This view of Crown Square was taken from the bottom of Bank Road and looks to the southwest, over the river bridge towards the bottom of Snitterton Road and the lower slopes of Masson. It would have been taken at the same time as the Frith's image on the previous page, when the blackout markings were still visible on the railings and kerbstones.

In Crown Square itself we can see the shops of the Derwent Valley Co-operative Society Ltd., Addy's Confectionery and Dakin's Hairdressers and Tobacconists.

The Co-op had been in Matlock since 1963, though not in these premises for all that time. In the 1950s the Co-op had businesses in Crown Square, on Smedley Street West and at Coal Wharf at Matlock Station^[1]. There were also branches in the surrounding villages. The architect and surveyor Davis Mark Wildgoose was the Society's chairman for seventeen years^[2]. The local general manager in the Co-op's early years was Robert H. Rothwell but during the Second World War James Owens had become the local secretary and manager^[3]. The Co-op remained a large concern in Matlock after the Second World War, with their shops continuing until the late 1960s. They also delivered bread, baked at their premises on Smedley Street, but the Co-op eventually lost its popular appeal and in 1868 a resolution was passed to wind up the company; the Co-op then went into liquidation^[4].

There was an alarming incident at the Crown Square shop in the 1950s, when the driver of a lorry travelling down Steep Turnpike lost control of his vehicle. It was reported that a drive shaft had broken on his lorry. Although the driver was still able to steer, the lorry careered along Causeway Lane and into Crown Square, smashing into the grocery and butchery in the left hand side of the store^[5]. It caused quite a sensation at the time.

Addy's confectioners was also part of the Crown Square landscape for a good many years. Mrs. Clara Ann Addy began the business about 1900 and continued for over twenty five years before putting it into the hands of her daughters, Margaret and Maud^[6]. Dakin's was still in the same shop (2014) next to the river until fairly recently.

References (coloured links are to transcripts or more information elsewhere on this web site):

^[1] See Letterheads of Local Businesses, 1900-1949 (1) - scroll down the page.
^[2] Derby Daily Telegraph Monday 23 August 1937. Obituary for Davis Mark Wildgoose, who had been Matlock Urban Council's Chairman during the First World War.
^[3] Kelly's Directory 1925 | Kelly's Directory 1932 | Kelly's Directory 1941.
^[4] "The London Gazette": 18 June 1968 - resolution passed to wind up the company; 16 April 1970 - a further meeting; 26 Sept 1972 - General Meeting of Members of Derwent Valley Co-operative Society. Accounts of Liquidator, Matlock Bath Pavilion, North Parade.
^[5] There is a photograph of the lorry, half of it inside the Co-op, in Duggins, Ron (2006) "Echoes of the Dales", the 1950s, pub. Landmark, Ashbourne, Derbyshire. ISBN 1-84306-306-9
^[6] The Addy's moved to Matlock from Derby about 1900. Mrs. Addy is not listed in Kelly's 1899 Directory but the family were shown living on Bank Road in the 1901 census. Mrs. Addy advertised in Kelly's 1908 Directory | Kelly's 1916 Directory | Kelly's 1925 Directory. She died in 1937. Margaret E and Maud Addy advertised in Kelly's 1932 Directory but by 1942 Maud was alone in the business. She died in 1968.