Country Images Magazine North April 2018 | Page 10

During Matlock’s hey-day as a Victorian spa, it became popular for
businessmen to build their homes nearby, handily convenient to the
numerous mini-spas that followed those started by John Smedley. With
the demise of the fashion for immersion in cold water, one of them became
a minor public school for daughters of the clergy. Known as St Elphin’s
it moved to Darley Dale from its original site in Warrington to escape a
cholera epidemic. One of its pupils (although she had left before the school
moved to Matlock) was Richmal Compton, author of the famous Just
William stories. Since the sudden and unexpected closure of the school
in March 2005, the building has been steadily expanded into a high class
retirement home.
One of the businessmen who made Darley Dale his home was Sir Joseph
Whitworth, engineer, inventor and philanthropist. He came to the area in
1854 when he bought Stancliff e Hall. By this time he was well established
as an engineer based on his company in Manchester, specialising in making
machine tools. One of his many inventions and innovations was to
advocate a standard and uniform screw thread – until then every implement
and machine had its own uniquely threaded screws. He also designed a
measuring device that was accurate to a millionth of an inch – a bass relief of
this machine is featured on Sir Joseph Whitworth’s memorial in Darley Dale
Park. His philanthropy covered such things as a scholarship for graduate
engineers studying at Manchester University, but he also helped the village
where he had made his home. Th e Whitworth Hotel and adjacent Institute
are the most tangible eff ect of his caring nature. Probably the biggest ‘village
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hall’ in the country, it provides space for public meetings, conference and
lecture halls, theatrical events, indoor sports, mother and baby meeting
space. Despite its grandeur, the Whitworth Institute as it is offi cially
known, is about half the size of its original plan, something the present-
day management committee must be grateful for, in the face of ever rising
heating and maintenance costs.
Joseph Whitworth as he was when he fi rst came to live at Stancliff e Hall, did
not have the luxury of travelling into Manchester by train – had to travel by
way of Ambergate and Sheffi eld. Th is came later when George Stephenson’s
railway that had been steadily making its way through the Midlands from
London made its way up the Derwent Valley. For years the line had ended
at Rowsley, prior to its intended routing under Chatsworth Park to link
with the Sheffi eld to Manchester line at Grindleford. It was only aft er a lot
of negotiating by the Duke of Rutland, that the line took the more diffi cult
route through Monsal and Miller’s Dale. A large marshalling yard was built
near Rowsley, providing employment in the area – the sturdy stone-built
terraced houses near Broadwalk in the centre of Daley Dale, were initially
the homes of railway workers and their families.
Not only did the railway bring work to the area, but it led to changes to the
names of the tiny hamlets surrounding Darley Dale, along with the name
of the village itself. All this came about as the result of the local vicar, the
Rev. Daniel Vawdry’s plan to put the place on the map as an inland holiday
resort. No doubt Whitworth had a hand in it, but the station was a rather