Tranquil Dale …well it is today

Bradford Dale, Derbyshire

A tranquil scene, deep slow moving water of the River Bradford flow through a dark heavily wooded section of this Derbyshire Dale.

The River is one of the county’s shortest, barely 2 miles from source to its end when it joins the Lathkill.

Nor, for most of that length, is the Bradford carving its natural way through this limestone valley for over the centuries man has harnessed and used the waters in many ways. One clue is in the image above…a cast iron sluice gate, one of several along the river used in conjunction with constructed dams to create Fish Ponds for Trout and to control the rivers flow down the valley.  These ponds were installed in the 1880/90’s

In parts through neglect the river is silted and overgrown and the habitat drastically changed and not for the best….but maybe one day with a little care the Dale will be back to former glory.

Not that Bradford Dale hasn’t seen change before. Farming and in particular sheep farming still continues on the hills surrounding the dale.  But for several centuries this was a busy Lead Mining area, even the Romans had an interest in this counties mineral wealth.

So it is not surprising to discover old mine workings now well hidden in the undergrowth…

Many entrances to the mines are just slits cut into the Limestone cliff others are shafts driven down into the earth….often the later had buildings like those above built over the shaft so the miner could live on site to protect his workings.

Lead was indeed a very valuable commodity and transporting it to the Lead markets was also a risk.  Packhorses and carts were slow so along the various bridleways and packhorse routes that crisscrossed the county, Lead Ore Houses were constructed……

Look upon these simple, but solid buildings, as the equivalent of a Banks Night Safe Deposit Box.  This one is a Winster crossroads and a handy distance from Bradford Dale.

It is hard at times for visitors to this part of Derbyshire to imagine that the calm landscape they view today was once a busy industrial haven…

Youlgrave, nestling on the hillside above Bradford Dale

25th September

(C) David Oakes 2015