We were rained on… again… as we left the church in Bakewell, so we headed for lunch in the little village of Monyash before tackling Arbor Low. It was, we thought, getting a little suspicious… every time we got to a special site, the sun went in and the heavens opened. Arbor Low is higher above sea level than the countryside around you makes you realise, and it is usually windy. However, the sun was shining as we arrived at the stone circle. By now deeply suspicious of the ever changing sky, we donned whatever waterproof clothing we had with us, activated the hand warmers and headed off towards the fields.

We didn’t make it. In fact, we didn’t get through the farmyard before we were obliged to take shelter as the rain lashed the landscape and our guest talked to the solitary horse in the barn. I knew he had an affinity for horses, but it was beautiful to see that in action as the youngster responded to his voice. As soon as we were thoroughly soaked, however, the rain ceased and off we went again.

We were greeted by magnificent skies over the circle, the bowl of the heavens arcing over us and mirroring the ditch behind the earthen bank. We left the stones to our friend who had not been here before while we surveyed the earthworks from the bank and mound. From there you can see the plan of the place with the avenue curving around to Gib Hill and the far henge. You can see, too, the mounds atop the surrounding hills and see how the circle fits into the landscape… something we have been exploring for a while … and which was to reveal itself later in the day.

It wasn’t long before the rains came yet again… just a few minutes. Buffeted and drenched once more we sought the meagre shelter of the ditch. Even for an English Sunday this was getting a little ridiculous. Still, it just goes to show how much we are prepared to put up with when there are things we really want to do, and there was no time to put anything off until tomorrow… tomorrow our visitor would be on a train south and I would be preparing for a drive to Scotland the following day.

It couldn’t rain forever, after all…

The sun came out and a curious lamb came to investigate the weird two-legged things that were dripping in the ditch. We walked across to Gib Hill, pointing out the ancient traces in the landscape and looking back towards the central henge To be fair, we had to look back… the wind and rain made it almost impossible to look in any other direction. The bank seemed to echo the recumbent form of a goddess with its contours. That too led to another train of thought and we wondered once more about the arrangement of the stones. The sun shone a spotlight on the distant hills to the north as we left the site… it seemed appropriate. That was where we were heading next…