Description: A quarter plate photograph by John Hartley Brackenbury from Sheffield.
This comes from a set of 14 photographs of Derbyshire, copied by Austin Brackenbury in 2008/9, direct from an album prepared by his parents in 1921. They are a collection following a visit from America of his mother's brother, Albert Berwick and his American wife; Albert was in the American Army. For reasons unknown, the album was never sent to Mr and Mrs Berwick and remained in the possession of Austin's parents.
The photographer used a quarter plate camera on tripod, using the traditional black cloth to focus the image on the ground glass screen, getting someone else to press the release if he wanted to appear in the photograph himself.
Robin Hood's Stride is a spectacular tor of gritstone rocks perched on a ridge between Harthill Moor and the Alport-Winster road. Legend has it that Robin strode between the tower-like stones at either end of the tor, but this is unlikely because they are 15 metres apart and the ascent of the towers is difficult - especially the southern one. An alternative local name is 'Mock Beggar's Hall' and from a distance it is easy to imagine the tumbled rocks and turrets being mistaken for fortifications, especially in semi-darkness or mist. (information from www.cressbrook.co.uk)