Another Thrush

A rare visitor to our garden. A Mistle Thrush, so named for its love of Mistletoe berries.

 Thanks to Nick at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust for identifying these photos of our bird.

In from the cold

Hundreds of bird enthusiasts have descended on Beeley to catch a glimpse of a rare bird.

The Dusky Thrush breeds in Central Siberia, and has been seen in Britain only a dozen time before. The Thrush would normally fly South from Siberia in the Autumn, but, it's believed, that strong Easterly winds blew the bird to the West rather than to the South.

Train crash 1867

On 10^th September 1867 a fatal accident occurred on the Midland line between Peak Forest and New Mills.

A cattle train with twenty-seven wagons containing around a thousand sheep and cows, ran into the rear of a stationery ballast train in Dove Holes tunnel. The force of the collision caused the cattle wagons to become uncoupled from the locomotive. They, immediately, began rolling back down the steep gradient in the direction from which they had come, gaining speed as they went. There were nine people riding on the runaway wagons, eight drovers and the guard. Two or three drovers and the guard jumped off, but the others remained on-board.

The wagons travelled about six miles on the wrong line, before crashing into the engine of an express train near New Mills. It appears that the express train's driver was made aware of the wagons bearing down on him, so stopped, threw the engine into reverse, and then jumped off. At that moment the runaway wagons hit the loco with tremendous force. 

 

Illustrated London News  September 1867

The express train with steam on, but no crew carried on backwards down the falling gradient with its cargo of frightened passengers. It eventually stopped as it reached a section of rising gradient near Romiley about five miles from the collision at New Mills.

Four of the drovers were killed as the cattle train collided with the express. A little girl aged twelve, Martha Vaines, was also killed. Against regulations, she had been given a lift in the rear van of the ballast train, so died in the first collision in the tunnel.  

The accident was caused largely by the actions of an inexperienced signalman at the Peak Forest end of the tunnel. He had, mistakenly, indicated to the signalman at the Chapel-en-le-Frith end of the tunnel, via his instruments, that the ballast train was clear of the tunnel, where in fact, it had stopped to unload ballast. Consequently, the cattle train was allowed to enter the tunnel. The blame was  shared by an official who had passed the Peak Forest signalman as competent after only one month of training.

The Times 11^th & 13^th September 1867

Air crash on Bleaklow

Superfortress

Sixty-eight years ago today, November 3^rd 1948, an American Air Force Superfortress crashed near Higher Shelf Stones on Bleaklow.

The aircraft was flying from Scampton in Lincolnshire to Burtonwood near Warrington in low cloud. The crew misjudged their height as they passed over Bleaklow, and flew into the ground. All thirteen crew members were killed instantly.

That particular Superfortress, with nick name 'Over Exposed', was a photo reconnaissance aircraft, and had seen service at the nuclear bomb tests on Bikini Atoll and during the Berlin Air Lift.

The crash site in 2011

Sixty-eight years on, the wreckage is still visible, as are a number of other crash sites in the Peak District.

Thanks to air crash sites.co.uk for photo of the crash site and for information.

First real frost of the Autumn, -3 Centigrade

Back to Nature

Beet Lane Chinley

Eldon Hole

Eldon Hole is a vertical chasm on the side of Eldon Hill near Sparrowpit. The hole is around sixty meters deep, then leads on to a further cavern.

It was once considered to be 'bottomless'.  Local legend had it that a goose once fell into the hole, and emerged from a cave in Castleton, with its feathers scorched!  The first serious decent was in1780, by a Mr Lloyd, who was lowered to the bottom on the end of a rope.

It is still, with modern equipment, a dangerous descent. A number of videos, taken by cavers, can be viewed on YouTube. 

Milepost

This milepost, showing 4 miles to Chapel-en-le-Frith, is to be found on Rushup Edge.

The post was erected on the Manchester to Sheffield turnpike near to the now abandoned section of the road. It dates from late 18^th or early 19^th Century. The turnpike trusts, which were responsible for the country's roads, were compelled by law to erect mileposts, many thousands of which, survive to this day.

Fernilee Reservoir

Last week Fernilee reservoir was completely full.

Water can be seen running over into the spillway

 

 

 

 

 

The Magpie Mine..

The Magpie mine near Sheldon was the last working lead mine in the Peak District, closing in 1958 following many years of poor results.  Lead had been mined in the Peak District at least since the time of the Romans. There's evidence of much earlier extraction dating back to the Bronze Age. Mining for lead on the Magpie site goes back about three hundred years. 

Some of the remaining buildings at the Magpie mine, which is a scheduled monument, are undergoing repairs. The site is managed by the Peak District Mines Historical Society

There is an open day at the mine on Sunday 11^th September 2016 from 11.00 until 16.00; no booking required. Further details from the Mining Museum's web site.

Magpie Mine

The Plague at Eyam

The Plague arrived in the village of Eyam in September 1665, in a bundle of cloth from London. It was carried by fleas living amongst the cloth bundles. George Vicars, assistant to the tailor who took delivery of the cloth was dead within a week, and others in his family began dying soon after.
The villagers looked to the church officials for leadership. They introduced some measures to prevent the spread of the disease, for example, families had to bury their own dead, and for church services to be held outside.

The most drastic measure taken was to quarantine the whole village to prevent the spread of the disease to surrounding communities. Accounts vary as to the number of Eyam residents who died of plague. There are 273 deaths recorded in Eyam church during the fourteen months the Plague ran its course.

Survival of those affected appears to have been random, as some who survived had been in close contact with others who died. For example, the grave digger, Marshall Howe survived despite handling infected bodies. Elizabeth Hancock was not infected even though she buried her husband and six children in just over a week.

The Hancock family graves on the outskirts of Eyam

 

Visit the museum in Eyam

For the full story of the village and The Plague

Railway Navvies buried alive...

In December 1864, during the construction of the Midland Railway's line from Derby to Manchester, a huge landslip occurred at the mouth of the tunnel at Bugsworth. The slip, consisting of an estimated 200,000 tons of earth, killed one man, and trapped eleven others who were working inside the tunnel. A rescue operation was begun, but it was many hours before the slip could be cleared, and the trapped men reached. 

To the surprise of the rescue party they found the men alive and well. Furthermore, rather than attempt to dig themselves out, the men had decided to carry on with the work of constructing the tunnel. They reasoned that a rescue would be attempted by their colleagues outside, so they might as well keep working (and presumably continue to be paid).

Original Times report

Robert Anstruther, MP, in a letter to the Times, praised the conduct of the men. He said they were, "The sinew and backbone of the nation", and said that, "their heroism and devotion to duty" should be rewarded. He was willing to start the collection by donating £5. History doesn't record whether the navvies received their reward.

Demolition of Bugsworth tunnel 1902

The tunnel was removed in 1902, and replaced with a wide cutting to allow the quadrupling of the tracks.   

 

Evening in Peter Dale

St Joseph's shrine...

 The shrine is situated a little distance from the remains of Errwood Hall in the Goyt Valley. It was built in the late 19^th Century by the Grimshaw family in memory of Miss Dona Maria Dolores de Ybarguen, a Spanish aristocrat, who lived with them at the hall.

The shrine is visited regularly by those offering prayers and by inquisitive passers by. It appears to be well maintained. 

Millers Dale Station..

It was once a busy railway station on the Midland Railway's main line from Derby to Manchester, boasting five platforms.

The Midland main line bypassed Buxton, so passengers for there would travel to and from Millers Dale on the local train, to meet the express trains to Manchester, Derby and beyond.

The station was closed to passengers in 1967, and the rails were lifted the following year.

In some ways the station is busier now than when the trains were running. With its car park, ice cream sellers and toilets, its a popular access point to the Monsal Trail, which runs along the old trackbed.

 Millers Dale in August 1962. Ex LNWR No 49350 hauls a heavy freight through the station.

Millers Dale station today

The Peak Forest Canal

Near Whaley Bridge

Marple

Errwood reservoir in the Goyt Valley

Nearby are the remains of Errwood Hall built around 1840 by Samuel Grimshawe a wealthy Manchester businessman.

Errwood Hall was demolished in the 1930s, after it was compulsory purchased by Stockport Corporation, prior to the building of the reservoir. Although the Hall was on too high a ground to be flooded, the authorities considered it a pollution risk for the reservoir. 

Errwood Hall

Double rainbow over Ladder Hill, Whaley Bridge....

What's in a name...

The village of Buxworth, as it's known now, was once named Bugsworth. For many years there were calls for its name to be changed, and things came to a head around 1930 when the villagers voted in a referendum. The vote was in favour of changing the name to Buxworth. 

A rather scathing report in the Times newspaper, at the time, suggested, that generally speaking, the older inhabitants didn't mind the name Bugsworth, but it was the newcomers who pressed for change. Those the article called, "Uninvited urbans in search of the simple but genteel life".    The article went on to suggest, sarcastically, that other places in Britain may wish to change their names; for example, Houndsditch, Rotten End, Swine's Green, Slaughter and Pig Street. (Incidentally, all places still bearing those names today)

In a second referendum in 1999 a vote to revert to Bugsworth was defeated by those wishing to remain as Buxworth. Ironically, it's reported that, this time, it was possibly the newcomers who wished to change back to Bugsworth.

After more than eighty years, the original name refuses to die.

The canal basin at Buxworth is officially called "Bugsworth Basin", and locals, almost universally, refer to the village as "Bugsworth", or far more often as, "Buggy". 

A Bugsworth well dressing; or should it be Buxworth?