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View from the Heights of Abraham


1. View from the Heights of Abraham, September 2008.


Temple Road and Orchard Road


2. Temple Walk and Orchard Road from Upperwood Road.


Bottom of Orchard Road


3. Close up of the bottom of Orchard Road.
The building in the centre of the picture, behind the lamp post, used to be The Prince of Wales[1]. In earlier times the name was on the roof, so it was visible from Matlock Bath station! Probably the first licensee was Henry Gordon[2]but the Inn was one of many public houses to be closed during the First World War[3]. The property is now divided into two homes. It may seem an odd place for an hotel these days but it would have provided a welcome resting place for visitors to the Heights of Abraham in days gone by as they toiled up the steep hill. The Pitchings continues across Temple Walk / Temple Road and up the hillside past the Prince of Wales[4].


The former Prince of Wales pub


4. A second photograph of the Prince of Wales.


Temple Road, looking towards the Heights


5. This is another view of Temple Walk, again from the Temple Hotel, but this time looking towards the Heights of Abraham. It shows some of the beautiful houses that were built in Matlock Bath. For example, on the extreme left about half way up the photo is Guilderoy and Masson Cottage and the castellated building on the same level but further to the right is the Lower Tower. Vehicles have restricted access to parts of Matlock Bath these days, as the sign on the road indicates. The sign is roughly where The Pitchings crosses the road and continues up the hillside. The section down from Temple Walk is very steep.

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Matlock Bath, from the Heights of Abraham,
1866-78



General View from The Heights of Abraham



Matlock Bath, from the Heights of Abraham, 1892



Images supplied by and copyright © Andy Andrews and Ken Smith.
The Ken Smith images scanned for this website by and © Ann Andrews.
Information written, researched, provided by and © Ann Andrews
Intended for personal use only.

References (coloured links go to transcripts or information elsewhere on this web-site):

[1] There are plenty of references to the Prince of Wales in the onsite trade directories and census returns
[2] Mr. Gordon, of the Prince of Wales beer-house, Matlock Bath, who was living here by 1861 with his then wife Elizabeth (d. 10 July 1862). He first applied for a licence in 1862, but it was not granted ("The Derby Mercury", Wednesday, September 3, 1862). Henry Gordon was successful in 1866 ("The Derby Mercury", Wednesday, August 29, 1866). Holmes' Handbook of 1866 describes the Prince of Wales during Mr. Gordon's time there - see transcript. There is a notice of Mr. Gordon's departure on Matlock & Matlock Bath Public Notices & Announcements, 1871.
[3] This was at the end of 1917 and compensation was then paid to the owners. Beresford, Charles "The Bath at War, A Derbyshire Community and the Great War" (2007). Country Books/Ashridge Press. ISBN 978 1 901214 91 8, p.286.
[4] There are quite a few images of the bottom of the Pitchings, next to Hodgkinson's Hotel. See, for example, South Parade & the Pitchings, a drawing and Photograph of Museum Parade & The Pitchings, 1910