Sunday 23 December 2012

Crich Stand & The Lumsdale Waterfalls..

With the sun rising at 8:17am our departure time today was 8:00am so we thought we would have a quick visit to Crich Stand. We got there just as the sun was just back lighting some clouds.
St. Mary's Church Crich
We parked on the main road and walked along a new footpath to the bottom gate which leads up to the Memorial Tower.
First encounter was a friendly donkey no doubt looking for some food.
Hungry donkey
After "chatting to the donkey" we walked up to the stand, the wind was blowing and howling and it felt very cold. The views from the top were spectacular. As well as the stand there is a beacon and a trig point on this hill.
Riber castle visible on the horizon
 Roman coins and artefacts have been found around the site at Crich Stand where they once mined for lead. In 1734 there were several lime kilns near the footpath that was used by Salt merchants transporting there goods by mule or packhorse's from the Cheshire area.
 The hill was the site of a beacon in 1588 where it was used to signal the sighting of the Spanish armada in the English Channel. It was lit again to celebrate Drake’s stunning victory.
A wooden tower was erected in 1760 to commemorate the accession of King George 111. After several years of disrepair it was replaced by a stone tower in 1788 by Francis Hurt the local Lord of the Manor. This tower was rebuilt in 1849 and finished in time for the great exhibition of 1851.
After a landslide that made the tower unsafe, it had to be rebuilt again in 1922, being completed in 1923. The beacon on the top of the tower was installed in 1934 and consisted of a 75,000 candle power lamp.
Since August 1923 the tower has been the memorial to the Sherwood Foresters Regiment.
Crich Stand silhouetted against the morning sky.
Geoff, Rob & Ike



This stone beacon was built in 2002 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee  of Queen Elizabeth 11


This stone beacon was built in 2002 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee  of Queen Elizabeth 11
The Stone Beacon with the Crich Memorial Stand in the background
The old Derby Assembly Rooms was built between 1765 and 1774. After a fire in 1963 the facade was stripped down and relocated to the Crich Tramway Village and was opened in 1974.
We had a stroll down to the front of the Crich Tramway Village 
with good views of the old Derby Assembly rooms
Another view of St. Mary's Church
After Crich we still had plenty of time so we thought we'd have a trip around to Lumsdale. After all the rain we've had the waterfalls should be in full flow.
A keen photographer at work
 Lumsdale valley waterfalls and ruined mill buildings. Some of these old mills are thought to date from the 16th century. These spectacular waterfalls are in a remote narrow valley in Lumsdale near Matlock in Derbyshire. The millpond at the top of the valley is at an elevation of some 598ft and by the time it gets down several falls it levels out at about 350 ft. The water comes from the Bentley brook and it was used to power water mills in the 16th century, pre dating the world famous Cromford mills which are just a few miles down the road. There are still several ruins of the old mill buildings which are now under the protection of the Arkwright Society. 

This shot shows the extent of the waterfall system





This is from the top looking down.



The upper Pond
The upper pond
Mill cottages
This flue is now visible only because they have removed a couple of huge tree's from in front of it
Another cracking morning, cold and windy up on Crich Stand, calm and a lot warmer down in Lumsdale.
Just settle down now and get ready for Xmas.
Merry Christmas to all
Cheers
Jim






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