Dove Head

 

What we know about this stopping place has come from a memory contributed by Janet McNicol. Janet remembers her late Grandmother, who lived in the area of Dovehead, talking about a place called 'Gypsy Cote' near Axe Edge. Janet's Grandmother remembered that this was a regular stopping place for Gypsy Travellers.

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We would like to be able to pinpoint the precise location of Gypsy Cote because it could mark the start of the route that we think Travellers took down the Dove Valley. Our best guess at the location of Gypsy Cote can be seen by following the coordinates link on the left.

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Our reasons for making this assumption are that:

 

1. We know that Travellers often travelled between Leek and Buxton along the A53. We have evidence for this. Members of the Boswell family stopped on the A53 at Blackshaw Moor in 1871 and from census records we know that both towns had large interconnected Traveller communities.

 

2. At this location the A53 crosses a green lane that runs roughly North-West across the moors to a place called Tinker's Pit. We wonder if Travellers recognised this place as significant to their heritage in some way. In the other direction the green lane crosses the A53 and splits in two. Both paths lead to the River Dove.

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