Could this historical chiselling be the origin of the three-fingered hand popular with modern cartoonists!?
Erected in the 18th century, ‘guide stoops’ like this one on Gibbett Moor, Derbyshire, directed travellers across remote and treacherous moorlands where the closest thing to a ‘roade’ was a vague line in the heather. Typically square in section and originally standing around two metres tall, they bear the names and rough directions of the local market towns, in this case Bakewell and Sheffield. The recumbent stone used as a seat is a modern Companion Stone, one of a set of twelve designed by Derbyshire poets and artists to keep the old stone markers company. Like the guide stoops, the Companion Stones bear inscriptions to future destinations. They draw attention to the moors and the difficult terrain the visitor has yet to navigate.
