I love this spot. A friend recently shared this with me.
The Legend of Crosland Moor Quarry Holy Well
A long time ago, when your Grandparents, grandparents were still children, a young girl and her dad set out into the woods by Crosland Moor Quarry. It was a strange time when folk were forbidden to mix, and families were permitted out of their homes but once a day. The girl never queried this; as it was all she had known. Plus, she adored her daily ventures out with her dad, who she would do anything for.
These ventures included helping her dad to clear a path through the woods. Which she did happily. One day, while clearing the thickets to the side of their path the girl pulled at some dead knotweeds that, after a struggle, came away with a jerk which left her on her bottom, revealing a murky water filled hole beneath. Curious, the girl and her dad began clearing the bushes from around the hole. They found that the hole was a shallow and dirty well. They felt elated with their discovery. It was almost as if the well was emanating a good feeling. So much so, that when they headed for home, the girl felt a pang of guilt at leaving the well.
Returning the next day, they soon felt the good feelings being around the well. The girl didn’t say, but she thought the ‘good feeling’ really was emanating from the well itself. As her dad continued to clear up weeds and deadwood, the girl spent her time stood looking into the unknown watery depths. She was certain she could feel the Well’s gratitude pouring out, creating the ‘good feeling’, for all the work they were doing. By now, her dad had cleared all the bush about the Well revealing a long moss-covered wall that lay just behind. Yet, the more she stared into the hole the more she thought she could sense silent messages as if the Well’s was sending her directions to act upon. The girl acted immediately on this unspoken communication by directing Her dad, who’d been having a well-earned brew break, to try digging in a certain area. Within minutes he hit something hard. Thinking he had touched on a bed of Rough Rock, he dug further to find a set of stone stairs that had been hidden beneath the soil for unknown years. The stairs led up to a thick wall of thickets, which the girl somehow knew was the Wells boundary.
She had felt awful leaving the previous day. The rapid withdrawal of ‘good feeling’ when they prepared to leave left the girl sad. But, on their return the following day, she soon felt the gratitude and the guiding hand of the Well. Her dad, feeling good himself, was impressed at his daughter’s intuition and enthusiasm. She’d suggested starting on the other side of their path, at the point it bent and left the Well’s boundaries. Her dad, cutting and pulling away his first clumps of knotweed, found what turned out to be a huge stone storage space that was cut into the steep slope facing the Well and overlooking the road leading to Milnsbridge. The girl, looking at the Well, began to wonder if the water was beginning to look a bit clearer. They both felt sad leaving that day.
Eager to get back the following day, they woke early and hurriedly got dressed then raced up to the quarry woods, spooking a deer on their way. Her dad, feeling pretty good about himself, got straight to work while the girl sat by the Well. Immersed in the Wells ‘good feeling’ the girl continued to receive unheard messages that she relayed to Her dad as her own ideas. Instructing him to dig behind the Well, he soon discovered rows of walls climbing the slope behind the Well. The girl really began to feel a sense of trust for the Well and its powers. But then, in that instance, her intuition suddenly felt off. Yet, everything else the Well had suggested had led to good things, why not now? So, acting on the intuition and picking up a stone she threw it as far as she could back down their path, it bounced to a stop without incident. Unimpressed, she looked back toward the Well and was struck to see that the water was quite noticeably clearer than it had been only moments before. Excitedly showing her dad she proposed, after a strong hint from the Well, taking a sip from the Well’s water. Her dad wisely explained that she should never drink from this or any other Well she might find, no matter how special it appeared to be. The girl felt awfully disappointed but wasn’t sure if it was the Well’s disappointment or her own.
When they arrived back the next morning the girl was glad to sense the ‘good feeling’ and wordless instructions from the Well. As her dad set off to extend their path, the girl, being nudged by the Well, threw stones back down their path. With each stone thrown the girl saw the water was becoming ever clearer. She continued to throw stones at the Well’s behest until Her dad noticed her and told her to stop. In a moment of uncharacteristic anger, the girl threw her last stone towards her dad. The stone struck Her dad on the back of his head and, in silent anger, he quickly collected up their gear and took the girl straight home.
At home, the girl gave an honest apology and promised to never do it again. Her dad forgave her, and they made up. That night, the girl wondered about her feelings and actions. Were they her own or the Well’s? She had learnt to trust the Well and couldn’t imagine it intentionally trying to harm either her or her dad.
When they returned, the girl was over the moon to find the Well wasn’t angry. In fact, it was sharing its ‘good feelings’ stronger than ever, and the girl found that she was sending gratitude toward the Well. She’d instructed her dad, who was also feeling good, to inspect the area around the stairs. He discovered another wall and several large stones under the soil. At the top of the stairs he broke through the thick wall of thicket and continued out of sight. Feeling amazing, the girl looked in the Well and saw herself staring back. She was encouraged to kneel and look closer at her watery reflection. As she did, a great happiness and elation rose inside of her like nothing she had felt before. With this came an overwhelming urge to drink deeply from the water. She forced her head up to make sure Her dad was out of sight. As if pulled, her eyes fell heavily back to her reflection as her hands cupped and dipped into the water.
In an instance, her dad’s ‘good feeling’ disappeared. Noticing how far he had drifted down the path he rushed back to the Well. Only, the girl wasn’t there. Panicking, he called out frantically and looked everywhere, but to no avail. She was gone. Over the years he cleared much of the undergrowth in the woods in search of his daughter. But he never found her. On more than one occasion, when resting by the Well, he could have sworn he had seen her face in water below.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road