New Stanage Pole to mark Peak District anniversary

Stanage Pole will be replaced on Sunday 17 April in a special ceremony in honour of the Peak District National Park’s 65th anniversary.

A wooden pole has stood on Hallam Moors, close to Stanage Edge, for several hundred years marking the border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire. Some believe it could even mark the ancient frontier between Mercia and Northumbria.

The previous pole had to be removed for safety reasons last year after some of the wood rotted. Now a replacement larch tree trunk sourced from Stanage-North Lees will be hoisted into place, 65 years to the day after the Peak District became Britain’s first National Park.

Property manager Rebekah Newman said: “The site is on an ancient packhorse route known as Long Causeway and must have been a useful landmark to travellers crossing the moors. The pole is still important to people today, both as a focus for walkers and cyclists coming from the Hope Valley and Sheffield, and for its significance as a boundary landmark.’’

Support for the project has come from designer Chris Wells, Sheffield Clarion Ramblers, the Cutlers’ Company, Durham Foundry (Sheffield) and Hope Construction Materials, as well as from public donations.

Stanage is internationally important for climbing and members of the British Mountaineering Council will help hoist the pole into place using ropes and levers at the ceremony.

To support the Stanage Pole appeal, visit www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/donate