This photo was taken from high up, looking downwards into the valley formed by the River Derwent and southwards towards Cromford. Although you can't really see them in this reproduction, an enlargement of the original even shows some of the houses on Cromford Hill. The silhouette of the Black Rocks is on the skyline and Masson weir is downstream, just past the bend. Cat Tor is on the left of the picture and the large sloping field on the right, behind the wall of the New Bath hotel and with the track at its base, is what used to be known as the Cumberland field. There is an open-sided agricultural building part of the way along the track, next to the boundary wall.

In the Derwent Gardens on the banks of the river is the southern end of the Switchback Railway and its shelter, where the cars were turned round so that passengers could begin the return journey of their ride. Holy Trinity Church, the bottom of Clifton Road and the New Bath Hotel are also in this picture. There is some development past the Derwent Gardens; a gate, shown clearly in the image below, divides this area off and there's a greenhouse and other buildings on the land, some of which were possibly storage sheds. One of the daughters of Herbert Buxton, was to live here for a number of years with her husband, Captain Arthur James Wyrill^[1a].

John Higton, responding to some criticism of the Switchback that was published in 1889, believed that the switchback was "only a temporary structure, and can be removed without much difficulty when required"^[1]. It was to last for over 40 years.

Whilst the Derwent Gardens form only a relatively small portion of the scene, the pictures are included here for what they show us of the switchback. We can see into the shelter at the half way point in the switchback ride, where the cabs or cars changed to a different track for the return trip. A laden car can be seen on the rails and, although it may be wishful thinking to suggest this, it is just possible that the switchback's employees are at the back, pushing it to gain sufficient momentum.

Another version of this scalloped edged card may have been posted in 1926 but the image
is identical to the top picture and the original photograph would have been taken over 20 years before.

Several publishers were to issue the images on this page (excluding the enlargement) under their own brand name and it is difficult to know who was the first to do so. The picture at the top was probably published by Sneath as everything indicates that, including the typeface used for the card's description, etc., apart from the number written on it. If I (web mistress) were to hazard a guess, the Sneath image was probably a prototype. The card with the scalloped edges was published by Milton and a coloured version was produced by Marsden of Wirksworth. Then there is the one by Frith on the Switchback, Rise & Fall page (5th image down). The earliest postal date for a version by Jackson & Son is 1905^[2]. Sneath distributed two versions^[2], using different fonts, but they are also identical to the ones here.

It would have been an impossibility for more than one photographer to have captured this exact moment, as something would have moved in the scene. There are at least five pointers to show the images are identical, even if some of the postcards have had their edges cropped. The clues are:

1. The Switchback itself. The car is in the same place. As it was a moving vehicle it cannot be a coincidence that it is in the self same spot on so many different pictures.
2. On the main road there is a vehicle close to the bottom of Clifton Road with two people standing in the road beside it. There are two other vehicles in all of the pictures, one on Clifton Road behind the steeple and the other on the road up to the New Bath, just past Portland House. Again, it cannot be a co-incidence.
3. Look at the wall below the church, near the bottom right of the card. There is the same dirty mark on the road.
4. On the left hand river bank close to the bottom is a somewhat spindly conifer.
5. The people on path beside the river are exactly the same as are the crowds who are either walking along Derby Road or peering over the wall to see what is going on.
   

A coloured version of the same view was published by G. Marsden of Wirksworth and was posted in 1909. It is in the "Just images" section of the site.
There is a sepia card, called "Matlock", that was published before the Derwent Gardens were developed. It is also in the "Just images" section of the site.

Hartle's Bazaar

Portland House

Holy Trinity Church 1905

References:

^[1] In the Matlock Absent Voter's List (1918) Arthur Wyrill is shown living at Vernon Cottage in Matlock Bath. He was a C.O. in the Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary

^[1] "Derbyshire Courier", 2 November 1889. Matlock and Its Grievances.

^[2] With grateful thanks to Susan Tomlinson for checking her own collection and sending me a number of images for comparison, including Sneath's No. 2815 - none of which are published here.