Lover's Leap - Or One Of Them

A lot of places around the world claim the name "Lover's Leap", and here's one of the prime contenders. This cliff overlooks the Derbyshire village of Stoney Middleton and was - according to news reports of the time - the scene of a most bizarre incident in 1762.

Hannah Baddeley, a 25 year old woman who lived in the village, was beside herself with sorrow after being jilted by her fiancé, one William Barnsley. She decided to end it all and so she made her way to the clifftop above the village, throwing herself off.

Incredibly, Hannah's skirt and petticoats flared out, acting like a parachute, and broke her fall. She ended up at the bottom of the cliff in some pain but able to walk away.

A tall story perhaps, but the wind could have blown her skirts up enough to force her against the cliff face and into a painful slide down, probably slowed by the shrubbery that still grows around the rock. In any case, Hannah unfortunately passed away two years later, survived by her mother, of unrelated causes.

There are other Lover's Leaps, a couple relatively close to Stoney Middeton, but this one is perhaps the most picturesque.