Above: The packhorse bridge with the stepping stones just visible over the Goyt after the surrounding farm houses and barns had been demolished, probably taken in the 1940s. The bridge would be saved and rebuilt further upstream in 1965, just before this part of the...
Above: The hamlet of Goyt’s Bridge which now lies under the waters of Errwood Reservoir. I’ve circled Errwood Hall in the distance. The large barn mentioned by Crichton may be the one at far right. I’m not sure when the photo was taken...
Above: A postcard view of the Cat & Fiddle that looks like it could have been taken in the 1950s – when Crichton published his book. I’ve circled the famous cat and fiddle carving which in those days lay above the door. Today it’s incorporated...
Above: The subsidence had got increasingly worse during the last year. Part of the road and stone wall eventually collapsed down the slope. (Photo by Chris Wilman.) Page update: 1st October 2022 Local MP, Robert Largan, has reported that the Long Hill road will...
Above: The view from Windgather Rocks north towards Minninglow on the far horizon. Above: Click to play a ‘Relive’ of the walk, and use the expand button to view in full-screen. At 11 miles, this is one of the longest walks featured on the website. But the...
Above: Published in 1963, ‘Portrait of Peakland’ was one of many books written by Crichton Porteous on Derbyshire and the Peak District. This extract includes a ghostly apparition seen by two Errwood Hall maids in 1914. I wonder whether either of the two...
Above: Alexander Roos’s original drawing for Errwood Hall from the early 1840s (courtesy of Buxton Museum). Above: A Vanity Fair caricature of Alexander Beresford Hope. Click here to view his Wikipedia entry. Judging by the previous post (click to view),...
Above: The entry for Errwood Hall is headed by this fine photo, probably taken in the 1920s. This description of Errwood Hall is taken from a popular coffee-table book, The Derbyshire Country House, by Maxwell Craven and Michael Stanley. There are a few facts that...
Above: Boothman’s Cottages would have been a bleak place to live in winter. But well-placed to pick up custom from the many travellers who passed this way. Above: An old photo showing the remains of the engine house (click to enlarge). There’s nothing now...
Above: The only other photo I’d seen of the vault showed only one cross in the background, which I thought was the main one. Which is why I thought the vault was positioned to the left. Another recently discovered photo (below) has shown just how easy it is to...
