Shardlow Part 01 - The Inland Port
w/e 17 May 2015
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
There are not many places in England further from
the sea than Shardlow but at one time of day the village was
a considerable inland port on the River Trent and evidence of
its former glory still exists although much has now been turned
over to the leisure and tourist industries. In this occasional
series we will dip into the village now and again to learn more
of its historical significance but also just to enjoy the pleasant
scenery in this part of south Derbyshire.
Our first look at the village is a short loop taking us from
London Road, the main road through the village, along the towpath
of the Trent and Mersey Canal returning via Wilne Lane. This
is the view north of the canal from the bridge on London Road.
The former warehouse on the right is Grade II listed.
|
Referred to in times gone by as Rural Rotterdam or Little Liverpool,
many warehouses, mills and other buildings connected with industry
remain along this part of the canal and businesses still thrive
maintaining, repairing and restoring narrowboats for today's
clientele.
|
Many of the old
buildings in Shardlow are Grade II listed. The former warehouse
where the Pendennis narrowboat is moored is now the home of Lockgate
Stoves, a manufacturer and supplier of marine diesel stoves which
provide heating for all types of narrowboats, houseboats and
barges. It is not only buildings that enjoy listed status as
a cast iron canal milepost across from Lockgate Stoves is also
Grade II listed. This was produced by Rangeley and Dixon in 1819
and has a panel inscribed "R and D Stone 1819". It
was erected as part of a series of mileposts on the Trent and
Mersey Canal. and bears two inscriptions saying "SHARDLOW"
on the east side and "PRESTON BROOK 92 MILES" on the
west.
|
As we walked along the towpath admiring the moored
vessels (below left) and passing the time of day with other people,
we paused and commented about the slow pace of life on the waterways
with the owner of a small boat (below right).
We then spent the next twenty minutes
or so chatting and putting the world to rights before the Captain's
mate emerged from below deck with two currant buns in a bag which
she duly presented to us with her compliments. We enjoyed them
later back at home with a coffee and wished the gentleman's mother
an early 94th birthday greeting for the following weekend for
whom the baking session was taking place. The couple were on
their way from near Tewkesbury to Nottingham for the birthday
party.
Resuming our stroll along the towpath the next old building opposite
appears to have been tastefully converted for residential purposes.
|
Shardlow is well served with pubs and restaurants for the benefit
of boaters, visitors and villagers alike and seen here beyond
the Leonora is the Malt Shovel Inn which was built in 1799 and
still retains its original beams and floors.
|
The towpath now passes under a road bridge and continues towards
the River Trent and that is perhaps somewhere we can walk another
time but on this occasion we climbed the steps onto Wilne Lane.
|
Looking back from the bridge gives a good view of another popular
canal side pub, the New Inn which, according to its website but
not shown on the British Listed Buildings site, is also a listed
building.
|
Walking along Wine Lane towards London Road we passed The Lawn,
an old building which, from the stone panel between the upper
windows, we discovered was built in 1795 and enlarged in 1893.
From its age we would have expected this too, to have been a
listed building but despite there being over fifty in Shardlow,
this does not appear to be one of them.
|
At the end of Wilne Lane though on the corner of London Road,
the Navigation Inn most definitely is. The public house is a
late eighteenth century structure with later alterations including
a twentieth century single storey addition to the east.
|
On the opposite corner stands the Grade II listed Broughton House.
Built in the early nineteenth century for Sutton family who were
merchants who helped develop Shardlow as an inland port. The
house contains many of its original features. Broughton House
was the home of the family before they purchased Shardlow Hall
in 1826.
|