I was wandering about Grin Woods this afternoon and seeking inspiration for a guided walk that I am leading in a few weeks time.

I really enjoy the walk up the main path. The quarryman statue has been there for almost two years now and he has blended in with the rest of the wood.

The woods have a fascinating history. They are plantation woods, planted to cover the scars of lime burning and quarrying that took place on Grin Low in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Really there should be a Mrs Quarryman as well as a lot of the back-breaking work was done by the women.

People lived on the hillside in shelters carved out of the mounds of ash. As well as quarrying, they were lime-burners, smallholders and anything else that they could find to earn money. Portfolio working in its infancy.

Go to www.buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk and have a look at our latest newsletter for more information.