To view the beautiful woodland and hilltop oasis of Grinlow today, you would scarcely believe it was once condemned as an eyesore. However, from the 16th to the early 19th Century the site was a sprawling limestone quarry. The rock was burnt in 'pudding pie' kilns to supply the farming and building industries with lime for mortar and fertilizer. The outlines of these distinctive kilns can still be seen. The waste, meanwhile, was dumped on the hillside.
The debris was soon sufficiently deep for workers to burrow inside, fashioning small lime-waste cottages. Some such residences were still being used in the mid 19th Century, although by then the Duke of Devonshire had taken action. In the 1820s the first trees were planted as a direct response to complaints about the appearance of this heavilly quarried wasteland.
Nature's ability to reclaim land ravaged by human industry has never ceased to amaze. The trees reintroduced by the Duke soon became another asset to the environs of Poole's Cavern, and today they form 40 hectares (100 acres) of mature woodland. The chief species here are Beech, Ash, Elm and Sycamore with Willow, Birch, Hawthorn and Rowan around the edges.Observant tree-spotters will also notice the occasional Whitebeam, Oak, Cherry, Lime and Horse chestnut. Careful woodland management ensures that the area remains healthy and aesthetically pleasing, and tree planting is carried out on a regular basis.