A TO Z HIGHLIGHTS OF SOUTH DERBYSHIRE - PART 8

SCROPTON
Scropton is an ancient parish mostly in Derbyshire and partly in Staffordshire. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was a substantial settlement. Traditionally a farming village Scropton has seen small-scale industrial expansion on its eastern side in recent years.
St Paul’s Church was rebuilt in 1855-56 and contains the tomb chest of Nicholas Agard who died in 1510. His son Arthur Agard was an authority on ancient manuscripts and heraldry and a founder member of the Society of Antiquaries. He is buried at Westminster Abbey. In the graveyard are 16 headstones marking the graves of overseas airmen who died while serving with the RAF training squad at the nearby Church Broughton airfield. The village is home to the Scropton Riding and Driving Centre/Scropton Riding for the Disabled. The venue is one of the best arenas and small event facilities available for hire in the Midlands. Riding lessons are available for all ages from the first-time rider through to the advanced. Riding and carriage driving for adults and children of all ability levels are available.
SHARDLOW
Shardlow is one of the best-preserved inland canal ports in the country. It is a fascinating place to explore, still busy with boats, now used for leisure and not for commerce. The boats range from traditional narrowboats with brightly painted liveries, in summer frequently be-decked with pretty boxes filled with flowers, to pleasure craft of all shapes and sizes. Boat people tend to be friendly and are usually more than happy to exchange a wave or a word or two, which makes a walk along the towpath that much more enjoyable. All this activity is good news for the canal-side pubs, which team with customers in the summer and at the weekend. A stroll along the canal towpath brings you into contact with many of the old buildings of the Canal Age. Mostly now used for different purposes, but still largely intact: the massive warehouses that once stored ale, cheese, coal, cotton, iron, lead, malt, pottery and salt; and the wharves where goods were loaded and unloaded. This is where the skilled craftsmen worked; the boat builders and repairers, the chandlers, rope-makers and blacksmiths.
The coming of the railways in the mid-1800s brought a decline in Shardlow’s prosperity. No longer was the canal busy with long-distance haulage. The warehouses were put to other uses and the area began to decay. A limited amount of canal trade continued until the 1950s when the last delivery of grain was made. The growth of the leisure boat industry in recent years has once again returned Shardlow to its former vibrancy, with the splendid new marina and boat builders’ yard completed in 1975 always busy with boats.


SHARDLOW – DERWENT MOUTH LOCK
Derwent Mouth Lock is the first lock encountered on the Trent and Mersey Canal and there is a special milepost sited alongside the lock that commemorates the canal. The lock gets its name from the point where the canal meets the River Derwent and River Trent, which forms the border between Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The Derwent rises at Swains Greave between Bleaklow and Howden Moors in North Derbyshire. It flows south through Derbyshire for its entire length before joining the River Trent.
SHARDLOW – TRENT AND MERSEY CANAL
The rapid growth of industry in the second part of the 18th century required an improved and inexpensive transportation system if it was to be sustained. Much of the development was inland so the coastal route was usually out of the question. Rivers often obstructed by weirs and fish pools, rarely could be used for long-distance haulage. Roads had been improved by the growth of turnpikes but were not suitable for moving large volumes of goods. Packhorses were still relied on in Derbyshire to transport goods – slowly and laboriously. The time was ripe for a new form of effective transportation of heavy goods. A solution to the transportation problem came when James Brindley from Derbyshire, who could not read or write properly but had a brilliant brain. He astounded other engineers who laughed at his ultimately successful proposal – to find an economical way of transporting coal from the Duke of Bridgewater’s estate at Worsley to Manchester. He did this by building an aqueduct over the River Irwell. It stood on three great stone arches, 17 feet up, with a towpath alongside the canal for the horses to pull the boats the 900 yards to the other side of the river. Brindley’s inventions continued and his most celebrated enterprise was the Trent and Mersey Canal, known as the Grand Trunk. It connected canal systems throughout the country. After it opened Shardlow became an important inland port.


SHARDLOW HERITAGE CENTRE
For more information about Shardlow try the Heritage Centre, run entirely by volunteers, it is only open on a limited basis. Details of which are available on the centre’s website. It is situated in what was a farrier’s shop. The centre is well laid out and packs an incredible amount of information into a small space.
SMISBY
Smisby is a small attractive village set on the Derbyshire and Leicestershire border that also includes the hamlets of Annswell and Boundary. It has a 13th-century church, the remains of a medieval Manor House and more surprisingly a village lock-up as well as a village hall and two pubs, one in the centre of the village.
The area around the village was used by Sir Walter Scott as the base for his historical novel Ivanhoe. A nearby field is thought to be the site of the Tournament Field, mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in his book, where the knights from Ashby Castle held their jousts.

