LEA TO LITTLE HAYFIELD
A TO Z – DERBYSHIRE AND THE PEAK DISTRICT – CHAPTER 24
LEA (south of the A615 Matlock to Alfreton – SK330574)
The Nightingale family brought prosperity to the area. Peter Nightingale had amassed a considerable fortune from lead mining and, in 1707, bought Lea Hall, thereby becoming Lord of the Manor. Florence Nightingale – renowned throughout the world for her nursing skills – was a direct descendant. Peter Nightingale II, born in 1736, was known as ‘Mad Peter’ due to his reckless horse riding, gambling, and heavy drinking. However, his lifestyle did not appear to impact his business capabilities. He established a successful lead smelting business at Lea Bridge. Also, he extended an arm of the Cromford Canal up to where Smedley’s Car Park stands today.
He built a hat factory adjacent to the wharf on the canal during the first half of the 19th century. The factory employed around 100 people. They made hats for both the military and the gentry. Nothing is left of the building, blown down in 1955, but the wharf remains.
LEA BRIDGE
In 1784, Peter Nightingale pulled off a masterstroke when he built Lea Mills. Initially, the factory produced cotton, but Richard Arkwright of Cromford soon successfully sued him for using his patent. Undaunted, he expanded the factory and began producing wool spinning and hosiery. A few years after Peter Nightingale died childless, in 1803, the Smedley family leased the factory. But it was nearly another 80 years before the Nightingale family completely relinquished control.
LEA GARDENS
Lea Gardens are on a narrow lane between Lea and Holloway. The lane is quiet for most of the year, but it becomes busy when the gardens are open to the public. Visitors come from far and wide to admire the rare collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, alpines, and conifers and enjoy the lovely woodland setting.
The gardens are on a southwest-facing slope at an elevation of 700 feet above sea level. They have been open to the public since 1960, when the flowers are in bloom. As the flowering season is comparatively short, the gardens are generally open only from mid-March to the end of June.
LEAWOOD PUMPHOUSE (off the Cromford to Lea Road, south of High Peak Junction – SK317556)
It was built in 1849, following a water shortage five years earlier, to pump water from the river into the Cromford Canal. A team of volunteers has extensively restored the Pumphouse. It can lift approximately five tons of water each minute, up to a height of 30 feet. Open to the public on ‘steaming days’ during the summer, when visitors can experience the power of the steam engine as it pumps four tons of water into the canal with each piston stroke.
LITTLE HAYFIELD (on the A624 road from Hayfield to Glossop – SK034882)
At the centre of Little Hayfield is the Lantern Pike public house. It was here that Tony Warren wrote the first six episodes of Coronation Street in 1960. Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner and several other cast members, lived locally. Lantern Pike is a hill owned by the National Trust, the top of which affords glorious views over Kinder Scout and Hayfield. On a clear day, with the aid of the viewfinder on Lantern Pike, you will be able to pinpoint well-known landmarks on Kinder Scout. The Annual Hayfield Sheepdog Trials and Country Show takes place at Little Hayfield in September every year.
