Holiday Cottages Peak District, The Studio
, Grindleford, S32 2HW, United Kingdom
Email : info@peakdistrictonline.co.uk
Sales Tel : 0845 166 8022
Sales Tel : 0845 166 8022
Belper
The beautiful area of the peak district is vast offering lots of natural scenery and beauty, a haven for nature lovers and those who love fell walking and rambling. There are also many attractive villages and towns that you will come across especially if you are traveling around the area by car. They all offer something different to explore from local museums, quaint tea rooms with home made produce and much more to suit everybody’s taste.
Belper in the peak district is one of these attractive towns to visit if you are in the area; this is a small market town close to the Derwent valley and Derbyshire approximately eight miles north of Derby. Along the western edge of town runs the river Derwent close to the A6 trunk road which was a former turnpike.
The town has a local football team called the “nailers” this name came from the towns past industry of being nail manufacturers the area then was part of the Royal Forest in Derbyshire. The population in Belper in 1740 was around 500, by the late 1830’s this had raised dramatically to around 8,000, this growth was due to Jedediah Strutt and his family who built and introduced the water powered cotton mills.
It was in 1776, that the North mill was started and completed around 1786 sadly this was later destroyed by fire in 1803, thankfully a year later Jedediahs son replaced the building and was admired and proclaimed to be the most beautiful and technologically advanced building of that era possibly due to the fire proof structure with warm air central heating not forgetting the breast shot water wheel.
It was over time that by the late 1792 Belper had five mills, today it is only the North mill that still remains out of all the original mills. This is now home to the Derwent Valley visitors Center and has exhibitions to show and illustrate to people the factory community in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
There are also examples on show for visitors to look at like Arkwrights water frame, Hargreaves spinning jenny and Cromptons mule fascinating for adults and children to view. Examples of stocking making machines and the art of chevening (decorating stockings by hand) can also be seen. School parties are welcome and there is a German language leaflet visits are made by prior arrangement.
The busy town shopping center of Belper has lots of shops for you to browse around if you want to escape all the hustle and bustle you can always take a walk around the River Gardens, these can be found on the north side of the town. The population in Belper today is approximately 20,000 and still growing this may be due to the fact it is an extremely attractive and popular place to live. The annual tradition for the town is well dressing and this takes place every year in mid July.
Belper in the Peak District is a lovely place to visit whether you choose to stay around the town itself, or have a look further outside of the town at all the beautiful countryside. There is plenty of cottages in Belper to be found in and around the town to suit everybody’s taste.
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