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BCA Spring Newsletter 2016

Background to the Crescent by Mike Wilde

Buxton Crescent was built to take advantage of a natural thermal spring by William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire. The Duke wanted to establish Buxton as a fashionable Georgian spa town. His architect was John Carr from York who undertook the work between 1780 -1789.
Over the years St. Ann's Hotel at the western end of the Crescent and the Great Hotel at the eastern end, took over the 6 lodging houses in the center of the building.
St. Ann’s Hotel continued in use as a hotel until the mid-1980s when it closed due to the high cost of necessary repairs and kitchen alterations to comply with Health & Safety and modern hygiene regulations. The eastern end became council offices, a library and a clinic until the whole building was closed when major structural problems were discovered and by 1992 it was unoccupied. In 1993 High Peak Borough Council purchased the building with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund to act as caretaker until a suitable buyer could be found. A further £1.5 million from English Heritage was used to make the building weathertight to prevent further deterioration.
Over the next 8 years, attempts to find a suitably viable scheme to preserve the building’s heritage were unsuccessful. In December 2000 the Heritage Lottery Fund was approached by the joint councils (HPBC & DCC) to help finance plans to restore the Crescent as a hotel and to restore spa facilities. Funding was eventually agreed in July 2003. A tender to redevelop and manage the building as a hotel and spa was won in December of that year by a partnership of the Trevor Osborne Property Group Limited and CP Holdings Limited, (owners of Danubius hotels). This plan was due to cost £23m and be finished in 2007. The project was dogged by a succession of technical and legal issues relating to the supply of water for bottling by Nestle. As resolving these issues took time, the costs of the project increased and that led to funding issues. These were not resolved until April 2012 when an agreement between the joint councils and the developer was signed. The first part of the job to secure the continuous water supply for Nestle to bottle was started and is now complete, however, yet more funding problems delayed the main part of project further with costs increasing as the UK came out of recession and put greater demands on our building contractors. Eventually, an additional grant of £11.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund was secured in 2014, with D2N2 supplying the final £2 million for the project in January.
Work is due to begin in earnest in the spring of 2016 and be finished in 2018.

The Buxton Garden Fringe

Download the flyer for the Buxton Garden Fringe

The Buxton Coalfields

Walking on the moors above Buxton, there is little evidence to the casual observer of the industry that for centuries toiled, struggled and sweated to win coal from the rocks beneath the surface. But if one stops and looks at the landscape, some of the traces left by coal mining can just be glimpsed. It was the story, human, geological, historical, of this forgotten industry that was told by Alan Roberts and Lyn Noble to a packed Buxton Civic Association, for their February members talk.

A depression in the ground once formed the base for a ‘gin’, a winding engine that was turned round and round by a horse and its young human charge, braving the elements up on these unforgiving moors day after day. The boy for 6d a day, and the horse presumably for just enough hay and oats as was needed to keep it in some sort of health to do its job.

Another depression marks one of the many shafts that litter the landscape, now filled in, but that once were part of an extensive and complex mining operation. Beneath the moors canals were dug to enable boats to bring the coal out of the mines, and everywhere water was a problem, constantly needing to be pumped out to make the passages safe for the miners.

Once on the surface, the preferred method to transport the coal to its destination was by pack horse. One can see the evidence, the deeply grooved "Holloways", green now, but in the depths of winter these would be filled with mud, making progress slow and difficult.

Much of the coal, which was of a poor quality, was taken to help fuel the kilns of Grin low. The poor quality led to the large ash and slag tips that now litter the hillside, but hidden by the trees planted in the 1790's.

Alan Roberts, author of ‘The Coal Mines of Buxton’ put the industry into its historic and personal context. The boy who led the horse round and round winding the buckets up and down on the moor top was Anthony Ashmore, as identified in records from the day. (We don't know the name of the horse) for his 6d a day. By comparison, visitors to the Card Room in the Crescent paid 5 shillings entry fee to look around and admire the architectural splendours of the building, funded in part by the rent from the coal licences.

Lyn Noble then explained how a self-guided heritage trail walk had been conceived. It was first tested in the heavy rain and wind of an August afternoon, an experience shared by thirty members and friends of the Civic Association.

The walk has been designed to take the walker on an historical journey of the Buxton Coalfields, working back in time to the earliest recorded mining in the 16th Century up to the 19th Century with its winding wheels, levels and fire houses.

The effects of the mining can still be felt today as Lyn explained why after particularly heavy rainfall, the river in the Serpentine gardens turns red. The water flows out of the Old Duke's level and is the result of the Red Iron Oxide that accumulated in the level.

The talk was rounded off with a sing along to an old miner's song “Dark as a Dungeon" with Lyn providing the lead vocals and musical accompaniment.

The heritage trail walk of the Buxton Coalfields will be available shortly as a guide from the Poole's Cavern shop.

The next talk is on 17th March at 7.30pm at Poole’s Cavern Visitor Centre. The Talk is entitled “Butterflies of Grin Woods” to be given by Steve Orridge.

The last Primeval Forest In Europe

Imagine walking along a woodland trail deep in the heart of an ancient wood. Birds sing from almost every branch, filling the air with their song. The trees tower forty metres or more above your head and around you, on the ground, the dead and the dying trunks are alive with fungi and insects.

Imagine as the trail turns a corner in this ancient woodland, you briefly glimpse a dark shape, a shadow, as some creature of the forests breaks cover ahead of you. Was it a wolf, a bison or a wild boar? Your heart rate accelerates and for a moment you are back with your ancestors as the flight or fight instinct tries to take over.

Or is it your imagination playing tricks on you, surrounded as you are by the forest, its legends and stories stretching back 10,000 years. The shape disappears and the bird song, temporarily drowned out by the rush of fear you felt, returns and you continue, more cautiously now, on your way.

This is Bialowieza, the forest that straddles the Polish, Belarus border, and is the largest remaining area of European lowland wild wood that once stretched from Siberia to Ireland.

To a packed visitor centre at Poole's Cavern, Buxton Civic Association members and friends listened enthralled as Peter Phillipson, aided by Susan Cross brought the forest to life, with a clever combination of words, pictures and sound recordings, to show the beauty, tranquility, and astounding variety of life in this world heritage site.

Key to the forest's richness of biodiversity is the deadwood and the animals that thrive there. As much as 50% of the trees are dead, either fallen or in some cases still standing. But the "decay is the future", as the forest recycles the nutrients from the dead wood, aided by a wealth of fungi and invertebrates for the next generation of trees.

Wild boar root amongst the leaf litter turning the top two inches over, to provide a habitat for plants and insects, bison create small clearings and the beavers dam the rivers and so reengineer the landscape and create new places for flora and fauna to thrive..

The deer population is kept in check by the Lynx and the Wolf packs so the young saplings are not over grazed. So the cycle continues and has done for thousands of years.

There are challenges to overcome, and tensions between the foresters and ecologists. But the central section of the forest is effectively closed off and nature left unhindered to do what it does best. Access is limited to the fortunate few and then only for a few hours.

Bialowieza is a shining example of how to do conservation. It is a reminder of the landscapes that we have lost but also an example of what can be achieved if the will and understanding is there.

A first glance inside the Crescent

I was very excited to be given the chance to see inside the Crescent for the first time, so immediately returned the form which had come with the
BCA December newsletter. I was happy to get a place on the tour.

There was a full contingent from the BCA, together with a group from the University of Derby, making a rather large group or around 45 for the tour. Nevertheless, our hosts (Richard Tuffrey and Liz McKenzie) coped admirably with the larger than anticipated group and off we went.

Their enthusiasm for the project and confidence in the works was to be admired. The Crescent was fully closed in 1992 and is now on-track to re-open in 2018. Our tour notes explained that the underpinning management structure for the development is “partnership” between the interested parties who include: High Peak Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, Danubius Hotels Group, Trevor Osborne Property Group, Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England and The University of Derby.

From the introductory talk, it was made very clear that this partnership recognises the great importance of involving the local community: it is a project for Buxton.

To emphasise this, Liz talked enthusiastically about the links the project will have with schools and community groups, providing tours which give children and adults a profound insight to the history of Buxton as well as that of the Crescent.

The proposals are already widely known, but involve a natural thermal mineral water spa, a 79 bedroom five star spa hotel, 6 boutique scale shops with the Pump Room providing a Buxton Crescent Experience visitor centre.

The area to the front of the Crescent is to be enhanced. Further development of the rear of the Crescent involves an indoor / outdoor spa water pool. We were advised that a huge amount of invisible preparatory work has already taken place underground, necessary to ensure the security of the spa water supply.

The Pump Room work is well under way and the main Crescent contract is due to start in Spring 2016. The Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa is scheduled to open in 2018; it would be the leading Spa Hotel in the UK.

By this time, there were questions from the group which reflected a level of scepticism. However, we were advised that this is a high status project comprising a £46 million investment, making it one of the largest heritage construction contracts in the East Midlands and contributing to the Buxton’s £83 million heritage regeneration programme. The University of Derby and Danubius have an agreement that the Crescent project will support the UK’s only B.A. (Hons) degree in International Spa Management.

The final part of the answer addressed employment, as the Crescent project will created over 140 full time jobs directly and over 300 indirect full time jobs. While this response could have been discussed for some time, we then began the tour of the Crescent.

It was clear from the start that the interior has stood empty and unheated for some years: faded beauty. However, the roof appeared sound and there was not a smell of damp or rot. It appeared that some activity had been going on, but the day we visited was very quiet. As we were carefully guided through the various areas, Richard and Liz pointed out interesting features and were able to paint a picture of how it would look when complete.

With various pools and sympathetic restoration of the former grand vision, it became quite exciting to think of how it could look. Offerings will include plunge pools, mud and spa treatments which will be familiar to many who have travelled in Europe. We were amused to hear that local peat (under licence) will also be used. The importance of having a town on your doorstep when you want to have a break from the hotel should not be underestimated by local businesses.

However, for me, the highlight was when we arrived at the Function Room. With its ornate ceiling and décor dating back to 1789, this would be the star of the crescent and will remain a function room for both hotel and community. It will be available to be booked by the public for a minimum of 60 days a year set aside for private functions. Some discussion between the developers and The Duke of Devonshire is currently taking place to establish a working protocol for this.

In conclusion it is clear that we are at the start of a new era. The tour confirmed that there are huge plans and sums of money involved, together with a driving determination to make this regeneration project a success. However, my clearest memory is of the faith and confidence demonstrated by Richard and Liz, both of whom are resolute in their faith that the Crescent will live again and be a source of pride for the people of Buxton and the High Peak.

The introduction and tour lasted 90 minutes

Diane White
January 2016

Photographs below courtesy of Andrew Banks and Diane White

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Friends of the Peak District Presentation

Isabella Stone from Friends of the Peak District has very kindly shared the presentation that she used as part of her talk to us a few weeks ago.

To download the presentation click on the link below.

Friends of the Peak District presentation

Litter at Lovers Leap

One of the issues that the Places and Spaces project has identified as of particular concern is the volume of rubbish that accumulates in and around some of our most famous beauty spots. Lovers Leap was mentioned at the last committee meeting, and so on a mild and sunny Monday morning, Roger Floyd and Simon Fussell set off to investigate and to see if it was practical and safe to organise some future litter picking activities at this famous landmark.

As can be seen from the photographs there is plenty of litter. In the space of an hour Roger and Simon picked up four sacks from the top of the gorge and from the lay by and path by the river.

There is still lots of rubbish left at the sites. To tackle the problem properly will require a risk assessment and to ensure that anyone helping out is properly equipped. The A6 is busy and very dangerous and there are significant drops from the top of the gorge down to the stream.

We will also be contacting HPBC to request that they remove some of the larger objects.

We plan to hold a litter picking day at Lovers Leap at some point in the New Year, so if you are interested in helping out contact us at;

communications@buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk

The last walk of the year