grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
Views from Mow Cop, (Staffs. UK)
- Thread starter grahamg
- Start date
grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
A view of Mow Cop
Hard-ribbed hill of millstone grit swept up from the plain,
Where, step by pace, I replace all that town days claim.
A thousand feet above the unseen sea, she, and I,
The nearest man in seven shires to the cloud-crowded sky.
The horizon, round as a wheel from here, with Mow Cop hill the hub
That spins the sun-spoked farm fields where the sky's edges rub;
A peaceful high, breached only by the InterCity train
Which hourly hauls from Manchester a sigh of distant rain.
The wind's song is Mow's song now but her pubs and parlours know,
Once, her heavens rang to the quarry hammer's blow
And sulphurous smoke choked her valleys and her people, choking, died
As counts in counting houses counted profits multiplied.
But where does it tell of this - of those whose own ribs ached to breathe?
Where is the grateful monument, the unforgetting wreath
To all who came from dust to work the dust, to be paid in dust
To be laid to dust in service of a rich man's lust?
To the breakers of this rock, who this rock in turn near broke,
Stands a foolish mock castle - a vain and tasteless joke
From a purse fat with privilege, a hat for old Bald Head,
An insult wrought from Mow stone, hollow as the bones of her dead.
Hard-ribbed hill of millstone grit swept up from the plain,
Where, step by pace, I replace all that town days claim.
A thousand feet above the unseen sea, she, and I,
The nearest man in seven shires to the cloud-crowded sky.
The horizon, round as a wheel from here, with Mow Cop hill the hub
That spins the sun-spoked farm fields where the sky's edges rub;
A peaceful high, breached only by the InterCity train
Which hourly hauls from Manchester a sigh of distant rain.
The wind's song is Mow's song now but her pubs and parlours know,
Once, her heavens rang to the quarry hammer's blow
And sulphurous smoke choked her valleys and her people, choking, died
As counts in counting houses counted profits multiplied.
But where does it tell of this - of those whose own ribs ached to breathe?
Where is the grateful monument, the unforgetting wreath
To all who came from dust to work the dust, to be paid in dust
To be laid to dust in service of a rich man's lust?
To the breakers of this rock, who this rock in turn near broke,
Stands a foolish mock castle - a vain and tasteless joke
From a purse fat with privilege, a hat for old Bald Head,
An insult wrought from Mow stone, hollow as the bones of her dead.
Marie5656
SF VIP
- Location
- Batavia, NY
Nice pic. But my old peepers read MOO COW. Sorry 
grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
Its a strange name for a picturesque spot I agree!Nice pic. But my old peepers read MOO COW. Sorry
grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
More info on Mow Cop:
https://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Staffordshire/Mow_Cop
Quote:
"Mow Cop is perhaps best known for the sham castle built there by Randle Wilbraham in 1750. There are conflicting opinions on this attractive ruin, some say it was already built in its ruinous style, others that it was formerly a summerhouse for the Wilbraham family. Whatever the truth, it is a hard climb to get too see the building, but once there it is worth for the spectacular views and the feeling of being almost on top of the world.
Historically it is believed Mow Cop was an important in the reign of Elizabeth I, it could quite easily have been used as a beacon to warn of the Spanish invasion."
https://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Staffordshire/Mow_Cop
Quote:
"Mow Cop is perhaps best known for the sham castle built there by Randle Wilbraham in 1750. There are conflicting opinions on this attractive ruin, some say it was already built in its ruinous style, others that it was formerly a summerhouse for the Wilbraham family. Whatever the truth, it is a hard climb to get too see the building, but once there it is worth for the spectacular views and the feeling of being almost on top of the world.
Historically it is believed Mow Cop was an important in the reign of Elizabeth I, it could quite easily have been used as a beacon to warn of the Spanish invasion."
Etymology
'Hill with, or like, a heap or stack', from mūga 'a stack, a heap, a mound' and hyll , with copp 'a hill top', and, again, hyll . The Mow may have been an outcrop or a cairn, cf. Old Man of Mow infra . The hill gives name to a hamlet in Odd Rode, and to Mow Lane infra , but extends along the St border into Moreton cum Alcumlow and Newbold Astbury townships. It appears to have had a beacon on it in 1329, v. Orm2 iii47, AddCh 37046, Sheaf3 29 (6482), cf. Balgreuemor infra . The form rocha de Mowa in DEPN from BM is an error.
grahamg
Old codger
- Location
- South of Manchester, UK
