Matlock - Post Lockdown 01
w/e 29 August 2021
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
As the lockdown restrictions began to be eased I
was heard to say on more than one occasion "It would be
nice to get up Derbyshire again even if it is only as far as
Matlock". "Up Derbyshire" in this context meant
north from Ilkeston towards and into the Peak District so when
the opportunity arose when we had nothing else planned for a
few hours we made the 20 mile journey for a change of scenery
in Matlock.
Unfortunately it didn't all go to plan and it took us much longer
to get there than expected. I made the decision to turn off the
more usual direct route to the town and went through Crich, Lea
and Holloway towards Cromford. From there I intended to go through
Starkholmes, Old Matlock and Matlock Green before reaching the
town centre. The road between Lea Green and Cromford was closed
so we had to detour through Tansley where we got stuck in a line
of traffic inching along nose to tail. Eventually we reached
the town and found somewhere to park.
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Children were still enjoying their summer holidays and the town
was busy with pedestrians as well as traffic. A pedestrian crossing
was in constant use and obviously didn't help with the traffic
flow. Making use of the crossing ourselves we made our way across
Crown Square towards Hall Leys Park. This is the view from the
Square up Bank Road to the area known as Matlock Bank.
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We entered the park, a place very familiar to us from our annual
Sunday School outings many, many years ago. An ice cream van
was parked just inside the park but with a cold wind blowing
we decided against sampling the produce opting for a coffee instead.
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We sat for a while in the shelter seen in the previous image
and surveyed the beautiful formal flower beds.
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When we started to walk through the park we passed a Garden of
Remembrance near the formal beds. The notice showed that the
garden is maintained by the Matlock Town Council with the help
of Matlock in Bloom volunteers.
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We followed a path through the park passing tennis courts, a
skateboard park and this building which was doing a very good
trade as the Café In The Park.
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Near the café is the bandstand and two permanent table
tennis tables - and lots of open space.
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Towards the far end of the park from where we entered is the
boating lake which was proving popular with children and adults
alike.
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The play area and splash pool was also very busy.
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And something else that brought memories of those Sunday School
outings was the miniature railway that is still in operation
running a short distance between the River Derwent and Broad
Walk along the edge of the park back towards the town centre.
Click here for more from our stroll
through Matlock.
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