An early 1900s postcard view titled ‘Goyt Valley’ had me scratching my head trying to work out where it was taken. Members of the Goyt Valley Facebook Group came to the rescue.
Topic tags: Valley folk...
Valley of the Demons
Celebrated local author Alan Garner has published a new book with a chapter explaining the dark background to his award-winning ‘Thursbitch’ novel and its links to the John Turner memorial stone.
Good or bad guys?
The Braddock family had worked for the Grimshawes since the building of Errwood Hall. So it was a surprise to learn that they were a tight-knit band of notorious highwaymen.
Errwood Hall revealed
Six recordings from the new ‘augmented reality’ app on Errwood Hall help tell the story of life in and around this grand country house which once dominated the valley and now lies in ruins.
Goyt Recollections part II
In part two of Crichton Porteous’s ‘Goyt Recollections’, he writes about Errwood Hall, the hill-top graveyard and the coal mine. He also talks to an old estate worker about the Grimshawe sisters.
Joseph Oyarzabel?
Two new photos said to be of Joseph Oyarzabel – son of Samuel Grimshawe’s butler – pose more questions than answers. Any help to discover the facts would be appreciated.
Rare photo discovered
A fairly dull and faded photo of a well-dressed dining table is only the second image that’s come to light taken inside Errwood Hall. So it has a lot of historical interest and value.
The Heathers
Gunpowder Mill worker, Allen Heather, and his wife Annie, had four sons and five daughters. All of them went to Goyt’s Bridge School. And one paid the ultimate sacrifice during WW1.
Three lost homes
I’ve made a start at adding the final three houses to the the list of those demolished in the 1930s, following the purchase of the Errwood Estate by Stockport Corporation to build the twin reservoirs.
The Braddocks
One of the graves at the Grimshawe’s hill-top cemetery has always intrigued me. Elizabeth Braddock was just 19 when she died. She must have earned a special place in the hearts of the Grimshawe sisters.
Joe Brown’s Numbers
Joe Brown died last year, acknowledged as one of Britain’s finest mountaineers. In the early ’60s Joe created an orienteering course in and around the Goyt Valley, known as ‘Joe Brown’s Numbers’.
Found starved to death
The sad story of how Robert Edge, a worker at Goytsclough Paint Mill, came to lose his life on his way home from Buxton in 1860. The coroner recorded a verdict of ‘Died from the inclemency of the weather’.
Farming in the valley
Bill Brocklehurst has lived and farmed in and around the Goyt Valley for most of his life. A recently published book includes a brief profile of a man who knows the land like the back of his hand.
‘Bunty’ – a special teacher
Chris remembers ‘Bunty’ Sidebottom, a very special teacher at Fernilee Infant School: “She was extremely glamorous and had friends in high places in TV land: the BBC and Granada, Manchester.”
‘Accidental death’ verdict
I was with the deceased, Thomas Dunn, and when we arrived at my gate I asked if I should go forward with him as it was very dark. He said “Heaven bless thee, George, I shall manage.”
Drunk in charge
He fell back upon some hay, also on to a child. Witness stopped him, and said he could not allow him to drive in a state like that. Defendant said “He had been a sight worse than this many a time.”
Fatal trap accident
At 12 o’clock on Thursday night (18th May 1884) a sad and fatal accident happened at the top of Long Hill, about three miles from Buxton, whereby Mr. Thomas Dunn, of the Nook Farm, Fernilee, lost his life.
Hearts of oak
“One by one the farmers and their families have strapped their ancient bedsteads on to hay wagons, and tracked off up the lane leading out from Derbyshire’s deceased village of Fernilee…”
John & Hannah Butler
Captain John Butler has always fascinated me. He was the Master of the Grimshawe’s ocean-going yacht, The Mariquita, and is buried in the hill-top cemetery above the ruins of Errwood Hall.
Castedge spring; then & now
A new ‘then and now’ fade features one of my favourite photos of the Goyt Valley; Kathleen Nall collecting water at the natural spring outside her family home, Castedge Farm Cottage.
Goyt’s Moss Marchingtons
Rob has been in touch to say his family once lived at Goyt’s Moss, scraping a living mining coal from the small pits which once littered the landscape of this windswept part of the upper Goyt Valley.
The ‘Final exodus’
The last families to leave the Goyt Valley packed all their belongings on to lorries and horse-drawn carts in March 1936. I’m trying to trace their names, and the homes they once lived in.
Tracing Mr T.B. Hibbert
Trying to resolve the riddle of the Goyt’s Bridge tea room sign; we find Tommy Hibbert in the census returns – but it doesn’t help cast much light upon the mystery!
Killing at Errwood Hall
An 1847 newspaper clipping reports a ‘desperate burglary, in which one of the burglars was killed’ at Errwood Hall. The gamekeeper was said to have fired the fatal shot. But did he?
The ‘blacked-up’ band
The ‘blacked-up’ faces of the Chilworth Gunpowder Mill’s brass band provide a fascinating glimpse into a time and place which are now completely lost. What can it all mean?
The John Turner Stone
A mile or two southwest of Jenkin Chapel stands an intriguing stone memorial to John Turner. But who was the mysterious lady who left a single footprint beside his frozen body?
Goyt’s Bridge cafes
“Victorian visitors travelled many miles in their horsedrawn carriages, not just to see the wonderful Goyt Valley in summer, but to admire and enjoy the gardens with their variety and beauty. Then to take tea…”
Life below stairs
“These rich Lords and Ladies had a London Home and also one near Manchester. It was called Errwood Hall and there were five Lords and Ladies, a Priest and 20 servants…”
Castedge Coal Mine
Old OS maps show a ‘Coal Pit’ between Errwood Hall and Castedge Farmhouse. The entrance to the mine has long since been blocked and is now covered by thick undergrowth.
Errwood Hall party (1895)
“A very interesting and pleasant gathering took place at Errwood Hall last Wednesday week, when Miss Grimshawe and Mrs Preston entertained the tenantry and tradesmen of the district to dinner.”