Leek Police Station

The old Police Station, Leek

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 20mm, 1/160s @ f/7.1)
This impressive building, built in Scottish Baronial style in 1891 by Sugden and Son, used to house the Leek Police Station. It is now used as apartments. The current police station is a pretty ordinary modern building a few streets away.

Detail of the doorway

Leek War Memorial

Nicholson War Memorial, Leek

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 17.0mm, 1/640s @ f/7.1)
At 90 feet high the Nicholson War Memorial is one of the largest in the country. It is faced with Portland stone which has recently been cleaned and restored, although there is already some copper staining visible at the top. The memorial was built in 1925 by Sir Arthur Nicholson to commemorate the death of his son and the other fallen from the First World War and bears the names of over 500 Leek men and women who died in WWI and WWII.

Bosley Locks

Bosley Top Lock on the Macclesfield Canal

(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 17.0mm, 1/1000s @ f/8.0)
The flight of 12 locks on the Macclesfield Canal at Bosley was planned to be as close together as possible by Thomas Telford so that they could be manned by just 2 lock keepers; one at the top lock in the cottage in the photo and the other at the bottom lock (cottage now demolished). The canal was opened in 1831 and the lock design was "state of the art" with double top gates, unusual for a narrow canal. The canal is now used for leisure traffic and connects the Trent and Mersey canal and the Peak Forest Canal. This photo was taken last November.

Ramshaw Rocks

Ramshaw Rocks

(Canon EOS 60D, EF-S 55-250mm IS @ 55mm, 1/800s @ f/6.3)
Ramshaw Rocks form the eastern end of the gritstone escarpment which extends through Hen Cloud and the Roaches. The area is popular with climbers and with ramblers. Five Bennett's Wallabies were released here in the 1940s and they bred and became established. Population numbers have fluctuated reaching around 50 during the 1960s. They have declined over recent years and were thought to have died out but one was reported seen last year. I haven't seen any yet.

Jenkin Chapel, Saltersford

Jenkin Chapel

(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 18mm, 1/320s @ f/8.0)
This unusual church was built in 1733 as a residence for the minister and a place of worship. It was later dedicated to St John the Evangelist. The chapel stands in a lonely spot at the junction of 3 "salters roads"; so called because they were the pack horse routes for transporting salt in the 18th century. The origin of the name is disputed but may be from a local farming family called Jenkin. I believe that services are still held here once a month, despite the chapel being 3 miles from the nearest village (Rainow).

Path on Axe Edge Moor

Moorland path

(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 18mm, HDR)
The Cat and Fiddle pub (yesterday's post) is the focal point of several moorland footpaths and bridleways. This path, heading south, leads over Axe Edge Moor towards Wildboarclough. I like the loop of the contrails and the icy coldness of the scene.

The Cat and Fiddle

The Cat and Fiddle Inn

(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 22mm, 1/1250s @ f/6.3)


At 515 meters this is the second highest pub in England (after Adrian's favourite, the Tan Hill Inn). It is the Cheshire side of the Derbyshire-Cheshire border on Axe Edge Moor. The origin of the name is disputed. Their are a few other inns with the same name in England. One possibility is that it is a corrupted form of the French "Catherine la Fidele", Catherine of Aragorn. A little way down the hill on the Cheshire side is a tearoom which used to be called the "Dish and Spoon". The name has now been changed to the much less inspired "Peak View".

The A537 road by the same name on which the inn stands has the unenviable reputation of being the most dangerous A-road in the country. This is largely due to the number of accidents (including many fatalities) involving motorcyclists testing out their "skills" on this road with its sharp, blind bends and steep gradients. Recently, average speed cameras have been installed and a number of safety improvements carried out. If the motorcycle accidents are excluded, it ranks as one of the safest A-roads in the country!

The stone sign on the front wall of the pub

The Winking Man

The Winking Man

(Canon EOS 60D, EF 55-250mm IS @ 250mm, 1/1000s @ f/6.3)
Time to get my finger out and start posting again! This is the Winking Man rock on the A53 from Leek to Buxton. As one passes it appears to wink as a rock behind blots out the sky behind the eye. Legend has it that if a maiden travelling by carriage sees the wink she will fall pregnant within the year! Not so many maidens travel by carriage nowadays.