Matlock
Bath: New Bath & Cat Tor from the Cumberland Cavern |
Matlock Bath : Twentieth Century Photographs, Postcards, Engravings & Etchings |
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The view of Hagg Wood and Cat Tor, taken from outside the Cumberland
Cavern in the 1930s by Cyril Edmonds. The New Bath Hotel
and its pool are in the foreground, on the right. We can
also see the tennis courts, the greenhouse and part of the
hotel's market garden. It was busy poolside and plenty of
deck chairs are out, though not too many people were in the
water. Judging by the number of cars on the grass outside
the grounds, the hotel had plenty of customers.

Enlargement of the pool area
The buildings on the left of the main picture,
enlarged below, show the rooftop and back of Portland House
and the Mews or former stable block on Clifton Road as well
as the back of the Bath Terrace Hotel. The Bath Terrace became
the changing area for the swimming pool in the 1950s and
was eventually demolished.

Buildings on Clifton Road
When Portland House was offered for sale in 1950 the advertisement
in the local paper described the Mews as a "spacious
building forming Five Lock-up Garages and Store Rooms"[1].
The mews buildings are of interest as they are
shown here before any conversion took place. The mews had
been built by Mr. Axe of Bonsall[2] (date
not known) and consisted of two separate two storey buildings
on either side of a courtyard, with the garages on the ground
level and store rooms above. There was a gated entrance and
a covered open area that joined the two buildings and also
served as a parking area (there is a car in the right hand
section). A water trough was outside; it is still in place
today. Eventually doors were put onto the two open fronted
garages and they also became lock-ups, rented by many of
the residents of Clifton Road. The upstairs store rooms were
converted into two flats, one with its entrance through an
archway in the wall and the other with its entrance from
the courtyard. When they were converted the flat in the left
hand block was given a large window, with views onto Clifton
Road and what were two allotments on the opposite side of
the road. These were gardens for the two flats and were beautifully
kept by the occupants; today they have been swallowed up
into the grounds of Matlock Bath School and look rather overgrown.
The mews have been altered in more recent times to become
homes instead of garages. |
1.Postcard of "Matlock Bath from Cumberland Cavern",
taken and published by Cyril Edmonds in the 1930s.
2 and 3. Enlargements of the above.
Images © Christine Leila Hill collection.
Information researched, written by and © Ann Andrews.
Intended for personal use only.
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References:
[1] "Derby Daily Telegraph",
3 March 1950.
[2] Reminiscences of the late Frank Clay.
Private papers © Ann Andrews.
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