The ever-eloquent Susie White, who lives in the Allen Valleys and regularly writes for The Guardian’s Country Diary, today describes the delights of Old Man Bottom. This popular picnic and paddling spot is where the packhorse route The Black Way fords the River Allen, and it’s just down the hill from the local trekking centre. So it made perfect sense for the Dukesfield Smelters and Carriers Project to locate one of their stone packhorse milestones here.

In her writing, Susie celebrates this lovely sculpture, carved by local stonemason David Edwick after studying real ponies, and links to the Dukesfield website: www.dukesfield.org.uk which is a ‘mine’ of interesting information.

Enjoy Susie’s article here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/24/a-walk-upriver-to-the-sound-of-goldcrests