducted tour of the quarries, which he remembers from a young age and has been involved in their preservation ever since. His insights were fascinating. Then, when we reached the Well, we met, by coincidence, three members of the Edwin Waugh Dialect Society on their annual pilgrimage to the site, who read and sang some of his dialect poems.

Incredibly, one had lived in the farm next to Waugh’s Well (now just a scattering of stones) when he was a lad and was able to recount tales about his life there with no electricity or transport, other than a horse, and about the surrounding landscape.

All in all, this was a remarkable trip back in time and it was a privilege to listen to Arthur and to meet our new friends. What a day!

Andrew Gill