Compiled by Jane Price and Kim Yapp,SB, 119pp

The book is further research Into the nineteenth century, when mining activity was at its height, a series of small ‘squatter’ settlements were established on the fringes of the hill, notably in Perkins Beach and at Blakemoorgate. These were occupied by miners and their families who created small-holdings for their livestock and crops, and grazed the surrounding heathland.

By the twentieth century mining was on the wane and bit by bit these settlements were abandoned, the last cottage being deserted in the 1960s. Two former ‘squatter cottages’ at Blakemoorgate are being restored by Natural England with support from English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Community through a project called ‘Once upon a hill’: discovering the lost villages of The Stiperstones Hills.

It includes, Lordshill, Eastridge, The Hollies, Blackmoregate, Blakemoorflat, The paddock, Crowsnest Dingle, Perkins Beach, Pennerley and The Bog