The Devil's Elbow

Of all the various body parts associated with the demonic one, a fair number seem to have ended up in Derbyshire; The Devil’s Arse for example can be found in Castleton where a major cave attraction bears the name. One of the most unusual things about the elbow is that it seems quite a common name for a bendy bit of geography, there are similarly named features all over the world, especially Scotland and America. The elbow here refers to a stretch of the B6105, the Woodhead Road, which runs from Glossop east towards the reservoirs that line the Longdendale Valley. It is notoriously difficult to drive as even when you anticipate it, the sharpness of the bend can be quite unexpected. In spite of the manmade landscape around it the area still feels quite wild, Moorish and bleak.

Here’s the legend : a father forbade his daughter to marry and swore he’d rather the devil took her – she went ahead and met with her man and they promptly encountered the wrath of Satan who caught them meeting at this very place in the hills; whilst chasing the two young lovers, the Devilish one’s arm turned (conveniently, some might say) to stone and in fury he ripped it off and hurled it to the ground where it now forms the bend after which it is named. Quite how it turned to stone, and why the devil is rarely if ever depicted with only the one arm, legend does not tell. But is renowned as a spot for ghostly lights and, um, generally spookiness.

In folklore the Elbow was a dangerous boundary between the inhabited valley and the moor - a frightening place haunted by burning lights, the fairy folk and the Dark Lad or T’Owd Lad, the local name for the devil or horned one

These days the landmark has been immortalised as a local real ale.