Old Man of Mow

Standing as a striking gritstone pillar on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, this Tump is a prominent remnant of historic quarrying. Its position on the sandstone ridge offers expansive views over the Potteries and the Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope, making it a sharp, rewarding detour from the Gritstone Trail.

• •The name Mow likely derives from the Old English 'muga', meaning a heap or mound. The 'Old Man' specifically refers to the 65-foot gritstone stack left behind by millstone quarrymen, who excavated the surrounding rock but left this pillar standing as a remnant of the ridge's industrial history.
• •Positioned on the boundary between the Staffordshire Moorlands and the Cheshire Plain, the summit offers a vantage point where the massive white dish of the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank is clearly visible to the west.
• •The hill is a key landmark on the Gritstone Trail and sits just north of Mow Cop Castle, a 1754 mock-Gothic folly built by Randle Wilbraham to improve the view from his home at Rode Hall.
• •This ridge has deep religious significance; in May 1807, the first Primitive Methodist Camp Meeting was held on the slopes here, drawing thousands and leading to the birth of a new denomination.
• •While the gritstone stack is a popular challenge for local climbers, most visitors find that maintaining their dignity while peering over the steep eastern edge is accomplishment enough.