Britain's Ancient Tracks - Port Way

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening depending on when you are reading this. I am continuing with the Ancient Tracks series.  So far it has proven to be an enjoyable series for me to watch.  I hope this series is enjoyable for you too.  Today’s episode is in the Peak District and Tony looks at the legends of Ancient Britain.  The run time for this episode is 46:27.

Tony Robinson begins his journey through the Peak District at the Hemlock Stone.  Some say it was an object of worship that was carved by druids.  Some say that it was an ancient priest who was killed by the devil.  Local boy D.H. Lawrence was not really impressed with the stone.  Tony was impressed with the stone and continued on his walk.  He will be walking through the Peak District National Park and taking in inspiring scenery. 

The Ancient Track is called the Port Way, however, there is no port nearby.  So how did it get its name?  Tony talks about the possibilities however you do not get a concrete answer. It is left up to you the viewer to decide how the Port Way got its name.  Tony arrives at St. Mary’s Church before touring Britain’s oldest lead mine.  Tony goes into the church and takes in the carvings that are found inside.  He points out his favorite carving and talks with Rosa Straw about this carving.  The carving is of a lead miner which shows the connection between the church and the lead mines.

The landscape here is carved by its mining history.  There are hundreds of vertical shafts of mines.  These mines were for lead.  Tony arrives at his own piece of rock face.  It has evidence of picks that were attacking this rock face for lead.  He talks about how the landscape in Derbyshire changed and shows off a shark tooth fossil.  This was the land that provided inspiration for Daniel Dafoe, a writer.  He was the man behind Robinson Crusoe.  However, there were other pieces of literature that he wrote.  Tony meets with Stephen Greggs and talks about Dafoe and his travel writings.  He wrote about Derbyshire and he worked to debunk the myths of Britain.

Dafoe wrote about the Harboro Rocks and was looking for a fabled Giant’s Tomb.  What he discovered here changed things for him.  It was here he encountered a woman and her family who lived in these caves.  The simplicity of her life surprised Dafoe.  After this discussion on Dafoe, Tony moves on and continues to make his way through Derbyshire.  He arrives at Mountain Cottage, the home of D.H. Lawrence.  He meets with Stephen Bailey to talk about D.L. Lawrence and his life at the cottage.  D.H. Lawrence and his wife Freida had been expelled from Cornwall.  Lawrence and his wife were accused of being German spies during World War I.  Eventually, the two managed to leave England and live their lives abroad.

After this exploration of D.H. Lawrence, Tony meets up with a local folk singer.  She talks about the songs that evolved and were created because of this landscape.  After this, Tony then transitions into a discussion on the early Industrial Revolution.  He explores the abandoned rules of the original mills that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution.

Tony moves on and talks about how the church helped provide shelter, guide travelers, and comfort the weary traveler.  Hermits were employed for this purpose and Tony tours a cave that would have been his home.  Tony reads off a ledger of how much the hermits were paid to help with travelers.  Eventually, Tony arrives in a town and takes in a century-old old tradition: Morris Dancing.  Nobody knows how it developed but it still carries on into the present century.  Where else do Tony’s travels take him?  How many tunnels does Tony go through?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

Tony Robinson still continues to be an excellent narrator.  I cannot believe how much walking he has done.  I am going to have to try to find another series with Tony.  I am disappointed that this episode was not divided into chapters which would make things easier to pull out.  I put this on my list for a geography class.