Following a couple of visits to Youlgrave back in the summer of 2022, I have at last completed a plate of Robin Hood’s Stride, viewed from the stone circle known as the Grey Ladies, or Nine Stones Close. It is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages over a period between 3300 and 900 BC. The purpose of the monument is unknown.
The circle originally measured 13.7 metres in diameter. In the mid-19th century it had seven stones in its ring, although by the early 21st century that number had declined to four. There are two carved cup marks, a form of rock art evident on one of the remaining stones. There may have previously been at earthen tumulus inside the ring, suggested by a slight elevation observed in the mid-19th century.
The finished print is based on a drawing I made last May, and extends my Derbyshire series.
Also in progress is a larger A3 plate of Magpie Mine, where I have used ‘spit bite’ for the first time. This is the line etch, and I plan to publish the final print with aquatint shortly.
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