A Sentimental Journey
- No. 10
Crich - National Tramway Museum
w/e 09 December 2012
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Gonna take a Sentimental Journey, Gonna set my
heart at ease.
Gonna make a Sentimental Journey, to renew old memories.
There's nothing very remarkable about this set of images and
thousands of visitors to the Crich Tramway Village will have
very similar pictures many of them also showing the old trams
on the tracks. Although the main season for tourism is over,
in recent weeks a section of the museum has been open to the
public and admission has been free. Several "Winter Craft
Workshops" have been held indoors but we just took the opportunity
to wander around the sparsely populated site. Just why this visit
turned out to be a "Sentimental Journey" for my wife
Sandra, will be revealed later.
 The
front facade of the building nearest to the entrance and visible
from the road passing the National Tramway Museum used to grace
the centre of Derby as the Assembly Rooms but was "Presented
and re-erected by the Corporation of Derby unveiled in the presence
of His Worship the Mayor of Derby, June 9th 1976 by His Royal
Highness The Duke of Gloucester." The Assembly Rooms stood
in Derby from 1765 until 1974 before they were demolished to
make way for the redevelopment in the area. Now at Crich, the
building houses an exhibition looking at modern tramway systems
in the country.
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The trams do not run during this winter season but the ornate
"Stop" sign is worthy of closer inspection and is another
example of the pride and work that originally went into what
really is just a piece of street furniture. The two storey building
seen across the tram tracks behind the sign is the Stephenson
Workshop and only last week (December 5th 2012) it was announced
that the project to restore the derelict workshop had won a National
Award (Click here to read more).
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The restored workshop is attached to a more modern building that
was opened in 2002 and where, from a viewing gallery, visitors
can observe work that is being carried out to restore and maintain
the old trams.
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The award winning Stephenson Workshop is accessed from the viewing
gallery and since 2011 it has been a Discovery and Learning Centre.
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The Discovery Centre alone is worth a visit to Crich and it contains
a wealth of information covering the history of trams including
a number of interactive displays and lifelike tableaux.
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Back outside a temporary barrier across the road showed the extent
of the site that was currently open to visitors but from it there
was a good view of the Bowes-Lyon bridge. This was originally
cast for the Bowes-Lyon Estate in Hertfordshire in 1844 and when
the museum at Crich is fully open in the main season it is possible
for visitors to walk over it and access a woodland walk, a sculpture
trail and many other attractions on the site.
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There are many buildings and structures of all shapes and sizes
that have been restored, rebuilt and/or re-erected at the museum
including this cattle trough presented by the "Holbrooke
Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association." Holbrook
(now without the "e") is another Derbyshire village
about 7 miles south of Crich.
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The nearby Red Lion came to Crich from a little further away
having previously stood in Stoke on Trent. The building was recorded
as having stood in Church Street, Stoke as early as 1802 but
the frontage seen today dates from the early 1900s. Demolished
in 1973, it was stored in a field until 1986 and eventually the
rebuilding here at Crich was finished in 2001.
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There are many interesting features within the Red Lion too including
the pine boarding of the bar. Much of this originated in Leeds
at the Woodhouse Moor Methodist Church, Hyde Park, Leeds whilst
much of the bar itself came from Nottingham Prison's Staff Social
Club.
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Barnett's Traditional Sweet Shop was not open when we visited
but when it is, it sells a wide variety of confectionery including
many that were favourites in times gone by. Rita's Tea Rooms
behind were open and it's there that we enjoyed a warming cup
of coffee.
So, why was this a "Sentimental Journey"? Well back
before the site was a museum and when it was still a working
quarry, village children used to play in there. Health and safety
in those days was obviously not as stringent as it is today.
During the summer holidays two schoolgirls from Ilkeston used
to catch a bus, changing at Ripley to spend a few days with one
of the girl's grandparents who lived just round the corner from
the quarry in the village. The second of the two young girls
was none other than my wife Sandra.
Cue song:- Gonna take a Sentimental Journey, Gonna set my
heart at ease.
Gonna make a Sentimental Journey, to renew old memories.
If you have a sentimental journey of your own that you would
like featured, email
a few details to me.
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