crich area community news
BASA News
Bullbridge & Sawmills Area Civic Society:
Civic society issues seem like buses. There’s nothing for months, lulling residents into a feeling of comfort, and then three come along together. Writing this on CACN deadline day (13th October), firstly we have just heard that DCC are poised to make a decision on the fate of the old Pye Bridge Line bridge that spans the A610. We suspect that, regardless of local wishes, the span of the bridge will be removed, but sparing the 1875 masonry pillars. Transport history, a neglected area, lies at the heart of Bullbridge and Sawmills heritage. It can only be a tragedy when a distinct heritage, already mauled during the past sixty years, continues to be despised.
Secondly, Stevenson’s. It’s two and a half years since the old dye works site was abandoned, derelict and partly demolished. Three summers and two harsh winters have seen the once tarmac-ed car park weather into a bleached limestone pavement sporting a variety of grasses and lime-loving plants. Ash, birch, buddleia, willow and alder saplings grow thickly wherever the tarmac surface is broken.
Butterflies flit about on warm afternoons. The downside is that ash saplings are threatening the late eighteenth century stone malthouse as well as the old stone cottage, on either side of Bullbridge Hill by the Cromford canal bridge. The slate roofs of both buildings are holed, letting in rain and weather, and mindless vandals have broken into the buildings creating further damage. These two stone buildings are amongst the few to survive from what was, less than a century ago, a distinct hamlet of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century vernacular stone buildings – the sort of buildings that, today, make an area highly desirable. However, over the past few days, we have had confirmation that AVBC planners are once more in discussion with a possible redeveloper. There’s also a very strong rumour that Tesco have plans for a ‘convenience’ store on Drovers Way, Bullbridge.
The third issue concerns Severn Trent Water’s proposal to construct a new reservoir above Bullbridge and Fritchley to replace the reservoir constructed there more than a century ago. BASA members are not opposed to a new reservoir – we all need clean water – but we are concerned about the proposed transport of heavy materials to and from the site, over a period of more than four years (from March 2013) by lorry along our already congested, narrow, and steep roads. (There have been too many traffic problems this year alone due to Severn Trent’s problems in repairing the major leak in Sawmills, opposite the Lockwoods junction.) We have arranged a public meeting this evening (13th October), with Severn Trent, in Sawmills village hall, to discuss the issues.
Keep an eye on our website www.bullandsaw.co.uk for the latest developments in all three of these issues. And look for the email link on the website if you want to contact BASA.
By the time you read this, the extended week of Discovery Days for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (21st to 30th October) may well be over for another year. BASA members posted booklets, giving details of Discovery Days events, to every home in our area – around 500. BASA has again been invited to participate in Discovery Days, even though we are outside the WHS. This is welcome recognition of our industrial heritage – especially in the neglected area of transport. Bullbridge and Sawmills have an unusual concentration of river, track, turnpike road, canal and railway. I hope that many of you will be able to enjoy the events, especially the Bullbridge walks and the Sawmills exhibition arranged by BASA volunteers. We look forward to seeing you.
Finally, back to the buses. I use public transport whenever I can. (Use it or lose it.) But this week I’ve twice had to find an alternative when the bus failed to arrive. So I decided to investigate. If a bus fails to arrive, or is early, or is more than ten minutes late, please make the effort and tell DCC. The bus company is under contract to the county council who can fine them. But if DCC don’t know, the bus company gets away with it. So phone DCC on 08456 058 058 and ask for Public Transport. Don’t phone the bus operator – they’ll not pass on the complaint, for obvious reasons.
Freda Raphael
Chairperson