> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Romancing The Stones - URL: https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/romancing-the-stones/ - Published: 2018-11-04T08:35:55.000Z - Updated: 2018-11-04T08:35:55.000Z - Description: Venturing Into The Valley That Time Forgot - Author: Andy Marshall - Tags: architecture, nature, Travel, #exposure, #Import 2023-02-28 18:49 ## It had been too long since I’d ventured into [the valley that time forgot](https://stories.andymarshall.co/categories/the-valley-that-time-forgot?ref=digest.andymarshall.co). The vale had moved on from the luminous greens of summer into the ruddy colours of autumn. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/xup55aaav6fo4ffjcbtbp9wlibvptz3xz3pm/original.jpg) So, with camera in hand, I headed out to find a fourth location on my quest to make sense of the valley’s veiled remains. This place was rumoured to be south of [Washwheel](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/the-valley-of-the-iron-rings/), and like [Deeply Vale](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/britains-angkor-wat/), hidden in a wood with wheel pits as perilous as those at[ Lumb](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/the-dolphin/). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/m9juqhe17ts63947ht17bnn3og8j0oemu1cj/original.jpg) I had an old tea-stained map, but it didn’t correspond with the fifty years encroachment of wild wood since, and it wasn’t long before I found myself foundering in a bewilderment of woody limbs, set like lightning spurs against the day. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/5w3h5l31fs9blazgp7pha5b6s1dbcvsq9pcv/original.jpg) But, on this day, it didn’t matter, because - as they tend to in places like this - a coruscation of events drew me to the spot. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/meh1ot7racbrr9ufgxczlflptrfuik690b5t/original.jpg) In these northern hills in the early autumnal light, as the vales awaken and exhale into the hillside, it’s hard to believe that magic doesn’t exist. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/ca7w1sgfnednak9srjaiyh1aqh3nl28y15jv/original.jpg) But it did here, at this time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/e2zmfdz4740u370k8p8uhe7oyfrdqjhbub78/original.jpg) Not, perhaps, the 'rabbits pulled out of hats' type of magic, but the alchemy of light. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/6zoijd3gagpqfe5hx5e9v7a9s9u0e9om9337/original.jpg) At first the rainbow led the way... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/ejmws8yvyqkk76dvylbuyxy977ygnupiiusd/original.jpg) ...and after that, the strip-light sandstone walls on Scotland Lane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/uns82z65phbqemyvibl8umceqqqsce7duvjc/original.jpg) The route down into the deep cut was marked by deer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/ucs6idtx7oni1wd11n4ygjuxgqqgxsuwtspq/original.jpg) Then, into the valley proper - a place where time and light has intermittent access. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/5gq9m2gsoeyfx0wk7hjedjxyf2c742839r4q/original.jpg) The sparrowhawk’s domain. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/vd688xlwqmezy7jad5rmt27yeujuyjxe5fae/original.jpg) So thick and so furred was this tangled realm, I got lost for a second time... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/cux30ghz4cv8xv9blv7l2r55kmeaje7ar2rz/original.jpg) ...until a glint of gold - an arborescent pot - at the end of the rainbow marked the spot where the ruins lay. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/pzm40wuq3k9bo9o0k4qlzg4vt59bhsk045t4/original.jpg) Clogged with leaves, it was too soon to photograph the stones - a month or two was needed to let the mulch recede and the craggy forms take shape. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/skb0ln5rgxpoh2bp84erv33y8l6ocpcbde2i/original.jpg) ## But I’d found the Holy Grail, and its name was Birtle Dene. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/ucj52ntp1a2nwim3m2yk971is0emm35yvzy0/original.jpg) ## The Valley That Time Forgot I've been exploring this remarkable valley [for over a decade](http://cheesden.blogspot.com/?ref=digest.andymarshall.co) and it still holds its magic for me. This photo story is part of an ongoing series of visits to the valley. Check out the other posts below. **Link to: [The Valley of the Iron Rings](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/the-valley-of-the-iron-rings/)** **Link to: [Britain's Angkor Wat](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/britains-angkor-wat/)** **Link to: [The Dolphin](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/the-dolphin/)** ## Prints **Link to: [Prints](https://stories.andymarshall.co/prints?ref=digest.andymarshall.co)** ## Andy Marshall is an architectural and interiors photographer based in the UK. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/zmcsthhy7iiwgflnpdfahl8ddju3w4s6n7e6/original.jpg)