When Stanage Pole was chopped down

In an article on page 2 of the July 29, 1879 edition of the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent newspaper entitled “Stanedge Pole” it relates: “Our readers will learn with indignation and disgust that this fine old relic of bygone times has been wantonly cut down by some mischievous person.

“It appears to have been severed with an axe about five feet from the ground, and the upper part was found lying on the moor.

We believe steps will be taken to detect and punish the guilty parties”.

This begs the questions as to whether or not the person(s) responsible were ever caught and convicted and, if so, who they were, the motivation behind the deed and the punishment(s) received for it.

In addition to which, it would be interesting to acquire an explanation as to how come the (presumably wooden) pole was cut at such a height above immediate ground level with an axe; and how come it could have been so unless the “chopper” concerned was either a very tall person or somehow working at height.

Meanwhile, it would also be interesting to know when the Pole was replaced, by whom and at what expense to them, and whether or not this replacement Pole is the one replaced in 1915 – besides where the remnants of the 1879 victim went.

Then again, who actually owned Stanage Pole in 1879 come to think of it.

So perhaps JRH and/or some other reader(s) could shed some more light upon this tale of seeming vandalism perpetrated in 1879.

Michael Parker

Robertshaw Crescent, Deepcar, Sheffield S36