Above: I found this 1815 plan in The Derbyshire Records Office. Stonyway Bar is shown alongside the existing turnpike. The red line shows the proposed new route which avoided the worst of the steep slopes. We think the toll booth was moved to where the old and...
Above: ‘Lest we forget!!’. Perhaps it’s written by a soldier to his sweetheart, remembering a trip along the valley they shared when he was on leave from the trenches. I sometimes buy old postcards of the Valley if they’re not already on the...
Above: It’s easy to miss the milestone opposite Anncroft Road in Burbage, particularly as its directions and distances are now buried within the surrounding stones. The inset map shows that it would have stated 10 3/4 miles to Macclesfield. And 1 mile the other...
Above: This 1795 map shows Stonyway Gate lying on the first turnpike between Buxton and Macclesfield, which was completed in 1759. The second turnpike was opened in 1823, and crossed the old route at the same spot. After tracking down the milestone between the Cat...
Above: One thing I learned from last week’s talk is that MS stands for milestone and MP for milepost. And that posts were typically metal and superseded the stones. This map shows that stones were set beside the earlier turnpike, and posts on the later...
Above: A group of travellers in a horse-drawn carriage cross Derbyshire Bridge on their way north through the Errwood Estate. The photo probably dates to around the end of the 19th century. This narrow road between Goyt’s Moss and Whaley Bridge was known as...
Above: A small stile from the Old Macclesfield Road, just on the outskirts of Burbage, leads down to the site of what was once a busy colliery. The inset map dates back to the late 1890s and shows the colliery was already disused at this time. I find it fascinating to...
Above: It’s difficult to imagine today, but this area was once a busy drift-mining colliery. Coal was unloaded from small canal boats at the head of a drift tunnel in the hillside, just a short distance from this bridge, and loaded onto railway wagons, as...
Above: Long Hill Farm lies on the left, just before the sign to the Goyt Valley on the road from Buxton. Above: Could this have been the very spot that Farmer Thomas Dunn lost his life (click to enlarge)? It’s certainly been strongly reinforced over the years....
Above: This photo taken at the Cat & Fiddle probably dates to the 1910s – around the same time Fredrick found himself in trouble with the law – and shows various forms of transport, including an early car as well as some horse and traps. Another gem...
