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Toad's Mouth in Derbyshire, England

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The Toad.

Toad's Mouth is an ill-defined area of land near Hathersage in Derbyshire, England named for a slightly modified but largely natural piece of rock called "The Toads Mouth Rock." No one knows exactly when the toad's eye was carved onto the rock formation (it only has one) but it has been suggested to be mesolithic in origin. 

It's unusual that a view is given a name, but if driving from Sheffield as you turn the corner at The Toad's Mouth Rock you are confronted with what is aptly named “Surprise View.” The vista spans two valleys, and is framed by the impressive cliff face of Mam Tor in the distance.

The other attraction of Toad's Mouth is the millstones. There are sites where millstones and grindstones were made all around in the northern part of the Peak District but this place has hundreds of stones in all phases of completion. In the 17th  to 19th centuries these stones would have been transported, by horse and cart, about 9 miles to Sheffield, some carried a further 15 miles to the inland port at Bawtry. They were then shipped down the River Idle and then via a canal dug by the Romans to the River Trent for trans shipment to the rest of the country and even as far as the Netherlands. Why so many were never finished is not known. 


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