Matlock, Derbyshire, England, UK 作者：  来源：  发布时间：2021-01-12

I. Population and Area

Continent: Europe

Country: The U.K

State/Province: England

City/Town: Matlock, Derbyshire

Total Area: 81.4 (sq mi)

Population in 2011: 9.543（thousand） 

II. Natural Geography (environment and resources)

Natural physical features

The main physical features of the Matlock area are the hills and watercourses. The height of the town (above mean level) varies from 91m at Causeway Lane (in the valley bottom) to 203m at the top of Wellington Street. Matlock is overlooked by Riber Castle at 260m from the south-east and by Masson Hill at 339m from the south-west. The first human settlement in the area was in what is now known as Old Matlock or Matlock Green. This was where the Bentley Brook joined the River Derwent. When the town grew in the late 19th century, the town spread up the steep hillsides to the north-east of the narrow valley bottom.

Baileys (corn) Mill on Bentley Brook

Various industries made use of the natural features:

From the south, the Midland Railway reached Matlock Station via a series of short tunnels constructed under the limestone of the gorge.

A cable tramway was constructed to tackle the very steep Bank Road.

Geology

The geology of the Matlock area is extremely complex. Broadly speaking, the Derwent valley bottom forms a boundary between the sandstones and gritstones of the Dark Peak to the NE and the limestones of the White Peak to the SW. There are igneous intrusions into the limestones to the SW.

Bank Road Tram

Matlock taken from Matlock Bridge – looking up the hill of Bank Road across Crown Square (prior to bridge one way system).

In 1893, Matlock Cable Tramway, a cable tramway was built up Bank Road from Crown Square at Matlock Bridge to Wellington Street (at the top of Bank Road) with a stop halfway up at Smedley Street where Smedley's Hydro (built by John Smedley) was situated. Conceived by Job Smith, the tram was inspired by San Francisco's famous cable cars, and cost £20,000. When it was built it was the steepest tramway in the world at a gradient of 1 in 5½, and it rose 300 feet (91 m). The fare was tuppence up, penny down. It closed in 1927[5] after losing business to cars and buses.

Railways

Peak Rail emblem

In 1849, the railway came to Matlock.[5] Matlock railway station was opened on the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, later the Midland line between London and Manchester, until the section between Matlock and Buxton was closed in 1968 following the Beeching cuts. Network Rail considered re-opening the line, with a study carried out by the county council. Although it proved to be unfeasible in the short term, the track bed will be kept free of development as the study showed that the line could be economically viable from around 2025.[17] The section from Wye Dale (about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Buxton) to Coombs viaduct, a point about a mile south-east of Bakewell, has now become the Monsal Trail, an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) walk and cycle trail.

Trains still run between Matlock and Derby on the Derwent Valley Line. Peak Rail, a preserved railway, runs steam trains on a section of the closed line between Matlock, Darley Dale and Rowsley. Previously it used its own station, Matlock Riverside, a short distance to the north of the mainline station, however as of 2011 both Peak Rail and trains on the Derwent Valley Line share the same station.

III. GDP

The Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Chambers of Commerce have welcomed recent positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, which showed the UK economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the last three months of 2013.

The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, confirmed the economy expanded by 1.9 per cent in 2013 – the highest percentage of GDP growth in a calendar year since 2007.

The data is in-line with the Chamber’s own Quarterly Economic Surveys in 2013, which found that locally, the economy grew steadily throughout the year, helped by increased domestic and export sales and orders and rising business confidence.

DNLCC Group Chief Executive George Cowcher said: “Today’s positive growth figures provide further evidence that the economy has turned a corner, the recovery is strengthening and business confidence is improving.

IV. Industrial Characterisitics

Major industries：The mining of lead ore, or galena, has been a major industry in Derbyshire for at least 2000 years. The hillsides in Matlock Bath are honeycombed with mine workings, and many people who lived there in the 19th Century would have been miners. Matlock Bath has always been a beautiful location and its thermal waters attracted tourists from the upper-classes from the late 17th Century onward. In 1849 the railway came to the village, making it more accessible to the middle-class and bringing a new kind of tourist: the day-tripper. This meant that people living in Matlock Bath could also find work in the tourist industry.

Big project：Secure Facility Engineering and Construction

Details: With projects, people and offices in more than 40 countries, Matlock & Associates has unmatched reach and expertise as an Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business. Construction regulations and labor laws around the world vary greatly – and we have worked successfully in some of the most difficult regulatory environments. We have a proven record of working smoothly with government agencies and labor organizations. Major construction projects are complex undertakings, often involving dozens of subcontractors and suppliers, thousands of workers and millions of dollars in material, equipment and services. Orchestrating such operations demands first-rate construction management – something Matlock has provided for years on big and small projects around the world.

V. Attractions

1. Heights of Abraham：

In 60 acres, this Victorian country park even has a name that evokes a bygone era.

The “Heights of Abraham” comes from the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, scene of a pivotal battle in 1759 during the Seven Years’ War.

There’s a cable-car lifting you up to the hilltop park where you’ll be awed by the panoramas of the Derwent Valley from the Victoria Prospect Tower and an amphitheatre below.

The park also has two caves, the Great Masson Cavern and the Great Rutland Cavern, both mined for lead since Roman times.

2. Lumsdale Valley：

On the east side of Matlock this steep wooded gorge blends striking natural beauty with the ghosts of water-powered industry.

Cromford Mills has set up a mile-long self-guided walking trail through the valley, on which you’ll pass the evocative ruins of mills, as well as mill ponds, waterfalls and cascades.

The trail is a photographer’s dream and takes around 90 minutes, descending 500 metres as you go.

You can download a leaflet that points out the history behind the buildings on the route.

It’s a good idea to wear walking shoes and to go carefully, as some of the rocks can be slippery in wet weather.

3. Peak District Lead Mining Museum：

The local lead mining industry has been consigned to the past, but was once one of the region’s main sources of income.

The museum in Matlock Bath’s Grand Pavilion has three mock mine tunnels, in which you’ll taste the conditions miners including children were expected to work in.

Kids will get to crawl through tunnels and play with interactive stations.

VI. History

The name Matlock derives from the Old English mæthel (or mæðel), meaning assembly or speech, and āc, meaning oak tree; thus Matlock means 'moot-oak', an oak tree where meetings are held. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Meslach and in 1196 it was named Matlac.[2] It is a former spa town that lies on the River Derwent, and has prospered from both the hydrotherapy industry and the cloth mills constructed on the river and its tributary Bentley Brook.

It was a relatively inconspicuous collection of villages in Wirksworth Hundred — composed of Matlock Town, Matlock Green, Matlock Bridge, Matlock Bank – until thermal springs were discovered in 1698.[4] The population increased rapidly in the 1800s, largely because of the popular hydros which were being built.[5] At one stage there were around twenty hydros, mostly on Matlock Bank, the largest built in 1853 by John Smedley. This closed in 1955,[5] and re-opened in 1956[6] as the headquarters of the Derbyshire County Council. Matlock is also home to the Derbyshire Dales District Council as well as Matlock Town council.

VII. Culture

Coming Down the Mountain, The BBC drama was set partly in Matlock although nothing was filmed there.

Women in Love, Ken Russell's Oscar winning 1969 film, uses a house at the top of New Street (No. 80) as the home of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. The house is currently a B&B. St Giles' Church in Church Street was the setting for the wedding of Laura Crich.

A music video of Libera (Salva Me, 1997)[39] in a rock formation in Matlock Cave.

Peak Practice, the ITV series, used locations in Matlock, including Highfields School, Victoria Hall Gardens and Henry Avenue, although the main village location is Crich and nearby Fritchley.

Dead Man's Shoes, the 2004 film by Shane Meadows, was filmed in and around Matlock.

In Denial of Murder, 2005 BBC dramatisation of Matlock Mercury editor Don Hale's campaign to free Stephen Downing.

Skeletons, (2010 film), partially filmed around Matlock including locations at the Morledge estate

Starlings, a 2012 Sky 1 drama, is set in Matlock.

VIII. Other information

Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem Matlock, subtitled To the memory of a favourite child (the daughter of a friend) who died there, appeared in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839.

William Berry's poem 'Matlock' appeared in his collection A victim to glamour : and other poems. Leeds: T. Barmby, 1874.

IX. Contact information

Mayor/Officer: William Sanderson

Tel: 01629 822821

Mail: study@matlock.ac.uk