The Pleasure of Paths (5)

'The White Canons Path'

In this case the pleasure is less with what's under foot more with the associations and the surroundings. Being the main route through the Blacka site this bridleway gets plenty of use and at times is wide and stony. This is what I call the White Canons' Path because it was the route used by the monks between their farmland at Strawberry Lea and their community home at Beauchief Abbey about three and a half miles away. It would be interesting to know how much, if any, of the route looked like this during the 300 years that the abbey was established from the end of the twelfth century until the dissolution. This could have been the major route in the area but it's hard to believe traffic would have been a problem. Today you can still find peace here amid the greenery, the blossom and the birdsong.

The tower of Beauchief Abbey today