- Darley Dale
-
For other Darleys, see Darley (disambiguation)
Coordinates: 53°09′58″N 1°35′46″W / 53.166°N 1.596°W
Darley Dale 
Church at Darley Dale
Darley Dale
Darley Dale shown within DerbyshirePopulation 5,167 (Parish) OS grid reference SK270632 Parish Darley Dale District Derbyshire Dales Shire county Derbyshire Region East Midlands Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town MATLOCK Postcode district DE4 2xx Dialling code 01629 Police Derbyshire Fire Derbyshire Ambulance East Midlands EU Parliament East Midlands UK Parliament West Derbyshire List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire Darley Dale, also known simply as Darley, is a town in Derbyshire, England, with a population of around 6,000 people. It lies north of Matlock, on the River Derwent and the A6 road.
Contents
History
A Benedictine Abbey was built here under the reign of Henry I[1] in the twelfth century.
The town grew in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries around the lead mining and smelting industries. It is also a commuter town for workers in Matlock.
Notable people
Notable people associated with Darley Dale include
- Nigel Bond, snooker player, was born here
- Tom Chambers, actor. Born here in 1977[2]
- Richmal Crompton, author of the Just William children's books attended St Elphin's School in Darley Dale
- Mike Hendrick, English cricketer was born here in 1948
- Christopher Green, comedy writer and performer grew up here
- Joseph Paxton, architect and gardener for the nearby Chatsworth House
- Crichton Porteous, author
- Joseph Whitworth, engineer[3]
Notable buildings and attractions
Notable buildings in the town include its fourteenth century parish church St. Helens, with a yew tree which is thought to be two thousand years old. The south transept has a stained glass window by Burne-Jones and William Morris. Other attractions include the Peak Rail railway which runs from Rowsley South to Matlock via Darley Dale railway station and the Whitworth Park, a large park located next to the railway.
It was the winner of the 2003 Britain in Bloom, in the category of 'Large Village'.
There is a bi-annual arts festival, the Darley Dale Arts Festival, held in July in odd-numbered years.[4]
In nearby Two Dales, Ladygrove Mill was built for spinning cotton by Abraham Flint, but converted to flax spinning in 1789 by Daniel Dakeyne of Knabb House. It was expanded by his sons, Edward and James, who built a series of three dams on the Sydnope Valley rising to 96 feet. To cope with the water pressure, they invented a revolutionary water-pressure powered "disc engine", which they patented in 1830 as the Dakeyne hydraulic disc engine.[5][6] It was the progenitor of a type, now known as a "nutating disc engine" (which has been the subject of entrepreneurial interest in the 21st century). The mills and equipment have virtually disappeared but the remains of the dams can still be seen.
Also in Two Dales, the Plough Inn public house was the reason behind former England international footballer Eddie Shimwell's transfer from Sheffield United to Blackpool in December 1946. Shimwell wanted to purchase the pub, but Sheffield United would not allow it, due to their ban on players becoming publicans, so the full-back put in a transfer request.[7]
At the bottom of Station Road lies Darley Dale railway station. Although national rail services ceased in the 1960s, the station has been for over 15 years occupied by the railway and heritage preservation group Peak Rail. From here, a heritage steam service operates south to Matlock and north to Rowsley South, with a route distance of approximately five miles.
An annual transport festival, the Darley Dale Festival of Transport, is held at the bottom of Station Road every September.[8]
Right next to Darley Dale is the beautiful St Elphin's Park, which during the early 19th century used to be a spa and latterly a well known boarding school for girls.[9]
Darwin Forest Country Park is a 44-acre (18 ha) holiday resort in Derbyshire, England, operated by Pinelodge Holidays Limited.[10][11][12] Along with Sandybrook Country Park, Darwin Forest showcases a type of lodges made of maintenance-free Scandinavian redwood, which are produced by the Pinelodge Group.[13] The resort is located between Matlock and Bakewell in the Derbyshire Dales and is 5 mi (8 km) from Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall.[14] The country park has received the David Bellamy Gold Award.[15]
References
- ^ Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835
- ^ Tom Chambers' biography at IMDb accessed June 2007
- ^ Whitworth bought Stancliffe Hall and supplied four six-ton blocks of stone from its quarry, for the lions of St. George's Hall in Liverpool. He endowed the Whitworth Institute, where the hospital was later founded in memory of his wife.
- ^ The bi-annual Arts Festival
- ^ "The Romping Lion" - The story of the Dakeyne Disc Engine by Phil Wigfull
- ^ "Inventors". The Romping Lion, Peakland Heritage site. http://www.peaklandheritage.org.uk/index.asp?peakkey=20601221.
- ^ Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC on This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-905411-50-2.
- ^ The Annual Darley Dale Festival of Transport
- ^ St Elphin's Park Retirement Village
- ^ Size @ totaltravel.co.uk Retrieved July 2009
- ^ Middleton, Christopher (8 February 2002). "The Peak District: A forest of artful lodgers". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/centralengland/723354/The-Peak-District-A-forest-of-artful-lodgers.html.
- ^ countrycottagesonline.net
- ^ thisisderbyshire.co.uk
- ^ Location @ K9directory.co.uk Retrieved July 2009
- ^ Award @ Information-Britain.co.uk Retrieved July 2009
External links
- Darley Dale Town Council
- Darley Dale Arts Festival website
- "Geograph" Darley Dale station in the 1990s
- Peak Rail Website
- Darley Dale Fly Fishing Club
Ceremonial county of Derbyshire Unitary authorities Boroughs or districts Amber Valley • Bolsover • Chesterfield • Derbyshire Dales • Erewash • High Peak • North East Derbyshire • South DerbyshireMajor settlements Alfreton • Ashbourne • Bakewell • Belper • Bolsover • Buxton • Chapel-en-le-Frith • Chesterfield • Clay Cross • Darley Dale • Derby • Dronfield • Eckington • Glossop • Hadfield • Heanor • Ilkeston • Killamarsh • Langley Mill • Long Eaton • Matlock • Melbourne • New Mills • Ripley • Sandiacre • Shirebrook • Staveley • Swadlincote • Whaley Bridge • Wirksworth
See also: List of civil parishes in DerbyshireRivers Topics High Sheriffs • Museums • Parliamentary constituenciesCategories:- Towns in Derbyshire
- Towns and villages of the Peak District
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
