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?