LUD'S CHURCH AN ANCIENT PLACE

Today my good friend Trousers and I went walking. I picked him up from the station and drove to the Staffordshire/ Cheshire border. We parked the car in Cheshire walked over Danebridge back into Staffordshire


We went through the woods towards Gradbach then turning off towards the Hanging Stone.

Trousers was being braver than me, by climbing the top of the stone. I just get convinced that if I get up it, I won't be able to get down.


We came to Lud's Church, these are just three of the amazing pics I took in there.




Lud's Church is a natural crevice in the gritstone rock found in this part of the world. It is surrounded by very old oak woods.
It has two legends attached to it.
The first relates to Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table in King Arthurs court. According to the medieval poem, called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight this is where Sir Gawain came to keep his bargain with the Green Knight to let the Knight behead him. This if you were lucky enough to see it was featured on a programme on BBC 4 last week, as the poet Simon Armitage has translated the poem from Middle English, and he went on the journey from Tintagel in Cornwall up to Lud's Church telling the story as he went.

The other legend features Little John, who was one of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He is thought to be buried nearby, as Lud's Church was a place used by the Knights Templar for sanctuary on their return from the Crusades. At that time the forest stretched from Sherwood in Nottinghamshire all the way across to the Cheshire plain. And there are severallocal stories that bring Robin Hood to this part of England.

Whatever the truth of these legends it doesn't matter as the place has an eerieness all of it's own. The temperature drops by several degrees when you enter it. And once in, apart from any bird song above you, there is no other sound at all. It has a quality of peace and tranquility not found too often nowadays.

It is a very special place to me,and I love going there. Today's round walk was 8 miles, and I'm more than happy to do it again and again.

Leaving this ancient and sacred place we continued our walk on top of the moors you can see the Roaches in the distance, in the bottom photograph and back past the Hanging Stone and to the pub in Wincle, Cheshire, for a very well deserved drink.