Month: May 2024

What’s in a name?

On By SteveIn PeopleLeave a comment
Sign near Holbrook

There are several ‘portways’ in England, such as the route over the Long Mynd in Shropshire, but the Derbyshire Portway seems to be the longest and the best-researched. The route in Derbyshire was first suggested by Cockerton, an historian from Bakewell in the 1930s, who based his idea of a long-distance route on a string of ‘port’ place names such as Alport and Alport Height, which can be linked together in a roughly north-south alignment by existing tracks and paths. These place names are reinforced by references to a ‘Portwaye’ in some medieval documents and two Portway lead mines. Cockerton discussed the origin of the name ‘Portway’ at length, without coming to a definite conclusion. But it seems clear that the word is Anglo-Saxon, and was applied by them to pre-existing, non-Roman routes. Some have suggested an origin linked to ‘porter’, that is someone who carries, but then all roads are for carrying goods. The common Anglo-Saxon word for road was ‘way’, except for the old Roman roads which were ‘streets’. So a ‘portway’ was something special.

The line of the Portway running south from Cratcliffe Rocks, turnpike road to left

A ‘port’ suggests a place of safety and shelter, so I think a portway was a a long-distance route which had ‘ports’ for travellers at intervals of roughly ten miles. These might have been similar to the caravanserai found in the Middle East – defensive sites where wayfarers could sleep, cook and graze their animals overnight. In Derbyshire these are likely to have been on high ground for defence, and a string of probable sites can be identified, from north to south: Mam Tor, Fin Cop, Cratcliff Rocks, Harborough Rocks, Alport Height, Arbour Hill at Dale and Arbour Hill in Wollaton Park. It is noteworthy that three of these have a similar ‘arbour’ component, and a harbour of course is similar to a port.

Harborough Rocks, between Wirksworth and Brassington

Several of these sites, including Mam Tor, Fin Cop and Harborough, have been excavated and evidence of occupation, such as pottery, has been found. But permanent settlement in such high and waterless places seems unlikely, while the designation ‘hill fort’ is too vague. Far more likely that they served to protect tired travellers, and thus answered a question too rarely asked by pre-historians – how did merchants, drovers, priests, soldiers and pilgrims make lengthy journeys before the arrival of inns?

Romantic Buxton?

On By SteveIn People1 Comment

Arnold Bennett’s masterpiece, The Old Wives’ Tale, published in 1908, is set in the mid-nineteenth century, and tells the contrasting stories of two sisters, Sophia and Constance. The latter spends her life running the family drapers’ shop in Stoke on Trent, while her sister has a more adventurous life in Paris. When Constance marries, Buxton is chosen for their honeymoon, a relatively short ride on the then North Staffordshire Railway:

“They had a way of saying: ‘Yes, we always go to Buxton. We went there for our honeymoon, you know.” They had become confirmed Buxtonites, with views concerning St Anne’s Terrace, the Broad Walk and Peel’s Cavern. They could not dream of deserting their Buxton. It was the sole possible resort. Was it not the highest town in England? Well, then!

The man himself

Bennett, who was a francophile and had lived in France since 1903, was clearly being satirical at the expense of these provincial folk:

“They always stayed at the same lodgings, and grew to be special favourites of the landlady, who whispered of them to all her other guests as having come to her house for their honeymoon, and as never missing a year, and as being most respectable, superior people in quite a large way of business. Each year they walked out of Buxton station behind their luggage on a truck, full of joy and pride because they knew all the landmarks, and the lie of all the streets, and which were the best shops.”

Park views

However, any holiday would be a luxury for working people in the 1870s, and ten days in Buxton would demonstrate that Mr and Mrs Povey were prosperous folk. The spa waters of the town have attracted visitors since Roman times (and probably earlier), though tourists in the eighteenth century frequently complained of the quality of accommodation. It was not until the Dukes of Devonshire made serious investments, such as building The Crescent, and the arrival of the railway in 1863, that large number of visitors began arriving. Today a rejuvenated town still attracts holidaymakers, although unfortunately the excellent Museum and Art Gallery has been closed indefinitely due to the discovery of dry rot.