Longstone Edge is a limestone ridge in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

National Park, in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. Longstone Edge is immediately north of the village of

Great Longstone Great Longstone with Little Longstone is one of two villages in the local government district of Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, England. The population (including Hassop and Rowland, but not Little Longstone) as taken at the 2011 Census was 8 ...

, which is in turn about north of the town of

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census, ...

. It runs from east to west for about , from the village of

Calver Calver (Old English ''Calf Slope'') is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 710. Overview Calver is a small village situated in the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire. The village ...

to the River Wye at

Monsal Dale Monsal Dale is a valley in Derbyshire, England, in the White Peak limestone area of the Peak District National Park. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) (1) and part of a Europe-wide network ...

and is about wide. It rises to about and commands far-reaching views over the Peak District.

Quarrying

The Edge has been, and is, intensively quarried for

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

, fluorspar and barytes, and more controversially,

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. Since Longstone Edge is a noted beauty spot within the Peak District National Park, there is strong local pressure for the quarrying to stop altogether. Some of this quarrying is strictly controlled by the Peak District National Park Authority, but the Authority conducted a lengthy legal battle to try to stop other quarries (at Backdale and Wager's Flat) that were operating outside of the authority's guidelines. In February 2008 the High Court ruled in favour of landowner Bleaklow Industries Ltd, and quarrying at Backdale quarry resumed. The Peak District National Park Authority won permission to appeal against that High Court decision. In the meantime, a consortium of pressure groups campaigned to have the Government buy out the old mineral mining permissions from the landowner. On 10/11 February 2009 the previous High Court ruling in favour of the landowner and operator of Backdale Quarry was overturned by three appeal judges and, although it still allowed the quarrying to continue, the ruling ensured that the original 1952 permission would be interpreted correctly, with the emphasis on fluorspar rather than limestone. Bleaklow Industries requested leave to appeal, but this request was denied on 25 June 2009. The operator of Backdale Quarry, MMC Minerals (Midlands) Ltd, was ordered by an HMRC tribunal on 9 April 2009 to pay aggregate duty for the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of limestone it had illegally removed from Longstone Edge. In July 2009 quarrying ceased at Backdale Quarry, and the machinery was removed. Bleaklow Industries own other land on Longstone Edge that is covered by 1952 permissions.

References

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External links

Stop destroying my Peak District, Roy Hattersley, Sunday March 27, 2005, The Observer

Great Longstone Village Web-site

Quarrying on Longstone Edge

Save Longstone Edge Campaign

Mountains and hills of the Peak District