RIPLEY TO ROBIN HOOD'S STRIDE
A TO Z – DERBYSHIRE AND THE PEAK DISTRICT – CHAPTER 40
RIPLEY (to the east of A38 north of Derby, south of Alfreton – SK398506)
Coal has been worked in the area since at least the 13th century, and iron became a major industry. In 1790, Benjamin Outram and his partners formed the Benjamin Outram Company. After he died in 1805, it was renamed the Butterley Company and exploited the mineral wealth in the locality. It was Outram who constructed one of the earliest colliery railway tracks, running from Ripley to Little Eaton, where it met a branch of the Derby Canal. The closure of the pits and the decline of the Butterley Company led to a switch to light industry and other forms of employment for many local people.
Between 1913 and 1932, the ‘Ripley Rattler’ was considered the most dangerous tramway in Britain. It ran for 11 miles, from Nottingham to Ripley, with several stopping points on the way and was the longest tramway in the world. It was so notorious that D.H. Lawrence, who lived only a few yards from the line, was moved to write an amusing short story, ‘Tickets Please.’ The single track had 316 passing places, all on the left-hand side of the main track. When riding from Nottingham, passengers had to endure a succession of swinging movements; the faster the tramcar travelled, the more violent the movement. Accidents occurred regularly; trams reportedly got stuck under bridges and came off the tracks. On one occasion, a double-decker tram crashed into the church wall and threw the passengers travelling on the top into the graveyard.
RIPLEY – BARNES WALLIS
In 1887, Barnes Wallis was born at Cromer House on Butterley Hill. He designed the R100 airship, the Wellington and Wellesley bombers and developed the swing-wing plane. However, he is best known for inventing the ‘bouncing bombs’ technique, which in 1943 breached the Ruhr Valley Dams, in the heartland of industrial Germany. A plaque and memorial museum in the west tower of Derwent Dam retells the story of the ‘Dambusters’, which many will have seen on film. The Derwent Dams had been used during the Second World War to practice bombing techniques. A blue plaque marks the house in Ripley where he was born. He was knighted in 1945.
RISLEY (almost midway between Derby and Nottingham on B5010 – SK458356)
Risley is a long ribbon-built village with most properties lying on either side of the main road. The village hall stands between the church and the school. Risley Hall, an 11th-century Saxon country house, is set in 17 acres of landscaped grounds. The hall has been converted into a luxury country house hotel and wedding venue.
ROACHES (west of the A53 Leek to Buxton Road – SK005613)
The Roaches, from the French”les roches” meaning the rocks, together with Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks, form a gritstone escarpment that has been worn into unusual shapes by the weather. They mark the southwestern edge of the Peak District and have panoramic views on a clear day over much of Cheshire and even as far as Snowdon in North Wales. It is an area of rock and heather that belonged to the Swythamley Estate before its breakup, following which it was purchased in 1980 by the Peak District National Park Authority. From May 2013, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust took on the management of the Roaches Estate, which is extremely popular with walkers, climbers, and wildlife enthusiasts. The area was once famous for its wallabies. These animals were released from a private zoo at Swythamley during World War II and managed to breed and survive until the late 1990s, when the last survivors appeared to have disappeared.
ROBIN HOOD’S STRIDE (2 miles northeast of Elton, west of B5056 between A515 and A6 – SK225623)
As you begin to climb up towards Cratcliffe Rocks, there is a curious mass of rocks with twin pinnacles on your left known as Robin Hood’s Stride. It is often referred to as Mock Beggar’s Hall because the outline of the rocks at a distance resembles a large house with twin turrets. Under an overhang of rocks, near the road, is a hermit’s cave where a carved crucifix remains, in what was once the hermit’s home. In the Middle Ages, hermits acted as holy men. Appointed to lonely places by a bishop, they rendered hospitality and assistance to travellers.
