Smalley Village - Exploring
w/e 23 June 2024
All of this week's
pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300
Smalley Village lies just six
miles from Derby and is even closer to Heanor lying either side
of the main road between the two. In the past I have walked around
and through the village usually during the Autumn Footprints
Walking Festival but I'm still not overly familiar with a lot
of the village. In this short walk of exploration, I touched
on several places I had not set foot on previously and there's
probably still more I have not seen.
I began this exploration outside the Smalley Pre-School, the
postal address of which is given as Church Hall, Main Road. The
building that house the Pre-School though bears all the hallmarks
of a former school and old maps do label it as a Church of England
School. Access gates to St John's Church do indeed stand to the
left of the building and it was through those that I walked.
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The Church of St John the Baptist is the Parish Church of Smalley
and was built on the site of a earlier church in the eighteenth
century. Like many other churches of this age, it has been added
to and altered several times since. A bell tower on the other
side of the church was added in 1912 and has five bells, the
largest of which weighs over two tons. I followed the path through
the graveyard and was surprised to see it led out into a wood
and from there to places unknown. It's probably worth exploring
that at another time but for now I returned to the main road.
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Across the road from the church entrance and the Pre-School stands
a row of cottages. Nothing exceptional about them as far as I
know but they are typical of stone dwellings in many Derbyshire
villages.
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Just around the corner from the cottages is the meeting place
of the Smalley Art Group where artists both professional and
amateur can meet to paint and/or talk to others about art. Stonework
on the gable end show that it was built in 1905 as the Smalley
Institute.
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Across from the Art Group building is a lane and a footpath.
I remember reaching Main Road on one such footpath some years
ago on one of those Autumn Footprints walk so decided to follow
the footpath to see if it jogged any more memories.
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I soon discovered this was not the same footpath I had walked
along previously as it brought me out at the end of a cul-de-sac
which turned out to be Pine Close. I continued along the Close
and thought twice about turning into another footpath which was
cleanly overgrown and little used (see inset).
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Following Pine Close took me on to St John's Road and a right
turn took me back to Main Road.
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Turning left on Main Road soon leads to more familiar territory
and one of the village pubs, The Bell.
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Directly across from The Bell is the Smalley Baptist Church,
a church of the Baptist denomination, not to be confused with
the Anglican Church of St John the Baptist seen earlier.
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But it was the building standing next to the pub that intrigued
me or rather the signs outside which said it was the Richardson
Endowed Primary School. After observing the unusual crown topped
weather vane and taking a closer look at the 28 names in the
Roll of Honour of the "Smalley Boys" who gave their
lives in the First World War on the memorial in the corner of
the playground, I decided to investigate further when I returned
home.
Apparently a family by the name of Richardson
bought Smalley Farm Estate in 1610 together with local coal workings.
Prospering from their acquisitions, descendants of the family,
brothers John and Samuel Richardson, founded a charity early
in the eighteenth century. This benefited not only the coal miners
but also enabled them to endow the free school that was built
in 1721. Just another example of history on our doorstep!
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