Review of Peter Naylor's book A History of the Matlocks, by Julie Bunting
This review is by Julie Bunting, and was published originally in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 1st December 2003, and is reproduced with Julie's kind permission.
A HISTORY OF THE MATLOCKS
This new addition to the Landmark
Collector's Library is Peter
Naylor's sixteenth book and, I don't doubt, the one which has
been most demanding on his time. Astonishingly for such an
important area, it is exactly 100 years since publication of the
only previous comprehensive history of Matlock.
A lot has happened in the past century and A History of the
Matlocks covers a phenomenal amount of ground to bring the the
story up to date, even looking ahead to proposed new developments
as at Cawdor Quarry and Drabbles Mill. So this book is also about
history in the making.
The term 'The Matlocks' was coined in the days when the town had
distinct parts such as Matlock Bank, Matlock Green and Matlock
Bridge, so it is worth pointing out that the book covers a wide
area in and around Matlock and Matlock Bath. As an indication of
the breadth of subjects discussed, the index contains over a
thousand entries, with further pages of cross references
(including the Peak Advertiser.) A random cross-section of topics
might include water cures, lead mining, quarrying, buildings,
transport and - less obviously - UFOs, archaeological finds,
postal history and ferries.
The author's interest in folklore adds legends of fairy elves at
Lumsdale and a river monster called 'Iron Teeth and Bloody
Bones'. Then there are famous human visitors from Queen Victoria
to Lord Byron to Dirk Bogarde.
Peter Naylor's own family has connections with The Matlocks,
where he has been settled for most of his life and, he vows,
'does not intend to leave'. A number of illustrations in this
book are from his own collection, adding to an enjoyable
selection of drawings, maps and sometimes rare photographs.
A History of the Matlocks is on sale locally priced £16.95.
Top
[Created 20 Nov 2003. Last updated 19 Dec 2007 - 11:21 by Rosemary Lockie]