Tuesday 13 November 2012

Following the Cromford Canal ~ 6 ... I visit Hammersmith.

My fifth day following the Cromford Canal was on the 11th July 2010 ... my sixth day was on the 14th January 2011 ~ six months apart. Still I was making progress.

At the start of the sixth day I parked my car under the bridge taking the A38 northwards from Ripley, Derbyshire. There's a small area to park by the side of the road there ...
Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

I should mention that that isn't my car but it is the A38 passing overhead. In fact I recall now, my car was parked back down the road behind me ... not under the A38.

This isn't going to be a walk that the mountain-loving walker is going to like but if you've been following some of my blogs you'll know I don't have to be out in the wilds to enjoy a walk.

So, I left the road shown above by turning right out of the picture, along a footpath, which runs alongside an old railway line which is now part of the Midland Railway Centre ...


Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...  

This brought me to Butterley Reservoir where you can [just] see one of the steam trains at the far end ...


Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...  

I walked around the southern end of the reservoir to reach the Butterley Ironworks or what remains of it. The Ironworks has quite a history ~ Butterley [according to Wikipedia] "produced the iron work for the Vauxhall Bridge over the River Thames". The next time you're at St. Pancras Station see if you can spot the 'Butterley Company' name on some of the ironwork. Clink on this link for a short history of Butterley Engineering by the BBC, this includes 12 great images [including a bit of the reservoir] ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/derby/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8470000/8470702.stm 

This area is known for something else of course ~ the Pentrich Revolution in 1817. This seems to have been a badly organised uprising by 200/300 men who planned to march on Nottingham and then London. They didn't even get as far as Nottingham as the cavalry was waiting for them. A government spy had been amongst them. Over 30 of the men were charged with high treason but only Jeremiah Brandreth, William Turner and Isaac Ludlam were found guiltyand subsequently executed. According to the Cambridge Chronicle and Journal of Friday the 14th November 1817 all three men were hanged at a quarter to one and "... at a quarter past one they were cut down." The dead body of Brandreth who had been 31 at the time of his death "was then laid on the block, with the face downwards ... The executioner then raised [his] axe and struck at the neck with all his force. At that instant there was a burst of horror from the crowd. The executioner then took up the head and ... addressed the people. "Behold the head of Jeremiah Brandreth the traitor." " The bodies of Turner and Ludlam were treated in a simlar fashion before "the heads and bodies were then thrown into the coffins, and all the spectators dispersed." 

They don't write newspaper reports like that nowadays.

The 'revolutionaries' passed the gatehouse at Butterley Ironworks ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...  

A plaque marking that fact ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

I continued, though so far I hadn't seen anything of the Cromford Canal. The Derbyshire Police headquarters are hereabouts though, hence this sign presumably ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

Then I did see something of the canal, well at least an airshaft from Butterley Tunnel through which the canal used to pass ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...  

As I made my way I could see from my OS Map that I wasn't far from the one and three quarter mile long tunnel. I was walking parallel to it though it was some distance below my feet. 

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

Eventually I reached the Newlands Inn at Golden Valley ... far from in its prime ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

Behind it the Cromford Canal, after it had come out of the tunnel ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...  

So now I walked back alongside the canal to reach the Butterley Tunnel. As you can see it is in a poor state ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

There is no towpath in the tunnel and so men on the barges or narrowboats had to rely on "legging". This literally meant lying on a plank across the boat and 'walking' along the sides of the tunnel.

Returning to the Newlands Inn I walked along the road for a short distance before turning into a wood and then walking up a field side towards Forty Horse Wood ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...   

This is where many, many walkers would lose interest because the next section of the walk was alongside an unattractive metal fence separating the countryside [on my right] with an industrial site [on my left] ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...  

You never know what you're going to discover though and a mile later after walking past Sainsbury's on the edge of Ripley [and through some of its streets] I reached Carr Wood which is, more or less, in Ripley ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

Carr Wood [according to the interpretation panel] can be traced back to the 13th century forming part of ancient Duffield Frith. Coal mining though left the site almost bare but as this decreased trees grew and it is now a local nature reserve. It was certainly much more enjoyable than paddling along some of the pavements of the town.

One interesting building I passed whilst paddling along those pavements was the King William Nursing Home ... though when you look closer at the side of the building ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

... you can see the words 'THE HOME BREWERY COMPANY LIMITED' partly hidden by some planters. The brewery ceased to exist some years ago but I spent my late teenage years drinking Home Brewery's Bitter and Home Brewery's Five Star ... with some enthusiasm.

Shortly afterwards I was passing under the A610 linking the A38 with Ripley ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

I always enjoy walking under busy roads with cars and lorries moving at speed way above my head [seriously].

Then I was walking through Hammersmith, complete with street name on the side of one of the terraced houses ...

Another walk based on the Cromford Canal ...

Not everybody's idea of an interesting walk but I found it very enjoyable.
 
Anyone who wants to find out more about the Butterley Tunnel can search for 'Butterley Tunnel' in YouTube and find a video of some guys passing through it [or some of it] in a boat ... and there is more if you put 'Butterley Tunnel' into Google.
 
This walk was followed on the 14th January 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 5 miles *

 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 15.8 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 14th January 2011 ~ 544.85 miles
 
4 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

6 comments:

  1. Well that was quite an history lesson Charlie,some of it quite gruesome. I can see why you like this walk, very interesting.Ann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed it Ann ~ I learnt quite a bit myself looking it up.

      Delete
  2. Maybe not one of the most spectacular walks, but certainly a lot of things of interest along the way. Such a shame that the Cromford Canal, and particularly the Butterly Tunnel are now is such a state of disrepair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you hit the nail on the head ~ not spectacular but interesting. As I think I have mentioned before this is the canal the Friends of Cromford Canal hope to reopen one day. I don't think I will be around to see it !

      Delete
  3. Walking and walking and then the other form, where you never see anything or stop to take pictures. I like your kind of walking. Now we are settled in Ashcroft Village I will start walking the alley and byways to show my blog friends. Your account of the execution is one I believe I read about years ago in a novel. That kind of thing is also one of the reasons I joined Amnesty International. It was a great read again Charlie, and you always inspire me to get off my butt and get some pictures to post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Karyn ~ I will look forward to seeing more of your walks and photographs.

      Delete