INTRODUCTION

Ripley stands in an elevated position with good views across the valleys of the Amber and Derwent. The marketplace is the focal point of the town; a charter to hold a market and fair on the village green was first granted in 1251 by Henry III. Although the outdoor market is not as busy as it used to be, Ripley is a good place to shop with many independent shops.

INDUSTRY

Since at least the 13th century, coal has been worked in the area, and along with iron became a major industry. In 1790, Benjamin Outram and partners formed the Benjamin Outram Company, which was renamed after he died in 1805 as the Butterley Company to exploit the mineral wealth in the locality. It was Outram who constructed one of the earliest Colliery railway tracks from Ripley to Little Eaton, where it met a branch of the Derby Canal. The town also developed silk and cotton manufacturing.

BUTTERLEY COMPANY

The company engaged in a wide range of projects, including making cannons for the Napoleonic War, cast iron colonnades for the front of London’s Opera House, and, probably most famous of all, helped to rebuild the great cast iron roof at St Pancras Station in London. In later years, it became involved in quarrying and brick making. At its peak in the middle of the 20th century, it employed approximately 10,000 workers.
The town also developed silk and cotton manufacturing and coal mining.

RAILWAY – TRANSPORT

The town was served by Ripley railway station from 1890 to 1951, connecting it to the Erewash Valley Line and the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company. But there were many more railway lines in the area with steam engines pulling heavy trucks laden with coal and other minerals. The Butterley Company had 20 miles of track with attendant noise and smoke lasting all day, making Ripley a far from peaceful town. To add to this, the Butterley furnace yard lit up the night sky with the glow of the fires.

TRADE DIVERSIFICATION

In 1793, the Cromford Canal was completed with a junction at Ripley, the Derby to Chesterfield Turnpike road arrived early in the 19th century and the railway in 1856. Progressively, Ripley emerged as a trading centre as well as an industrial location. In 1860, the Ripley Co-operative Society came into existence and, after moving to larger premises 19 years later, steadily attracted more people from outlying villages to shop in the town.

Industry in the town continued much as it had done in the previous century until the 1960s. When the local coal mines began to close, the Butterley Company began to decline gradually. All this led to the provision of light industrial estates and other forms of employment for many local people.

RIPLEY RATTLER

Between 1913 and 1932, anyone standing in Ripley Market Place would be able to hop on board the ‘Ripley Rattler’ for a ride on what was considered the most dangerous tramway in Britain. It ran for 11 miles, from Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham to Ripley, with several stopping points on the way and was the longest tramway in the world.
The tramway 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, so that when riding from Nottingham, passengers had to endure a succession of swinging movements, the more violent the faster the tramcar travelled. Accidents happened regularly; trams reportedly got jammed under bridges, came off the track, and on one occasion, a double-decker tram crashed into the church wall at Heanor and threw the passengers travelling on the top deck into the graveyard. A woman saving a child from being run over lost her life, and a man named Harry Parkin was honoured for bringing a runaway tram to a halt.