The Story of Alderley : Living with the Edge

In 1953 the schoolboy Alan Garner rediscovered a wooden shovel originally found in the Alderley copper mines in 1875. In 1991 he presented it to the Manchester Museum in the University of Manchester: this – and the discovery of a hoard of over 500 Roman coins – inspired the creation of the Alderley Edge Landscape Project, a multi-disciplinary research programme of the Museum and the National Trust, who own of most of the Edge, that aimed to study the entire history of Alderley, from geology to entomology, mining to oral history. No other village has enjoyed such a comprehensive study of its story: the list of chapter-headings reads like a roll-call of everything you ever wanted to know about this or any place. The book concludes with Alan Garner’s retelling of the famous legend of the sleeping king, setting a familiar tale told him by his grandfather in a whole other world of prehistoric ritual and sacrifice. Cover The story of Alderley Contents List of plates List of figures List of tables List of contributors Foreword: Lord Stanley of Alderley Preface: Tristram Besterman Preamble and acknowledgements: A. J. N. W. Prag Note on units List of abbreviations Part I. Introductory 1 The background to the Alderley Edge Landscape Project: A. J. N. W. Prag 2 Approach to the Edge: a personal view: Alan Garner Part II. The bedrock of the Edge – geology and geography 3 The geological story of Alderley Edge: David B.Thompson and Simon Timberlake 4 Rocks, minerals and landforms: an overview: Simon Timberlake 5 The solid geology of Alderley Edge: David B. Thompson, Geoffrey Warrington, John E. Pollard and John R. Nudds 6 The minerals of the Edge: David I. Green, Richard S.W. Braithwaite, David B. Thompson and Geoffrey Warrington 7 Geomorphology: the evolution of the landscape: Richard H. Johnson and David B.Thompson Part III. Natural history – the flora and fauna 8 The natural history of Alderley: an introduction: A. J. N.W. Prag with Sean R. Edwards, Simon Timberlake and Laurence Cook 9 The vegetation of the Edge: Sean R. Edwards, Simon Timberlake and Jonathan Guest 10 The trees of Alderley Edge: Simon Timberlake and Sean R. Edwards 11 The birds of Alderley Edge: Jonathan Guest, M.V. Hounsome and Edward Stanley with John Adams, Alan Straw and Henry McGhie 12 Alderley Edge pondlife: Jonathan Guest and Jill Smethurst 13 The insects and other invertebrates of Alderley Edge: Dmitri V. Logunov and Roger L. H. Dennis Part IV. Human history – archaeology and underground 14 The archaeology of Alderley Edge: A. J. N. W. Prag and Simon Timberlake 15 Early mining: the evidence before 1598: Simon Timberlake 16 Mining in the Alderley district: the documented period: Geoffrey Warrington 17 Working the mines at Alderley Edge: a contemporary perspective: Nigel Dibben 18 The quarries of Alderley Edge: Nigel Dibben (based on original text by Simon Timberlake, Tom Burke and Clare Pye) Part V. Human history – overground: the social history 19 The history of Alderley Edge: Clare Pye 20 The Archive: Jean Wearne 21 Living memory: the people of the Edge: John L. Ecclestone 22 The graffiti on stone and wood: Carolanne King, Clare Pye, Nigel Dibben, Simon Timberlake and Alan Garner 23 Alderley Edge: the villas and the village: Matthew Hyde 24 The Stanley estate: Matthew Hyde 25 Nether Alderley Mill: a historical and architectural study: Mike Redfern 26 Crossing the Edge: Clare Pye with Simon Timberlake and Carolanne King 27 Round the ragged Edge: recumbent rocks and standing stones: Jeremy Milln and John Adams 28 Alderley: the names of street, house and field: J. S. Adams Part VI. Looking back, looking forward 29 Close to the Edge – ensuring the future of the Edge for everyone: Christopher Widger 30 By Seven Firs and Goldenstone: an account of the Legend of Alderley: Alan Garner 31 Envoi: A. J. N. W. Prag Appendices 5.1 Reptilian tracks from the Hayman’s Farm Borehole: John E. Pollard 6.1 Primary mineralisation at Alderley Edge: David I. Green 9.1 Inventory of vegetation recorded on the Edge: Sean R. Edwards 9.2 An account of the Rubus species of Alderley Edge: David P. Earl 11.1 Alderley breeding birds, 1978–84 and 2004–06: Jonathan Guest 13.1 A checklist of the invertebrates of Alderley Edge: Dmitri V. Logunov 13.2 The butterflies of Alderley Edge: Roger L. H. Dennis 19.1 Leicesters or Leycesters?: Clare Pye 19.2 A brief history of the Alderley Beacon: Jeremy Milln 19.3 The Hagg Cottages: the historical background to the 2003 Alderley Sandhills Project excavation: Clare Pye 21.1 John Evans: the death of a hermit: Robin Salmon 21.2 The voice of Philip Jarvis: John Adams with A. J. N.W. Prag 29.1 The National Trust Sites and Monuments Record (NTSMR): Christopher Widger General glossary: A. J. N.W. Prag (ed.) Geology glossary: Simon Timberlake, with Nigel Dibben, David I. Green and Geoffrey Warrington Glossary of mining and quarrying terms: Simon Timberlake with Nigel Dibben, David I. Green and Geoffrey Warrington References Index: Compiled by Simon Timberlake Alderley Edge is a sandstone ridge rising 180 metres above the Cheshire plain, a dozen miles south of Manchester. The Edge itself, now owned by the National Trust, has become a honeypot for Mancunians, and the village below, formed by the railway as a commuter dormitory for Manchester cotton-kings, is now nicknamed the champagne capital of England. Beneath lie copper and lead mines and, according to legend, a sleeping king and his knights ready to save England in the last battle of the world. In 1953 the schoolboy Alan Garner rediscovered an old wooden shovel found in the mines; nearly forty years later - and by now a world-famous author - he presented the shovel to the Manchester Museum in the University of Manchester, thereby inspiring a research project that called on every discipline in the museum's armoury and many more besides. The Alderley Edge Landscape Project, a joint venture by the Museum and the National Trust, set out to study every aspect of Alderley's story. Its first report, in 2005, was The Archaeology of Alderley Edge. This second volume covers everything else, from the natural world to the story of the mines, from social and oral history to conservation. The list of chapter-headings reads like an encyclopedia, for thanks to its position in the university the project could call on specialists of the highest calibre, and many of the approaches and techniques used were ground-breaking at the time. Alderley's story includes the discovery of two new species of bramble, and a retelling of the legend by Alan Garner that takes the story back into prehistory - and his shovel was radiocarbon-dated to the Bronze Age.No other project and so no other book has covered the entire, complex story of a single village and the landscape in which it is set in such detail. It will be read not just by landscape historians but by students and scholars in all those disciplines and at all levels, and by anyone interested in any aspect of history and of the countryside, whether out on the Edge or in the comfort of an armchair. The Alderley Edge Landscape Project, a joint venture by the [Manchester] Museum and the National Trust, set out to study every aspect of Alderley's story. Its first report in 2005 was The Archaeology of Alderley Edge. This second volume...covers everything else, from the natural world to the story of the mines, from social history to conservation.--P. [4] of cover. Introductory -- The bedrock of the Edge - geology and geography -- Natural history - the flora and fauna -- Human history - archaeology and underground -- Human history - overground : the social history -- Looking back, looking forward. edited by A.J.N.W. Prag ; with contributions by John Adams [and 33 others] Includes bibliographical references (pages 934-951) and index. Alderley Edge is a sandstone ridge rising 180 metres above the Cheshire plain. Beneath lie copper and lead mines and, according to legend, a sleeping king and his knights ready to save England in the last battle of the world. This book covers everything from the natural world to the story of the mines, from social and oral history to conservation.