This photograph would have been taken about 1924 and was taken from next to the railway track on the embankment between the High Tor Tunnel and the Derwent Bridge, where the path up to the Pic Tor goes underneath the track. It shows the quarries and some buildings in the Dale. Just beyond High Tor, on Masson hillside, is the Victoria Tower and the Heights of Abraham. The picture is somewhat deceptive as at first glance the single storey building in the foreground appears to be almost level with the track. It was, however, on a flat area below the track and only the edge of the embankment is visible.

The building was a boathouse originally owned by Anthony Walton of the Wheatsheaf and bought by Matlock Council, after quite prolonged negotiations, in early 1903 as part of their development of the Pic Tor promenade. They paid £35 for the boathouse and the boats it stored. They did not wish to hire out the boats themselves, their idea being to lease the right and the boats^[1]. They refurbished the boathouse and by the August it was announced that "the old boathouse at the end of the Pic Tor Promenade is now ready for occupation as a drill hall by the Matlock Volunteers, having been renovated for this purpose"^[2].

There is a wooden box on the wall facing the track; it looks like one of those boxes that would hold a life belt if it were on the Promenade. In the light of the building's previous use, it probably was. The large sign advertising High Tor Grounds, where the Pic Tor footpath goes underneath the track, says "To the High Tor Grounds, Fern and Roman Caves, ... [unreadable], Switzerland View, Restaurant, Matlock Bath". The entrance fee, possibly 1/-, is also included. It is at the height it is so that it could be read by the train passengers as they passed by.

References:

^[1] "Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald", 10 January 1903. The Pic Tor Promenade.

^[2] "Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald", 8 August 1903.