The story of the Tram Shelter in Matlock’s Hall Leys Park

Just why does an old tram shelter take pride of place in Hall Leys Park, what’s the backstory of Jubilee Bridge and why did one man’s visit to San Francisco in 1862 help shape the town? Mike explores these curiosities and more

The ‘Tramway Shelter’ in Hall Leys Park during the festive season Photo: Gary Wallis The Tram Shelter

On a visit to San Francisco in 1862, a young Matlock councillor called Job Smith was very taken with the Californian city’s cable cars, which had been designed to run up roads that were far too steep for horse-drawn streetcars.

On his return to Derbyshire, Job tried to persuade John Smedley to support a similar transport system to tackle the steep approach to his vast hydropathic establishment on the heights of Matlock Bank.

Surprisingly, Smedley did not respond to his suggestion with any great enthusiasm. However, George Newnes, a wealthy publisher, who had been born in Matlock, was much more receptive when he heard about the proposal several years later.

Encouraged by the success of his investment in a cliff railway connecting the resorts of Lynmouth and Lynton, in Devon, Newnes decided he would sponsor the building of a cable tramway in Matlock that would run up the long incline of Bank Road.

When the trams began operating in 1893, various hydropathic establishments and other businesses on Matlock Bank were quick to advertise the convenience of a tram running past their premises every ten minutes.

The fares were tuppence for the upward journey and one penny for the return – when passengers could opt for the giddy thrill of looking over the town from the open top deck of the steeply descending vehicle.

Six years after the cable tramway opened, Robert Wildgoose, who had become the chairman of Smedley’s Hydro after the death of its founder, offered to pay for the building of a shelter for people waiting to board the trams.

A brass band and a torchlit procession escorted Mr Wildgoose and his wife to Crown Square for the official opening of the new facility. Surmounted by a large four-sided clock, topped in turn by a crown-like open cupola, this was no ordinary shelter.

In the previous year, Newnes had transferred ownership of the tramway to Matlock District Council, as ‘a gift to his birthplace’.

However, his generosity proved to be a mixed blessing when the use of the trams started to drop in the face of competition from motorised vehicles.

In 1927, the Council decided to close the tramway, because it had become a drain on their finances. But what would happen to the tram shelter and its clock tower, which was seen, in the eyes of many people, as an iconic symbol of the town?

After some hesitation, the Council opted to preserve the fondly regarded structure and relocate it in Hall Leys Park. With the removal of the doors and windows of the waiting area, it was transformed into an open-fronted park shelter. Curiously still known as the ‘Tram Shelter’, it is the perfect place to relax and admire the stunning floral displays in the Sunken Gardens.

The Jubilee Bridge spanning the River Derwent Photo: Mike Smith The Jubilee Bridge

In the two centuries of its existence, Derbyshire’s Butterley Company was involved in the manufacture of some very spectacular metal structures, including the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland and the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.

Although less well known and much smaller in scale than those two celebrated examples, the Jubilee Bridge, in Matlock Bath, is an equally fine illustration of the company’s ability to produce constructions that combine unusual beauty with engineering excellence.

Designed by Thomas Gillott and manufactured at the Butterley Ironworks, the bridge forms a direct link between North Parade and a series of popular public pathways known as ‘Lovers’ Walks’, on the southern bank of the Derwent.

Suitably romantic in appearance, the bridge comprises a pair of openwork iron arches that flank a 25-metre-long footway spanning the river.

The two arches are linked by a metal girder, which supports a lamppost and is engraved with the words ‘Jubilee Bridge 1887’.

Although the identity of the jubilee is not specified, the date indicates that it must have been Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

This is confirmed by the predominant use of ‘golden yellow paint to coat the bridge, alongside warm stone, blueish grey and deep chocolate’, according to a colourful description in a newspaper report written at the time of its opening.

A more disturbing newspaper report described an unfortunate accident: ‘While workmen were engaged in preparation for the erection of the new bridge, one of their number missed his foothold and fell into the river. The Derwent is particularly deep at this point, but a boat was put off to the man’s rescue and he was lifted in and conveyed to the bank, not much worse for his immersion.’

A £210,000 restoration, carried out in 2014, involved blast cleaning the bridge, repainting it in the original colours and ‘making it structurally sound for the future’.

After the work was completed and safety checks had been carried out (without anyone falling into the river on this occasion!), Geoff Stevens, the deputy leader of Derbyshire Dales District Council, said: ‘The Jubilee Bridge is one of those things you see and one of those sites you most remember about Matlock Bath.’

Cable cars; ‘flying’ over the Derwent Gorge Photo: Gary Wallis Stay Awhile in The Matlocks

Fifty-seven years after the closure of the cable tramway, Matlock acquired Britain’s first Alpine-style cable cars. Four decades later, these ‘aerial gondolas’ are still taking passengers over the limestone gorge carved out by the river Derwent to the Heights of Abraham, located 169 metres above the A6.