Description:
The rock face above Stoney Middleton, part of which is locally known as 'Lover' Leap. In 1762, a girl called Hannah Baddaley lived in the village of Stoney Middleton. Hannah fell in love with a local man, William Barnsley, and the couple courted for almost a year. However, William began to lose interest in Hannah and broke off their courtship. Hannah was devastated and ran to the top of the 80 ft cliff in Middleton Dale, where she threw herself off. Hannah was saved from death by a gust of wind, which caught her petticoats, making them billow out like a parachute. She glided to the road below and suffered only minor cuts and bruises. Thereafter this cliff was known as 'Lovers' Leap'. Hannah died two years later at the age of 26, still unwed. It is said that her ghost still re-enacts her jump from the cliff.