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Photographs of Belper, Derbyshire
in England

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Belper. This is located in Derbyshire.


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• Photos of Belper, Derbyshire, England
Belper is a medium sized town located between Milford and Matlock Bath on the A6 road.

Until Jedediah Strutt came to Belper in 1776, it was a small town well known for producing Nails. These quality nails were used throughout the world. If your surname is Naylor then it is most probable that your family originate from Belper.

Jedediah Strutt developed a knitting machine, which made his fortune; He then went into partnership with Richard Arkwright to build the first water powered cotton spinning mills here. Over a period of 27 years from 1786 a collection of six mills were built.
The original North mill was destroyed in a fire in 1803 and was rebuilt by his son William, This time he built it out of Iron and bricks so it was fire proof.
To this day it is recognised as one of the worlds most important industrial buildings.

Today only the North and East mills remain, The East mill was built by the English Sewing Cotton Company in 1912.
The North mill is open to the public and I would recommend that you take a tour round this building. You can have a guide or use the magic wands for commentary.

Between 1838 and 1840 the North Midland Railway was built through this town, it was engineered by George Stephenson. The unusual feature about the path of the railway through Belper is the fact that Mr Strutt did not want to see the trains, Because of this fact the railway lines run in a cutting. This means no level crossings or footbridges were required. On long row you can see where some houses were demolished to make way for this cutting.
The new passenger station on King street was opened on 10th March 1878, The original train station is now covered by the supermarket.


Photo Description : Flying Geese Sculpture
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-01
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This sculpture was erected in April 2000 to mark the Millenium in Belper. It is located in the round-a-bout on the A6 as you enter Belper from Milford.
The Millenium flying Geese Sculpture was commissioned by Belper District Council to celebrate the millennium and is 5 metres high. The theme of "Flying Geese" is said to have been inspired by the bird life on the River Derwent – though many locals are not really in favour of the huge flock of Canada Geese which have colonised the River Gardens because they make such a mess with their droppings.
It used to be a pleasant walk along the riverside in the River Gardens but not since the geese arrived.

The river has of course been very important in the development of Belper – particularly after the development of the mills by the Strutt family. This is reflected in the decorations on each side of the sculpture’s plinth. One side depicts a Water Wheel reflecting the fact that the major industry in Belper was for many years powered by the flow of water along the River Derwent.
Another side depicts a Cotton Reel reflecting that Belper’s major industry, until English Sewing caused massive unemployment in the 80’s by moving the industry to another area "to relieve unemployment there", was the spinning of cotton.

For almost 200 years cotton had been spun and woven in Belper and exported throughout the world – including stockings for Queen Victoria! The Weaving side of the industry is depicted on another side of the plinth by a "Shuttle".
The last side, with two crossed nails surmounting the words AD 2000, depicts Belper’s oldest industry – the manufacture of nails – either in lean-to’s against a nailer’s cottage or in small sheds in their gardens. An example of one of these Nailer’s sheds can still be seen on Joseph Street. .

The sculpture was designed by Paul Margetts whose studio, Forging Ahead, is in Belbroughton just south of Birmingham in another area where nail-making was a traditional industry.
Paul began working in metal as a blacksmith in Worcestrshire in 1975 and after a number of years travelling overseas, including a spell training rural smiths in Zimbabwe, returned to Birmingham Polytechnic to study Art and Design.
His sculptures are to be found in an impressive list of sites all over the country but he also does more ‘domestic’ items – in fact the Flying Geese can be purchased as a Garden ornament!

I would like to thank Tony Winslade (qualified Blue Badge Guide for Belper) for this information.







Photo Description : White Swan pub
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-02
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This is the White Swan Public House located at 21 Market Place, Belper.
Photo Description : George and the Dragon pub
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-03
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This is the George and the Dragon Public House on Bridge Street (A6).
Photo Description : The Butts and Fountain
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-04
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : The waterless fountain seen here was errected in appreciation of George Henry Strutt and formerlly opened by the Hon Frederick Strutt of Milford House. This is a view of the waterless fountain at Belper Market Place.
The road to the left is High Pavement - The Butts is the area at the top of High Pavement on the other side of Nottingham Road and adjoining the entrance to St John's Chapel. The Butts takes its name from an medieval edict that all able men should practice their archery after Sunday worship. So this area next to the only place of worship in Belper at the time became the Archery Butts.

Photo Description : King Street view
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-05
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This is King Street as viewed from the bottom on Chapel Street.
Photo Description : Bridge Street view
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-06
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This is Bridge Street as viewed from King Street. On the right side of the photo is the HSBC Bank.

Photo Description : King Street in Belper town centre
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-07
Exact map location : Click HERE
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is King Street, which is the main shopping street in the centre of this town, It was due to the railway opening here in 1878 that this area became popular.
Photo Description : Duke of Devonshire pub on Bridge street.
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-08
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is one of many pubs in Belper.
Belper has a lot of pubs, this was due to the thirst of the Nail makers.

Photo Description : Long Row view 1
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-9
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is Long Row, These houses were built for the mill workers in 1793. This street has a cobbled road surface.
Photo Description : Long Row view 2
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-10
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is a photo of the bottom of Long Row.
Photo Description : Long Row view 3
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-11
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is another photo of Long Row.

Belper Mills

Photo Description : East Mill and Derwent bridge.
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-12
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This is East Mill as viewed from the bank of the River Derwent below the Horshoe weir. The stone road bridge was built in 1796, widened in 1956 and replaces a bridge from the fourteenth century which was destroyed by floods in 1795. The bridge was built by Isaac and Benjamin Marshall at a cost of £2180.
Photo Description : East Mill
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-13
Exact map location : Click HERE
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is East Mill, located on the corner Bridge Hill and Matlock road. It was built by the English Sewing Cotton Company in 1912.

Photo Description : More mill buildings and the gangway
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-14
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is the "gangway" built in 1795 to join the mill buildings across the road.
Photo Description : The Jubilee Bell from 1887
Image Reference No. : DP-010701BELPE-15
Date photo taken : 1st July 2001
Other Information : This is the Jubilee Bell which was produced in 1887 to celebrate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria and was placed in a clock tower on West mill (4 floors out of original 6 in the West mill are now demolished). This bell now rests in the North mill visitor centre.
Photo Description : The basement in North mill
Image Reference No. : DP-010701BELPE-16
Date photo taken : 1st July 2001
Other Information : This is the basement of the Mill, These pillars support the ironwork above. This is the floor that houses the main water wheel.
This area was flooded in November 2000 and again on February 2002.

Photo Description : The Water wheel housing area
Image Reference No. : DP-010701BELPE-17
Date photo taken : 1st July 2001
Other Information : This is the area where the original water wheel was housed. The wheel was 5.5 Metres in Diameter & 7 metres wide.
It produced enough power to supply 4236 spindles and lots of other machinery.
The wheel was built by Thomas Hewes.
Photo Description : The gear block
Image Reference No. : DP-010701BELPE-18
Date photo taken : 1st July 2001
Other Information : This is where the water wheel gear block would be sited. The door ahead is where the wheel was located.
Photo Description : Water powered spinning machine.
Image Reference No. : DP-010701BELPE-19
Date photo taken : 1st July 2001
Other Information : This is one of the water powered spinning machines.







Belper River Gardens
Photo Description : The weirs next to the mill on the River Derwent.
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-20
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : The first weir was built in 1775 to serve Strutt's first mill, then in 1797 the Horseshoe weir was built across the main channel of the Derwent.
I took this photo from Belper bridge which was built in 1796
Photo Description : Belper River Gardens
Image Reference No. : DP-240803BELPE-21
Date photo taken : 24th August 2003
Other Information : This summer view is a typical scene on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Photo Description : Belper River gardens
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-22
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is the river gardens next to the mill. These were created by George Herbert Strutt in 1905. The Belper river gardens has flower beds, Arboretum, Bandstand, Water gardens, children's play area and a boating lake.
Photo Description : Belper River gardens
Image Reference No. : DP-290601BELPE-23
Date photo taken : 29th June 2001
Other Information : This is the river gardens looking in the direction of the Mill.









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