Arkwright Town - The Community they had to urgently pick up and move

[@followmemrv]

You make amazing content. These relics of our industrial heritage are to be treasured and your work brings the past to life.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you very much Mike. Very much appreciated.

[@63sgjunior]

What a fabulous film and tribute to our heritage and the people we once were. Your research and film making bring the past back to life. Thanks for taking the time.

[@ianhudson2193]

The modern bridge is a link between the two parts of the opencast site and a loading pad for trains that accessed via the old GC from Beighton..... .......the concrete hut with the pits in the floor is a lorry weighbridge building....

[@trevcam6892]

I remember the old Arkwright town. I didn't live there, but when I was at school in the late 50s I worked as a Co-op milkman on the weekends and sometimes delivered there. I left the area for many years after school and when I returned there was a new town on the other side of the road. The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway you mention terminated at Chesterfield Market Place next to the existing Portland Hotel and never actually made it to Lancashire. It ran out of money. There was a magnificent viaduct, now demolished, at Horns Bridge in Chesterfield where it crossed over the North Midland Railway (still existing), the Great Central Railway (now gone which passed under Chesterfield town centre, tunnel still existing if you're willing to do a bit of trespassing) and the Sheffield to Derby Road (now A61). Also the confluence of two rivers, Rother and Hipper). Great video. Nice to be able to relate to an area that I knew in my youth. And, most importantly, preserve history for future generations.

[@janepatricia8779]

Love this Ant,never heard of it before,so sad they all had to move out their homes,but loved the fact that the old couple loved their new home and wouldn't want to go back to their old one,what characters the 2 old gentlemen were outside the pub,made me smile,well done superb bit of history captured,x

[@saxon-mt5by]

This was a timely video! I drove through Arkwright Town just last weekend, probably for the first time in forty or fifty years, and was confused by the town being on the north of the A632, now I understand why!

[@GrahamWP58]

To help you to clarify a few things, the bridge you walked over Sutton Road was to transport spoil from the colliery to the tip. Arkwright Colliery was a drift mine and did not have a shaft or winding wheels. The structure made of breeze block I think was part of the Methane drainage system which sucked the methane out of the ground. I hope these snippets of info help, keep up with your great videos.

[@Tuberuser187]

I'm confused, was it a drift mine + open cast mine or are people mislabelling it? Drift mining is underground mining, its when a mine cuts into any kind of hill or slopped ground and the shafts are horizontal rather than vertical. Open cast mines are where instead of shafts overburden is removed to expose a coal seem and then the seam dug out, this doesn't have shafts but its not drift mining because thats always underground. The one thing they both can share is using the removal of soft dirt, rather than rock is to get at the coal seam though both types can be through rock too. The mine could have been both if the overburden layer was too thick to economically remove in places or in the past, so they drift mined in those places.

[@iangascoigne8231]

Ge Ge Granville fe fetch a cloth.

[@peterrobinson903]

@@Tuberuser187 The mine which closed was a drift mine as you described it. After closure there was a problem with methane gas getting into the cellars of the houses in the old village. To stop the gas problem it was decided to demolish the village and move the people across the road. Doing this allowed the shallow seams beneath th old village that were producing the gas to be extracted by opencast mining.

[@Tuberuser187]

@@peterrobinson903 That explains it, easier modern Earth movers probably made it more economical to just take off the over burden than open new drifts.

[@roytabberer7427]

Another fantastic and well presented video, thank you very much Ant.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you very much Roy

[@leecalladine]

Excellent video. When Arkwright town was demolished me and a group of friends collected timber for bonfire night. We must have made a dozen or more trips and when we were done we had the biggest bonfire ever. Whilst collecting the timber we met a chap who was reclaiming the bricks. He was cleaning them up with a chisel. God knows how many how many managed to salvage. The track from Arkwright ran behind my house in bolsover and as kids we would play around the caped entrance to the bolsover tunnel. You would definitely find it worth a visit sometime.

[@tonyspike5928]

The small building you were in used to be an electrical sub station. I read the meter in there quite a few times.

[@exileinderby51]

A bit of recent history that I didn't know. Thanks for keeping the memory alive and making a great video into the bargain.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Glad you enjoyed it, it was a tricky one too do but worth it :)

[@TerryNutkins3]

Fascinating! I didn’t know this, I travel this way quite regularly along the former Great Central railway line and always found the Town quite unusual and nothing like other towns in the area and now I know why

[@carlbentley80]

One of your best this one, those old photos bought back some memories.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you very much Carl 🙂

[@xboxcrazee]

Nothing seems to disappear as quickly as old coal mines in the midlands. 20 years and there just grassed over. Like they don’t want to admit they ever existed. Didn’t know about this town although the times I’ve chuckled to myself driving down deepsick lane is numerous. Great work..

[@royfearn4345]

Just stand and ghosts will appear

[@eggy77]

Excellent. Lovely that they left that brick wall so there's one remnant left of the old village. Glad you noticed that little hut too which led to you finding the entrance points to the colliery and those lamp posts, I'm not sure if I was aware of the double one. Sure I've seen an old photo of Sutton Lane around there. Those old documentary inserts complement the video very well, lovely to see old folks views of the new village and how people just didn't want to move even though if they stayed they had no choice and it was for their own good, plus the last one where the couple were very happy with their new home and it wasn't that bad after all. I've walked along the western curve, didn't see anything though just loads of ruts caused by quad bikes etc, would like to walk the northern part of the loop to, there's definitely a path, you can join onto it as you get closer to Chesterfield Road, wonder if there's any railway paraphernalia left along there, even if just tensioning rods.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Having those little clips in I thought really added something. That one at the end show's there's happy endings. I love the old fella with the walking stick 😂 I think I covered everything. It shouldn't be a Ladybower situation 😂

[@eggy77]

@@TrekkingExploration at least there's no time limit if you do need to return 😁 I watched a video on KZbin a year or two ago where a couple of lads walked that culvert etc.

[@eggy77]

Oh yeah and that bloke with the stick, you wouldn't give him any crap would you 😆

[@TrekkingExploration]

@@eggy77 where the blokes going for a pint 😂

[@TrekkingExploration]

@@eggy77 yeah is that the one where he claims to find a shaft at the end which it isn't?

[@andrewhare831]

The brick wall near the hump back bridge was part of the car park of the station hotel. (The large white building)

[@hermdeer]

Had a couple of pints in that pub when I did a small amount of work on the groundwork’s of the new town

[@robertbush6652]

Thanks for another great video. It always amazes me how much research you must do even before starting to walk around and video. Excellent.

[@Design2winLew]

Fascinating vid as ever Ant . Is interesting to learn about these little stories that would go unnoticed if not for you bringing them to light .

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you very much Lewis. Very kind 🙂

[@MrAsBBB]

What I think is fantastic is it is in my living memory. So much went before I was born but this was in my lifetime and I don’t yet consider myself as old. Great video and research. What it also shows is, if we all take time to record pictures and videos of our environment, can you imagine what people will be able to do in the future?

[@martinmarsola6477]

Another travel back in time with you today, Ant. An interesting history to view today. Thank you as always for your time and research into these videos. Love to see them on Mondays. Cheers mate! See you on they next. 😊

[@fhwolthuis]

Sitting at home, a little bit under the weather, luckily there's Ant to cheer me up with another top notch video! 😀👍🏻

[@bobingram6912]

That was an epic journey, interesting, sad and a tad unnerving when stood in that woodland where there was once a thriving community. Another excellent and informative vid Ant, bring on the next👍👍👍👍👍

[@leanneh5293]

Wow how quickly nature reclaims the land eh? Great vid again! 🙂🙂

[@TrekkingExploration]

Its amazing isn't it how quickly nature takes it all back. Thank you :)

[@Duranie9]

I really enjoyed this video. Nostalgic, informative, and great narrative. Thanks for your hard work in creating it.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Glad you enjoyed it and thankyou very much :)

[@lindamccaughey6669]

That was fantastic thanks Ant. What a lot of history there. What a shock for a whole town to have to move. Love how you put so much in. Thanks for the share. Please stay safe and take care

[@bexc123]

Gone past the sutton lane bridge and Arkwright so many times and wondered on the history of it, thank u for the video.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed it ☺️

[@michaelhollingworth1536]

I had friends who lived in the vicinity of Arkwright Town,and have walked the old railway,Ant has recently walked,but I have still learnt quite a considerable amount via the video.Your research is exemplary,and shows through in the video. Thanks once again,look forward to the next one.

[@jeffberesford480]

I remember it well. On snowy days you could see the hot spots steaming away ... The Colliery was a drift mine unlike all its neighbours at Bolsover Markham etc which were deep shaft mines.I did that walk from Staveley to new town in the 1980s. Wish I could walk that far now ! Thanks for the memories.

[@Richard_Barnes]

I enjoyed everything about this one Ant 😃 The clips of the interviews was brilliant, from inside the pub, to the bloke in the street, when the people made the community what it is and not destroying them like a lot of folk do now. That bloke with the cane was brilliant BUT the bloke who has "..got another pint on...." was funny 😆 What a great look around. The old maps just make it so easy to visualise how it used to be. 🙏🏻

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

Brilliant document of social history, with fascinating archive footage and industrial relics, mapped onto what now appears as a natural wilderness. The interviews were heartwarming. Very well done!

[@bexc123]

One of the original houses on sutton lane near the bridge was still there upto probably about 6 years ago when it got knocked town and a wall built

[@shirleylynch7529]

Fantastic. What a story. Excellent narration and filming.loved the before and after photos. Thank you Ant another outstanding work.😊

[@TrekkingExploration]

Glad you enjoyed it Shirley thanks so very much :)

[@leegreveson]

I live in the next village heading towards Chesterfield, usually I cycle around the old GCR trackbed but think I'll take a more exploratory walk . The LDECR ran in a cutting from Arkwright towards Chesterfield and through a tunnel, I'm sure it's on your radar for a future video though. That culvert was a surprise find indeed. Sad for the community of Arkwright, the old footage reminds me of my grandparents who lived in Bolsover, you just don't get that anymore.

[@jontaylor1652]

I don't remember ever hearing a thing about this before. Excellent stuff again from this wonderful channel, thanks Ant.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thankyou ver much Jon, much appreciated and i'm pleased yu enjoyed it :)

[@peterrobinson903]

The building you found Ant could be connected to Calow Old Furnace Colliery abandoned in 1871. Calow is less than 2 miles from Arkwright travelling towards Chesterfield.

[@yorkie2789]

What a sad story, it's bad enough when the pit goes but the whole village as well. Just across the fields from me is the former North Selby Mine, had a look around the site only last Friday.

[@binky_bun]

That building at 27 mins in looks like an old BT building. There's one in Annesley end of Annesley Park near the big roundabout (53.070277, -1.243236) I was curious what it was so went for a nose around and it has BT signs all over it. It's abandoned now but has those same pits in the floor which is where I imagine phone cables came up. Not sure if they had any active exchange gear in there at one point but I think a lot of those buildings have been rendered obsolete with the advent of fibre. They probably just housed a bunch of distribution frames where they could re-route lines.

[@Giove83]

I found an old metal STOP THATCHER sign only last year in the farmers field, it would have come from awkright colliery back in the day

[@chrisbradley1192]

More fascinating material from our intrepid reporter! Thanks Ant.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Glad you enjoyed it Chris, thankyou

[@socklesslad]

I can understand why they demolished the side streets but part of the village was built along the main roads - it seems strange that they knocked down all the buildings along these as well but kept the roads where they were. However, has all of the old village gone completely? I notice there's one building left on the south side of the A632 which looks as though it's older than everything on the north side.

[@Shania.Mc1408]

I really enjoyed this, I’ve lived in the new arkwright town since I was born. It’s fun learning new things about the old village which my parents and other family members used to live

[@TrekkingExploration]

Glad you enjoyed it and thankyou for watching :)

[@terryansell6641]

This was so interesting thank you this a brilliant presentation from NZ

[@Stephen_Johnson]

Seeing the signs for Heath and Sutton Scarsdale brings back memories of doing cross country about 35 years ago on a cold damp miserable December morning

[@bobcharlton.9701]

Well that was 40 minutes of my life l didn't regret losing ! 👍👏👏👏

[@TrekkingExploration]

Very kind Bob. Thank you

[@neilsheppard6673]

Excellent video about a fascinating subject, many thanks! It's always sad to see an established community razed to the ground, but it looks like the residents did ok out of the deal with those brand new homes. Also, I wonder if the NCB / Coal Authority / Whatever could have come up with a way of capturing that methane for commercial gain. Maybe such a venture would have been economically unfeasible or there wasn't enough of the gas to exploit? I happen to like exploring disused rail lines and watching videos about them and I always seem to think that whilst it would be great to see them still in use, on the other hand they served their purpose and were removed for a reason. Looking forward to part 2!

[@AndrewMartinIsHere]

Love the inclusion of the old resident footage. The disruption it must have been for them to up-root and move. I know it wasn't that far, but it must have felt like 1000 miles.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

24.52 - Sutton Scarsdale Hall, there, looking down upon it's pit from the treeline on the left !! 😉

[@mrsgenehunt48]

It's hard to believe the town was once there. Without the likes of you exploring and investigating lots of us would never have known about it. It must have been hard for those who grew up/ lived there. I realise its not far they had to move to but the memories they must have and to watch nature take over the site of the former homes must be difficult. Looking forward to seeing the culvert again.

[@brooksbank67]

Brilliant. I used to go on the colliery fitting tyres many moons ago and then fitting tyres on the large machines at the opencast

[@GeraldineJayne]

Gosh, it's completely obliterated! I love how the old track beds remain though. Super helpful when you're doing an ariel comparison with an old map 👍

[@andrewdavis9223]

Have you been to Sutton Hall nice walk

[@markallchorn2438]

Fantastic, amazing amount of railways in that area, and the industry as well. The footage of the former residents was a link within living memory. Thanks for you superb vids

[@ffrancrogowski2192]

It's a great job that you've done here, Ant. Bringing it to light of how this village had to be moved because of the gases. The railways were quite dominant in this area at one time, by looking at the maps that you have shown here. The old film of some of the residents is interesting and the photos of the coal trains and stations, too. Many thanks for this showing.

[@peterrobinson903]

My father-in-law Mick Samson worked at Arkwright. He was a Ukrainian working in the headings. He’s on the group picture in front of the output board wearing a white donkey jacket standing to the left end of the board. I was a surveyor at Markham and there was a proposal to link Arkwright with Markham underground and bring Arkwright coal up to the Markham washer. It never got past the planning stage.

[@nottzangel9533]

Yet again another fascinating film cataloguing our history thank you.

[@TrekkingExploration]

So pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you very much 🙂🙂

[@philliphammond399]

Hi Ant, fantastic video again. The drone shots help visualise the area as it was. With very little left you explain what it used to look like very well. Thank you.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks Phillip. It is indeed very tricky to create something out of almost nothing. I'm pleased I could.

[@suesmith4366]

Brilliant I never knew about this, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole blog. 😎 Also just been reading comments, and yes I would think it extremely likely there was an ulterior motive for the Town to be moved 😔 it will have been a massive upheaval for the residents too at the time. 😢

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much Sue. I've been back again since, there will be a couple of companion videos soon 😉

[@suesmith4366]

I will look forward to that 😎

[@martinholmes100]

The methane problem was caused by the NCB when it closed the colliery. Arkwright was a drift mine, there were no shafts. When it was closed, instead of filling the drifts in, which was difficult to do with the long sloping roadways, they blocked them off, quite close to the surface. Once the ventilation was cut off, the gas slowly began to fill the empty roadways. Having nowhere to escape, it percolated through the soil & into the foundations of the houses & elsewhere. That is one of the reasons that the whole area was opencast mined afterwards.

[@benGBRf]

Fascinating stuff as always from you Ant 👍🏻

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thankyou Ben :)

[@chaddamp2894]

Fab post thanks.I remember the open cast site well,but not the Old Town or trhe railways.Thanks again !

[@christinegibbins6105]

Thank you Ant. Your documentation of history is fascinating. You take care.

[@drabsbrad]

The new Arkwright Town is not built on the site of the old colliery!!! The colliery was further down Sutton scars Dale Lane towards the hall.

[@petemee2876]

Arkwright town wasn’t moved because of methane gas, it was moved to allow access to the coal beneath it. Having said the old town needed replacing.

[@andyabwelding]

Definitely moved due to methane, see this article: Arkwright Town, a village in Derbyshire, England, was moved to a new location due to the risk of methane gas from a disused coal mine: Background Arkwright Town was built in the mid-19th century to house the workers of the local Arkwright Colliery. The colliery closed in 1988, but gas from the mine continued to seep into the houses. Decision In cooperation with Derbyshire County Council, British Coal decided to move the community to a new location. The national coal board proposed building a new village with new homes for the residents. Construction Construction of the new village was completed by 1995, and the old village was demolished. The new village is located north of the A632 road, while the old village was south of it. Aftermath A nature walk was established in 2010 along routes that were once used by railway lines.

[@michaelmiller641]

That was really good, very interesting,well crafted video. Thanks Ant

[@TrekkingExploration]

Glad you enjoyed it Michael and thank you :)

[@alexcharlesworth7580]

Great video. There's a melancholy fascination of places like this. Reminds me of videos I've seen of the abandoned mining town of Centralia in the US due to underground coal mine fires. Can't help but wonder, What was the cause of the methane at Arkwright? Was it caused by an underground mine fire or is it naturally present in the coal seams and disturbed by the mining process? I guess it's still present in the area but probably due to it's now rural location, harmlessly dissipates.

[@barrydrocknrail2231]

What was the meaning behind the senior gentleman’s words at the beginning?

[@michael42158]

Ant. you are a genius modern archaelogist

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much Michael :)

[@a11csc]

graet vid ant ,to what would have been heart wrenching for some

[@suzyqualcast6269]

You want to get u to Sutton Scarsdale house and take a peek down tbottom garden gates, just past owd trout lakes- then Arkwright town.

[@royfearn4345]

I am fairly sceptical about any claims about methane; was it a smokescreen to sweeten the NCB's desire to opencast the area? Okay, the residents got new houses from the deal, but I wonder how much community spirit was lost?

[@lenasjogren7912]

Hi thanks for a new video from you with filing and nostalgic information on dhis site have a good life my friend 😁 😁 👍 🙏

[@TrekkingExploration]

So pleased that you enjoyed it and thank you :)

[@maureencope2752]

Wonderful how nature takes over when given a chance

[@peterkitts8815]

I always thought it was to do the open cast mining, not that there was a methane problem. Very familiar with the area having grown up in and around Chesterfield.

[@angelsone-five7912]

What a shame for all those lovely people. Could they not have sealed the gas first and let them be? Great video mate.

[@royfearn4345]

No, they were greedy for opencasting!

[@angelsone-five7912]

@@royfearn4345 Huh, might have known there was something like that behind it.

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Remember when all this happened. BTW, a pal Aly Deighton used to work at pit head, lost his thumb when he nodded off ont wheel gear Called Arkwright cos Matlock Baths cotton man's son bought the Sutton Scarsdale Estate...... Then: Arkwright, the Sutton Scarsdale project pit at the garden bottom, just same as the Hunloke try out at Avenue. Broke both houses/estates.

[@Tox1415]

We used to study the geology of the Duckmanton cuttings at Sheffield University. There an outcropping of the Ashover Tuff in the cutting.

[@patrickgascoyne8151]

During the first miners strike,we went on the old railway line digging for coal, until the police shifted us, long time ago

[@suzyqualcast6269]

Just think - if Arkwrights son had never bought Sutton Scarsdale house then his prodigy, Arkwright Pit, would never have been tentatively explored at the bottom of the Estate garden.

[@lesbendo6363]

Good video. 🇨🇦 Can you use Google maps and click on the location icon. This should then give you your location on Google maps. Then using the overlay of the historical map you should be able to locate your position on the historical map.

[@grahamcarr5788]

Great video Ant,very interesting look at what once was at the location. Brilliant 👍 By the way,did you get the pictures of Silverdale underground shots which were sent to your Facebook account via a friend of mine?

[@lilchris26]

Nice video Ant, very interesting.

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much Chris 🙂

[@mbrewin]

Amazing story Ant

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks for watching Martin :)

[@TeriWilde]

I used to work for a builders merchant and I delivered materials to customers in the old town, and then delivered materials to the new town... brough back good memories of the mid 90s 👍

[@showmanpete2805]

what a brilliant vid thanks for sharing

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thankyou Pete :)

[@ExploringWithEmAndStu]

Another great video! 👍😀

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much 🙂🙂

[@alanlake5220]

Pieces of History and past, gone forever, to think of all the people who worked all there lives there, gone, not a trace left ...

[@johnlumley-moore2079]

Very interesting ...well done

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you very much John

[@jasinere35]

your follow up vid will be a very long one as the stavely bed is quite a long one it does have a few relecs along it & even though ive been to the village i never knew its history

[@booseph289]

The last house demolished was the first house empty which was strange only went a few years ago

[@TrekkingExploration]

It must have been an eerie place back then

[@booseph289]

@@TrekkingExploration took my lad to find the old filled in tunnel just up from there it's sad to see how much it's changed since I was younger and I was born in 1989

[@anthonydefreitas6006]

4:10 the map shows a tunnel on the left. Is that still there?

[@TrekkingExploration]

It is, its Duckmanton Tunnel but is blocked off

[@cazharris5581]

It’s a pity the old town wasn’t safe enough for the elderly to stay - you can feel their fear of losing their community identity. I think they would have shared this feeling with those in slum clearance communities and many would have been born, went to school and worked at the pit so it must have been hard for them. At least some were happy once they did move into modern homes though.

[@Shooting-Up]

Great video really enjoyed it

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much 😊

[@Shooting-Up]

@@TrekkingExploration just wish I had the time and energy to do that kind of thing myself - need to get out there more!

[@Shooting-Up]

Proper old folk in those clips, old folk that didn’t take any crap That brilliant generation is no more sadly

[@grahamhall8249]

Just wondering about who paid for the movement of the whole town. Any idea?

[@stevehales67]

Coal Board / RJB Mining paid for it as far as I recall. Colliery site was then opecast to recoup the money.

[@jamesrichards7644]

Nature really shows no mercy in taking back the land 😢

[@TrekkingExploration]

It really does take it back :)

[@johnwalton9978]

Excellent

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@IndiObsver]

Nice one😊

[@TrekkingExploration]

Thanks very much 🙂

[@cyberleaderandy1]

The lamppost in the middle of nowhere makes me think of Narnia. You didn't get to Arkwright through a wardrobe did you?

[@TrekkingExploration]

I'd like to if it took me back 30 years to visit before it all went quiet. Thanks very much for watching

[@cyberleaderandy1]

@@TrekkingExploration great videos and be interesting if you did one on Watnall Brickworks, railway and Colliery, although sadly only a few building remnants remain hidden in bushes, Bricks stamped with NCB Watnall.

[@peggyshimwell6690]

They outcropped the old town and area to get as much coal out as possible .It was moved I believe because of Radon gas that was leaking up through the ground .Friends of mine lived in the old town and her husband worked at the pit .

[@peterrobinson903]

It was actually methane gas from the shallow coal seams that were under the houses Peggy.

[@jetsons101]

Ant, you like to dig for every little detail which make for a complete story. How many spiders did you come across.

[@TrekkingExploration]

There was an incident with a big bugger in that culvert haha

[@jetsons101]

@@TrekkingExploration It's all part of the adventure. lol