The fallen ring
Fifty slabs of white limestone, all but one flat on the turf, most likely raised upright and toppled long ago.
They call it the Stonehenge of the North, and the first thing you notice is that the stones are lying down. Around fifty slabs of pale limestone trace an egg-shaped ring on a high, exposed plateau, and only one of them is even part-upright. Most archaeologists think they were raised and toppled over the millennia; a stubborn minority has always argued they were never stood up at all. Either way, English Heritage rates this the most important prehistoric site in the whole of the East Midlands. The circle is the heart of it, but the earthwork around it gives the place its gravity: a turf bank roughly two metres high and eighty metres across, nearer ninety at its outer edge, with a ditch on the inside and two facing entrances. In the middle sits a cluster of smaller stones known as the cove, which probably once formed an upright rectangular box. The site seems to have been in use for close to a thousand years, from about 2500 to 1500 BC, and 300 metres away rises Gib Hill, a double burial mound where nineteenth-century diggers turned up human remains, a pottery vessel and flint tools. This is a short day trip from the centre of the Peak District. From Bakewell it is about twelve kilometres west by road, so allow twenty minutes by car; from Buxton allow twenty-five, down the A515 Buxton to Ashbourne road and then east onto Long Rake, the lane running south of Monyash towards Youlgreave. Leave the car in the small parking area on the track to Upper Oldhams Farm, drop a pound per person into the landowner's honesty box, and walk 300 metres across fields through gates and over stiles. It is not workable with a wheelchair or a pushchair, and there is nothing on site at all: the nearest toilets and cafe are at Parsley Hay on the High Peak Trail, two kilometres to the west. Is it worth it? If you are picturing towering monoliths, no. If you like empty places and big skies, you will find something here that roped-off monuments cannot offer: you walk into the ring, put your hand on the stones, and more often than not have the place to yourself. At around 370 metres the wind never really stops, so bring a jacket even in August, and skip it on a wet day, when the fields turn to mud and white stones under a grey sky lose their point. An hour covers everything including Gib Hill; pair it with Monyash or Bakewell the same day.
Fifty slabs of white limestone, all but one flat on the turf, most likely raised upright and toppled long ago.
A two-metre earth bank eighty metres across encloses the circle and gives it the feel of a sealed sanctuary.
A double burial mound 300 metres away, probably older than the circle itself, with a view across the whole plateau.
Long Rake, Monyash, Bakewell DE45 1JS
Not to look at: no standing stones, no ropes, no visitor centre, just a quiet ring of fallen slabs on an open plateau. Children who can walk enjoy running inside the circle and scrambling up the bank, but the 300 m walk over stiles rules out pushchairs, and there are no toilets on site.