Peak Experience

Picture of the New Inn, Flash 

 

The Flash Coiners of Flash were notorious for counterfeiting coins.  Flashmen flashing Flash money found a novel way to escape punishment.  The Three Shires Head northwest of Flash (SK009685) stands on the borders to the three counties of Derbyshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire.  The police in one county could not arrest wrongdoers in another county.  So, at the Three Shires Head, the men of Flash, or Flashmen, escaped capture by hopping from Shire to Shire over the River Dane!

 

At the New Inn in Flash you’ll still hear the tale of the Japanese tourists who fled there after seeing a phantom horse and rider!  In 1992 a Japanese family lunched at New Inn, then went for a walk.  They returned with the following story.  Near the river a horse and rider wearing a cloak and a funny hat had come racing up towards them.  All moved aside, except dad.  He could see nothing and stayed put.   Suddenly he jumped into the ditch by a dry-stone wall – he had seen the horse just as it was upon him.  He was shaken up and somewhat bruised and no one noticed what happened to the horse and rider, they just disappeared.

 

In fact there have been many sightings of ghosts and phantoms in the Three Shires near Flash.  Unkempt men on horseback gallop along, often with a storm lamp in hand.

Just up the A53 from Flash towards Buxton lies Axe Edge on the left – home to a story of the mythical Wandering Jew.  His story has been told here and all over Europe since the 1200s AD.

 

A poor old man living in Axe Edge heard a knock at his door one Sunday afternoon.  He was alone and he let a stranger in.  The visitor asked for beer and helped himself for the old man was lame.  The stranger asked how long the old man had been ill.  He told him to take two or three balm leaves steeped in his beer for 2-3 weeks to be restored to health.  And then, he said, he was constantly and zealously to serve God.  The poor man followed his visitor’s instructions and got better.  No one else saw the stranger, who wore a purple gown, not common to the area.

 

Public transport information for all locations can be found by calling Traveline on 0871 200 2233.

To plan your journey to Flash, which is just off the route of the Hanley to Buxton bus, visit the Staffordshire journey planner.