• Cromford - Ford by the river bend.

Cromford is set in a great natural glory, in the midst of some of Derbyshire's most majestic scenery.

We come from the Matlocks down by the Derwent, or up a delightful stretch of the vale from Whatstandwell, or through Via Gellia's sylvan glades. We come from Wirksworth over the hills, with a feat of splendid views that become a superb panorama if we climb the frowning Black Rocks on our right. Great masses of millstone grit they are, rising 80 feet from the crest of the hill and backed by dark pine woods, piled up crags like great bastions of varying size and shapes, now a favourite rock-climbing ground. Into the glorious scene from the top come Wirksworth, the Middleton quarries, and the dip of the Via Gellia - the rock-bound Derwent is winding through Matlock Dale, with Masson and the Heights of Abraham looking across to High Tor and Riber's 'castle' on its great hill, and through the wooded valley is seen the lighthouse-tower on Crich Stand.

Down in the hollow, nestles Cromford with its great house, its church, and its mills, the story of them all closely woven with that of the man who turned this secluded hamlet into a busy industrial village, the man who, born the 13th child of a working man and starting life as a barber, was able to give every one of his ten children a Christmas box of £10,000. He was Sir Richard Arkwright, the genius of the cotton world, whose inventions revolutionised the industry by removing what had been its greatest stumbling block - the difficulty of spinning cotton fine and strong enough for warp, and by consequence operating what was to be the world's first successful water powered cotton mill.

In this lovely corner, the first cotton mill in Derbyshire was built in 1771, when Arkwright was in partnership with Jedediah Strutt. Some of the mill remains to this day. In fact the Arkwright Society purchased the mill site, and since then have undertaken substantial restoration work, already spending in excess of £3 million. Many of the buildings on the site have been rehabilitated and adapted for new uses including shops, offices, even a restaurant.

According to local sources, the final phase of the development programme will include a major exhibition with working machinery, together with meeting rooms for schools and other educational groups.

Sir Richard, the creator of the cotton trade on mass production lines was nearly 40 and a self made man when he arrived in Cromford in 1771 to build his mill, and for that matter to find his last resting place within sound of the mill some 21 years later. Prior to that in 1768, he had moved to Preston with a certain John Kay where they rented a room in the schoolmaster's house (later to be known as Arkwright House) and here in that same year they perfected a roller spinning machine which came to be known as the spinning frame, and later, the water frame.

At one stride he was able to multiply output a thousand fold, but a mob smashed the machines that he erected at Chorley, and infringements of his patents involved him in costly litigation. But in the end, in spite of the malevolence of ignorance and the rascality of manufacturers, he succeeded in establishing an immense trade which made Derbyshore supreme in cotton, yielded him a fortune of half a million, and to all intents, founded our industrial system.

After the success of the Cromford Mill, Arkwright spent some time perfecting his machinery still further. Having already mechanised the final part of the spinning process he started to mechanise all the other parts, such as carding and cleaning the cotton, in order to keep pace with the spinning. Invention followed invention until the whole character of textile production was completely changed.

It was Sir Richard himself, who started the great house of Willersley Castle nearby. But part of it was severely burnt before it was finished and he died before he could rebuild it. He saw the possibility of building a worthy mansion at Willersley with his son, also named Richard, beautifying the surrounding district by planting thousands of trees.

The castle was almost ready for occupation in 1788 when, due to the overheating of a stove and the incautious erection of woodwork near a flue, the building was all but burnt out. Regretfully, Sir Richard died before the Castle was completed a second time, so his son completed the work.

The building as one sees today is well proportioned and substantially of white freestone, quarried locally. Inside, will be seen an Adam fireplace, together with cornices and mahogany doors which have all been preserved. The grounds cover over 56 acres of delightful woodlands, rich in ferns and wild flowers....in fact a veritable bird sanctuary. Willersley Castle these days is a well run Methodist Manor House.

Cromford's church, completed in 1797, stands at the foot of the Castle grounds, and in it the great Arkwright was laid to rest. There is a memorial tablet to him and to his family, plus one to his son's wife and her three children.

Cromford's beauty spot is undoubtedly the fine old 15th century bridge which spans the river, with three pointed arches on one side, and three round ones on the other. Next to it are the ruins of a 15th century chapel, and besides this an 18th century fishing pavilion, with the inscription Piscatoribus Sacrum (sacred to fishermen). On the other side of the main road, fitting well into the landscape is, to all intents and purposes Arkwrights industrial village. Due to the fact that he was importing workmen from outside the area he was also committed to providing facilities for them and so rows of cottages were built in North Street. These had three storeys and on the top floor weaving looms were set up where yarn from the mills was made into fabric.

He also built the Greyhoud Hotel, a chapel...even the Saturday market was established by him in 1790.

Note just above the pond, the waterwheel is some 100 years old.

And those visitors who are on the Florence Nightingale trail will no doubt be aware that the large house just before the road junction at the bridge will know that the house once known as Cromford Bridge House (now Cromford Bridge Hall) is where she nursed her Great Aunt for many years which Florence's mother proposed as a charitable nursing home with which Florence could be involved.