Above: Two wonderful photos showing Errwood Bridge, the larger of the two bridges at this important crossing point over the River Goyt, which once separated Cheshire from Derbyshire.
Above: Gary is a passionate steam railway enthusiast and loco-driver at Ecclesbourne Railway.
He first posted these unique photos on the Goyt Valley Appreciation Society’s Facebook group.
Many thanks to Gary Dixon for allowing me to publish these photos taken by him during a very long and dry spell in August 1984. So dry that Errwood Bridge emerged from the deep!
The reservoir was the lowest I’d ever seen it last year (click to view). But Gary’s photos show the water level dropped far lower some 35 years earlier.
The slideshow plays automatically. But you can stop it using the pause button. And also highlight any photo using the filmstrip at the bottom.
This page has maps and photos showing the bridge in its prime. It was one of two bridges in this small hamlet. The packhorse bridge was just a short distance away.
Built around 1762, the picturesque packhorse bridge was saved and rebuilt further upstream in the mid 1960s, just before the valley was flooded.
I’d guess this wider and grander bridge would have been built by the Grimshawes of Errwood Hall, after they purchased the estate in 1832.
Stockport Corporation did try to find someone who would preserve the bridge. But it seems there were no takers. So it now lies back beneath the waters of Errwood Reservoir.
Fabulous!! You’ve made a wonderful feature page of Gary and his photos. I have to admit to feeling just sorrow when I see these pictures though; the only other time I’ve seen Errwood hamlet is in old photos – even up to the early 1960’s when droves of people flocked from the towns and cities to the valley. To see it in real time, and in such details is a sad reminder of the area of outstanding natural beauty we have lost due to human ‘progress’.
These photos show a time in history that was lost forever when the Goyt Valley was flooded. They are so powerful and evocative I felt quite emotional whilst looking through them. Thank you Gary for sharing them and to David for including them in this fabulous website.