Peak District landmark is ready for a comeback

Stanage Pole has been missing from Hallam Moors, close to Stanage Edge, since last year when it was removed after the timber structure rotted.

The pole, which acts as a focal point on top of a hill for walkers, marks the border of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and dates back hundreds of years, with map references existing from the 1700s.

Peak District chiefs hope to replace the pole with a larch tree trunk from the North Lees estate, and the aim is to install it on April 17 - the 65th anniversary of the national park’s establishment.

Several organisations have helped with the project, including Sheffield Clarion Ramblers, the Cutlers’ Company, Durham Foundry and Hope Construction Materials.

Antique restorer and designer Chris Wells has lent his expertise and the British Mountaineering Council has offered to help hoist the new pole - which will be almost seven metres high - into place.

A new design has been drawn up which would make it easier for the pole - last replaced in 1915 - to be swapped in future.

A steel tube will be set into concrete in the same location, between a cluster of boulders, as the original marker, and an iron cage would surround the pole to deter vandals.

A report to a meeting of the Peak District’s planning committee tomorrow (Friday), when the proposal is recommended for approval, says: “The development takes the opportunity for enhancement and will restore a landmark feature in the National Park’s landscape.”