Three Shires Head

There is something quietly extraordinary about the place where Derbyshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire meet, and where the tributaries of the River Dane converge and rush beneath the 18th century packhorse bridge. Four ancient packhorse routes cross here, and back in the day traders carried silk from Hollinsclough to the mills in Macclesfield, alongside other traders, travellers, and those with “less-honest” intentions! The “Flash Gang,” counterfeit coin makers from the nearby village of Flash, which incidentally is the highest village in England, chose this spot deliberately. A single step across the bridge into another county was all it took to slip beyond the reach of the “county” constable, and become, for a moment, “untouchable.” So here, in the very same spot visited by many tourists today, deals were struck, coins were traded, and bare-knuckle fights had, all with safe sanctuary for the law-less just over the bridge.