Sunday 22 June 2008

Another week passes

I managed a run on Tuesday morning, short but trying to run a bit quicker on the R bits.

Now its Sunday morning and its long run day - up to 6 miles, but hard going. Maybe my 'hayfever' is really a cold as my HR was up compared to last week. So I just took it steady and stopped to look at the views.

The flat part of my run (middle couple of miles) are along the Derwent Valley, part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site
On my way back just before the steep climb home I cross the bridge seen on the right in the picture. This is the view if I look back.

This mill was built by Walter Evans in the 18th Century to spin cotton. There were already other mills using the river here - including paper and corn. Evans worked with Richard Arkwright, who was building mills up river of here at Cromford.
He not only built the mill but many cottages for the workers, a church and a school. The original school became structurally unsound (allegedly only the younger children were allowed on the top floor at the end!) it was replaced by a new building, which my children attended. The cottages are now higly valued and fetch good prices when on the market - even though they have no off road parking:

1 comment:

Highway Kind said...

Excellent.

We will now have to form our own Runners World industrial archaeology group. Though, of course, you have more sites and the Derwent has far more grandeur than a canal