TIDESWELL TO TORRS RIVERSIDE PARK
A TO Z – DERBYSHIRE AND THE PEAK DISTRICT – CHAPTER 50
TIDESWELL (half a mile south of the A623 Baslow to Chapel-en-le-Frith road – SK152754)
Tideswell is a large, very well-kept, upland village of considerable character, ablaze with colour in the summer with hanging baskets and flower tubs everywhere. It was granted a market charter in 1250, and although the market has long since ceased, it still retains the air of a bustling, small market town. The wide main street and magnificent parish church, often referred to as ‘the Cathedral of the Peak,’ would not be out of place in a much larger place.
It has been said that Tideswell is ‘too big to be a village and too small to be a town.’ The population of approximately 2,000 has remained relatively stable over the past 200 years. The street scene has changed little, despite some buildings being repurposed. Amongst the village’s maze of alleyways and lanes are many buildings of architectural interest. None more so than Tideswell Grammar School, founded in 1559 by Bishop Pursglove. Eccles Hall and Blake House, both notable Georgian constructions, provided accommodation for staff and pupils. Bagshaw Hall, overlooking the old marketplace, was built in 1872 as the Odd Fellows Hall. With its giant pilasters and commanding position, it certainly attracts attention. In recent years, Tideswell has won both the Derbyshire Best Kept Village Award and the East Midlands section of Britain in Bloom Contest on several occasions.
TIDESWELL – ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH
The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, with its superb pinnacle tower, has dominated the village for over 600 years. The building began in 1346 and was not completed until 50 years later. The Black Death, which swept the country, interrupted work for a lengthy period in its early stages. Inside, the church is spacious and lofty, with many fine carvings, brasses, and stained-glass windows.
Samuel Slack, born in Tideswell in 1757, was a noted bass singer. He was commanded to sing before George III, and as a young man, he competed for a place in the College Choir at Cambridge. After he had sung, there was a stunned silence, and none of the other contestants took the opportunity to sing after such a superb performance. Such was the high opinion of Singer Slack that he was invited to lead the choir in Westminster Abbey. He declined, preferring to sing with his friends in the village.
One interesting story of Slack’s exploits tells the tale of how he lay down in a field to recover from a bit of overindulgence at the pub, only to be aroused by a snorting bull. Restored to sobriety, he jumped up and gave such a loud bellow that the animal took fright.
TINTWISTLE (1 mile north of Glossop, on the A628 Manchester to Sheffield road – SK 024973)
Tucked away in the northwest corner of Derbyshire is the village of Tintwistle, or ‘Tinsel’ as it is called locally. Dating back to Saxon times, it is situated towards the end of the stunningly beautiful Longdendale Valley. This description can change suddenly when the weather alters, for this is Pennine country at its wildest on either side of the valley.
Tintwistle is situated on the boundaries of Cheshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire, offering panoramic views of the glorious countryside, looking up the Longdendale Valley. The landscape, however, has changed over the years following the construction of reservoirs along the valley. Fortunately, Tintwistle Cricket Club, one of the oldest in the country, formed in 1835, had moved before the Arnfield Reservoir flooded its former ground. The club now plays on Speedwell in a different part of the village. Another significant change, this time a paper one, came about as a result of the Local Government Act of 1972 coming into force. Until 1974, Tintwistle Rural District was part of the administrative county of Cheshire. But, as a result of the act, it became part of the High Peak District of Derbyshire. As a consequence, the inhabitants of Tintwistle found themselves living in another county without moving an inch.
TISSINGTON (off the A515 from Ashbourne {3.5 miles} to Buxton road – SK175524)
Tissington is one of the prettiest and most unspoilt villages in the country. A sense of something rather special fills the minds of visitors who enter the village from the east, off the main Ashbourne to Buxton Road. First, you pass through large rusticated lodge gates and then along an avenue of fine-looking 200-year-old lime trees. Surprisingly, the village is reached before the hall. The pretty collection of limestone cottages and well-tended gardens is set behind wide grass verges and backed by mature trees. It gives a feeling of peace and tranquillity. No planner designed it. The beauty of the village is the result of evolution.
St Mary’s Church rises steeply above the main road through Tissington with a sparkling stream flowing close to the entrance to the churchyard. Built early in the 12th century, but heavily restored 700 years later, it features a massive Norman tower with four-foot-thick walls and a well-preserved Norman doorway. Inside, there is a 17th-century baroque-style memorial to the FitzHerbert family, a finely carved communion rail, and an early Norman font that bears crude symbolic carvings. A surprise awaits at Yew Tree Cottage, where part of the building has been converted into a small candle workshop. Formerly a Blacksmith’s house, it is decorated with motifs of the trade. The Wright family was a blacksmithing family in the village for 90 years. In front of the cottage is Yew Tree Well.
TISSINGTON HALL
Further up the main village road is Tissington Hall, a fine Jacobean Manor House, standing in a slightly elevated position above the road behind a walled garden. The wall is broken only by a handsome 17th-century gateway with wrought iron gates by the famous Derbyshire blacksmith, Robert Bakewell. The house was built in 1609 by Francis FitzHerbert, but his descendants have significantly extended it. It replaced an earlier hall, which stood on the opposite side of the road within the confines of an ancient Derbyshire hill fort. Sir Richard FitzHerbert, the 9th Baronet, and Lady Caroline FitzHerbert and their children occupy the hall.
The hall has undergone considerable alterations over the years. In the early 18th century, the west front was given a facelift in the fashionable Palladian style of the early Georgian period, and most of the mullions on the east front were replaced with sash windows. The process was reversed early in the 20th century when the house was enlarged by the addition of a mock Jacobean wing with a library and billiard room overlooking the garden. It is open to the public at certain times of the year, as listed on the hall’s website.
TISSINGTON TRAIL (runs from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay)
Following the closure of the railway line in the 1960s, the track bed was removed and the line was converted into a trail. This experimental scheme was one of the first of its type in the country. It has been a great success since opening to the public in June 1971. Large numbers of people are attracted at weekends throughout the year and every day during peak holiday periods. The Tissington Trail runs along a 13-mile route from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay. At this point, it joins up with the High Peak Trail, which runs from High Peak Junction to Dowlow near Buxton. Surrounded by beautiful countryside, the traffic-free trail is ideal for horse riders, cyclists, naturalists and walkers.
TISSINGTON WELL DRESSINGS
Tissington is renowned as the birthplace of well dressing, and people from all over the world come to witness the annual well dressing ceremony. It takes place on Ascension Day, when five attractive wells are decorated, along with a children’s well. The dressing consists of erecting boards covered in clay, into which thousands of flower petals are pressed to create an elaborate tableau of some biblical or topographical scene. Well dressing probably took place in 1350, in thanksgiving for the village’s escape from the Black Death, attributed to the purity of its water. Wells have been dressed ever since, but not in a completely unbroken succession. The precise origins of well dressing are unknown, but it may date back to before the Roman era.
TORRS RIVERSIDE PARK
The Torrs Riverside Park provides access to a dramatic gorge and an area of stunning natural beauty. The Park also contains the remains of an important industrial area, with the Millennium Walkway winding its way for 125 yards through the gorge. It hugs a tall retaining wall before running along pillars rising from the riverbed. The walkway forms the final link in the 225-mile-long Midshires Way from the Trans Pennine Trail in Stockport to the Ridgeway in Buckinghamshire.
Following massive reclamation work, the ‘Park under the town’ has taken over land left derelict by industry and now extends for two miles along the Goyt Valley. Trees have been planted, ponds created, and easy-access paths installed. The 25-acre Goytside Meadows Nature Reserve is open to the public at the Park’s southern end.
When the Industrial Revolution swept the country, The Torrs was ideal for spinning and weaving, driven by waterpower. Set in a natural gorge, New Mills had the joint waterpower of the Rivers Sett and Goyt. Rocky waterfalls and cascades allowed the construction of weirs to provide a controlled water supply. The ledges above the floodwater level were ideal for building along the riverbank, and the sandstone rocks at the side of the gorge meant the builders did not have to go far for their materials.
In 1884, the problem of access between New Mills and Newtown, on opposite sides of the gorge, was solved by building the mighty Union Road Bridge, one of the highest road bridges in this part of the country. Despite this, it hardly seems as if you are crossing a bridge because the high parapets hide the view of the gorge.
When steam power started replacing water, the mills in the Torrs Gorge became virtually inaccessible due to their narrow, steep roads. The solution came by building the next generation of mills on high ground on the other side of the gorge at Newtown. Close to the Peak Canal and railway station.