Tag: turnpikes

Leashaw: A road to nowhere?

On By SteveIn Places, Road usersLeave a comment
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Road building in Derbyshire can be fraught, especially on steep-sided valleys. At times roads become too expensive to maintain, as happened with the road below Mam Tor, which was abandoned in the 1970s after frequent landslips due to the unstable geology. Following the exceptionally wet autumn and winter of 2023-4 several routes are currently closed, such as Beeley Lane. The village of Holloway has been badly affected; first the Cromford to Lea Bridge road was closed for over a year after flooding from the River Derwent in 2019, and then shortly after that was re-opened the Holloway to Crich road was closed due to a landslip undermining the pavement. This has now been blocked for over a year, and the County Council is not planning to start repair work until mid-2025.

This stretch of road was originally part of the Cromford Bridge and Langley Mill turnpike of 1766, built before the A6 provided a smoother, lower route. The house on the left, above, was one of the toll collectors’ cottages. At that time this would have been a narrow lane with just enough width for two carts or carriages to squeeze past. A report in the Derby Mercury in 1897 of a public meeting in Crich shows that the problems with this road are longstanding:

Mr Shaw brought forward an important matter, that of repairing the turnpike road leading from Bull Bridge to Holloway, stating that he thought, with many others, that the road ought to be taken over by the Derbyshire County Council. It was, however, clearly proved by Mr Dawes and other gentlemen that the County Council had been repeatedly requested to take over this road, but would not do so, their excuse being that there was insufficient through traffic. 

Walkers and cyclists only

It appears that the road was widened, surfaced and the pavement built in the 1930s, by which time the DCC had been obliged to take over maintenance. ‘Shaw’ in place names can mean a wood on a steep bank, and this accurately describes the route on both sides of Wakebridge, and explains why it is so difficult to maintain.

The good old days – the Cliff pub

The situation is not just inconvenient for Crich and Holloway people. Several businesses are struggling with the lack of passing trade: Maycock’s Butchers and the Chase Cafe at the Holloway end, and the Cliff pub (above) at the edge of Crich. It seems that over 250 years after the turnpike was opened, a much wealthier society is unable to keep it open.

Milestoned?

On By SteveIn Roadside features4 Comments

Milestone from Bakewell to Ashbourne turnpike, near Winster

As might be expected, the Romans were the first to use milestones in Britain. Theirs were usually stone cylinders, and a fragment of one is in Buxton Museum. Clearly, they had two useful functions: not only did they tell travellers how far they had to go, but at the same time they provided reassurance that they were on the right road. Unsurprisingly, no Roman milestones survive in situ, and they were not seen here again until the eighteenth century.

Milestone near Matlock Bath

The turnpike trusts seem to have re-introduced milestones on their routes, with each trust using a slightly different style, as seen in the two examples above. Spelling of place names is also non-standardized. Many of these survive, and provide a useful indicator of the routes of different trusts. For instance, on the Alfreton to Ashbourne route, between Crich and Carsington almost all the stones are still in place, although sometimes they are hidden in the undergrowth.

Milepost at Fritchley

In the early nineteenth century some trusts began using iron, possibly because it was cheaper to letter. The above example is on the Cromford to Langley Mill turnpike near Fritchley, and gives more information than the earlier models.

This super-milepost is also made of iron, and is found opposite the Red Lion in Wirksworth. Unusually, it has the name of the iron founders (Harrison of Derby) at the base. Wirksworth was on the route of the Nottingham to Newhaven turnpike, and horses were probably changed at the Red Lion. Newhaven was an important turnpike junction, where coaches would join the Ashbourne to Buxton road.

Finally, it’s worth noting that although today few people use milestones for travel, we still talk about them in everyday conversation, as in ‘she had reached a critical milestone in her life …’. Perhaps a reminder that, at least for pedestrians, every milestone passed was an achievement!