Stanage Edge, or just Stanage (from 'stone edge') is a gritstone ridge just north of the village of Hathersage and is one of the UK's best known climbing locations. The unbroken wall of gritstone stretches approx 6km (3.5 miles) from Stanage End in the north to Cowper Stone at the southern tip.
The vast swathe of Hallam Moors comes to an abrupt edge at Stanage, which forms the border between the Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. Its highest point is High Neb at 458 metres (1,500ft) above sea level.
Areas of Stanage were quarried in the past to produce grindstones and some can still be seen lying on the hillside, carved out, but then abandoned – and are now the symbol of the Peak District National Park.
Stanage is part of a horseshoe shaped chain of gritstone edges which sit above the limestone of the White Peak area and which along with the open moors form the area known as the Dark Peak.
The 2006 cinematic release of Pride and Prejudice featured the iconic sequence of Keira Knightley, as Lizzie Bennet, stood atop Stanage
Climbing on Stanage
Although the edge only reaches up to 30m in height it is one of the UK's most famous climbing locations, with some of the first climbs dating back to the 1890s, made by J.W.Puttrell. With more than 500 climbs along the face, Stanage is home to the route, Right Unconquerable (HVS 5a), which, when first climbed by Joe Brown in 1949, was considered a milestone achievement in British climbing.
Despite the edge's modest height, it's also the location of the longest recorded rock route in the United Kingdom: the 5000m Girdle Traverse, completed by Ron Fawcett in 1992 and graded E5 6b.
