A TO Z – DERBYSHIRE AND THE PEAK DISTRICT – CHAPTER 6

BIRCHOVER (off the B5056 Grangemill to A6 road, which links Matlock and Bakewell – SK240621)

The village of Birchover rises gently along a west-facing hillside. The main street is lined with some unusual and spectacular cottage gardens that give pleasure to the eye, particularly in summer when the flowers are in full bloom. The gardens provide an annual highlight on the social calendar when the residents open them to the public. Stalls and refreshments are available, and a flower display is arranged at the church. Needless to say, a walk around Birchover at any time of the year reveals an abundance of attractive, well-maintained gardens. Birchover’s fine old cottage buildings, which shelter under a tree-lined ridge, were built between the 17th and the 19th centuries of attractive pinkish stone from Stanton Moor quarries.

BIRCHOVER – MILLENNIUM STONE

The Birchover Millennium Stone, located by the roadside on the western side of the village, represents the former industry of millstone production in the area. Millstones were made out of local gritstone and exported all over the world.

BLACK ROCKS (on the south side of the B5036, Wirksworth to Cromford road along the High Peak Trail)

Black Rocks, situated off the High Peak Trail, have been a tourist destination for centuries, as evidenced by the graffiti carved into the rocks. The arrival of the railways in Matlock and Wirksworth in the mid-19th Century led to a significant increase in visitors who enjoyed exploring and climbing the rocks. The views from the top are stunning.

BLACKWELL (on the B6025, off the A61 north of Alfreton – SK434583)

One of the four villages that make up the civil parish of the same name within the District of Bolsover, the others are Hilcote, Newton, and Westhouses. The primary industry in the area was coal mining before the pits closed. In 1910, Blackwell Miners Welfare Cricket Club hosted a county match between Derbyshire and Warwickshire, when John Chapman and Arnold Warren recorded the highest ever stand for the ninth wicket of 283 runs.

BLORE (5 miles northwest of Ashbourne, 1 mile from Ilam – SK138494)

Blore is a small hillside hamlet, with a fine hall, a beautiful old church, an ancient rectory, a few houses and several farms, to the south of Dovedale. A short distance to the west, the road descends towards Ilam, with magnificent views in all directions. Sheepdog Trials take place in August at Blore Pasture, which is of interest to both country lovers and city dwellers, making a fantastic spectacle. Competition is always very fierce, and a local man, Ben Smith, from Marston Montgomery and his five-year-old collie, Meg, won the English National Sheepdog Trials in 2012.

BOLSOVER (on the A532 Chesterfield road – Junction 29A from M1 Motorway – SK471706)

Approaching the town along the Chesterfield Road, the impressive-looking Bolsover Castle dominates the skyline. The late Roy Christian, who did more than anyone to open the eyes of the public to the beauties of Derbyshire. Famously wrote of Bolsover, ‘Approaching it (Bolsover) from Chesterfield, there is one dramatic moment when you leave a rather dreary industrial landscape and suddenly find yourself climbing up into what appears to be some lovely hill town in Tuscany’. Praise indeed, for what is often an underrated town that needs to be visited to be appreciated.

Bolsover was one of the first towns in Derbyshire to hold a market charter. However, once the traditional trades of buckle making and clay pipe manufacturing declined, the town began to decline as well. The turning point came in 1891 when Emerson Bainbridge founded the Bolsover Colliery Company. He sank a pit to the west of the town and built a model village called New Bolsover to house colliery workers and their families.

Among Bolsover’s sporting heroes, Stanley Worthington remains the only Derbyshire-born player to score a Test century for England; he also helped Derbyshire win the County Championship in 1936. Another cricketer and footballer from Bolsover, Charles Elliott (Charlie), who played for Derbyshire between 1932 and 1953 in two spells, also helped the club win the title in 1936. He later became an international cricket umpire.

BOLSOVER CASTLE

William Peveril built the first castle in Bolsover after being given the land by William the Conqueror. The Keep was added about 100 years later. After a succession of owners, the castle came into the hands of the Talbot family. In 1608, it was leased to Sir Charles Cavendish, who purchased it five years later. All along the ridge on the southwestern side of the town, Cavendish had a pipe laid to carry water from Springfield to Bolsover Castle. Four Conduit Houses were built across the ridge, which may have provided security for maintenance workers. They also added to the prestige of the castle’s defensive capabilities. A track connects the conduits, which offers excellent views across the valley. 

At the end of the Second World War, the castle was in a state of ruin, and the owner, unable to afford the cost of restoration, donated it to the nation. Gradually, the castle was restored, with parts opened to the public. However, it was in the late 1990s, when a project to fund the revitalisation of the historic centre of the town and the castle, that the restoration work was completed and a new visitor centre, shop, and café were built. The castle is in the hands of English Heritage and is one of Derbyshire’s most important assets.

BONSALL (2.5 miles northwest of Cromford, off the A5012 Cromford to Grangemill road– SK279553)

The ancient former lead mining village of Bonsall was once described by the Daily Mail as ‘the healthiest village in England’, because of the long life spans of its inhabitants who were kept fit by climbing its long streets. The street from The Pig of Lead to the upper end of the village entails a climb of 450 feet.

Little groups of cottages huddled together on odd plots of land along winding streets add to the charm of this attractive, scattered village. At the centre of which is the King’s Head, a delightful 17th-century inn. It stands behind a much-photographed market cross with a slender circular shaft topped by a ball and surmounted by 13 steps.

Bonsall is a village full of surprises. Not only does it have connections to UFOs, but millions of years ago, Ember Lane was the site of a volcanic eruption. Add to this that Stepping Lane’s resurfacing was by German Prisoners of War in the 1940s, but that does not seem at all unusual when you learn that a skull thought to be that of a mammoth was found in a cave nearby.

BONSALL – BARLEY MOW

The Barley Mow is the home of the world hen racing championship. It takes place annually in the pub car park. Over the years, the event has garnered considerable media attention and has even gained international recognition. It first took place at the Barley Mow in 1992, but locals claim that the tradition dates back to well over 100 years, when local farmers in the village would bet a penny and race their hens past a bucket.