Monuments
As we walk our northern hills we cannot fail to be impressed by the monuments which grace many of our summits. Whether folly or memorial, they are the result of inspiration and great effort on the part of our forebears. Some are widely known and visited: Stoodley Pike for instance, above Mankinholes*, or the Wellington Monument and Crich Stand in Derbyshire.
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| Fig. 1 |
My pleasure though, is to seek out the lesser known ones, quietly awaiting us in less spectacular locations and often with endearing eccentricities all their own.
Just such a one is the modest yet finely executed monument atop Cackstone Nab in a quiet corner of Derbyshire. About twice life size, it depicts a workman, clad in the workman’s garments of a century ago (fig.1). Set on a shallow plinth it bears the touchingly simple legend, ‘Arnold Tweddle, Fettler’. The inarticulate decency of the piece demands our respect. Despite its modest size, it has been well positioned so that fine views of it are to be had from the southern and western approaches (figs 2,3) and it is well worth making a detour in your walk to take it in.
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| Fig. 2 View from the South |
On asking locally I was unable to get information as to its origins and the significance of Tweddle. Sadly he has faded from memory. All the more important then that his monument remains, mutely insisting, ‘He lived. He fettled.’
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| Fig. 3 View from the West |
There is a postscript. Earlier this year I was able to track down the person who is probably Tweddle’s last remaining descendant, Mrs Tracey Crippen of Cleethorpes. I visited her in her neat bungalow in a respectable street just off the seafront. She told me: ‘It were in t’road in t’garden.’
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| Fig. 4 Showing North aspect |
*Note: The small industrial town of Mankinholes was founded by the Victorian industrialist, Jedediah Knowles, always known, because of his imperfect personal hygiene, as ‘Manky’ Knowles.
