Riddings

Start: Riddings Community Centre, West Street. OS Grid ref. SK425527

(S/E) (A) From the Community Centre car park take the footpath heading North between the cricket and football pitches. When you reach the pavilion turn right along the boundary edge over the stile into the ‘Horse Field’. Keep the boundary fence on your right hand side and head across the field to the kissing gate. Turn right along the path, Park Mews, passing between the big house and the mews until you reach Church Street. Turn left and head towards the Market Place, passing the Seven Stars on your left and the Moulders Arms on your right (B).

(1) A few yards on turn left into Spring Road and after the Wesleyan chapel on your left, turn right onto Nottingham Lane.
Follow the road down the hill to the edge of Riddings Wood (C). When the road emerges from the trees, go round a left hand bend and over a small canal bridge. A public footpath sign points left to Pye Bridge. Turn right and follow the footpath along the former Pinxton canal towards Ironville. Pass under a railway bridge, follow the path to the right, passing beneath Bullock Lane. Caution - low bridge.

(2) Follow the path with the church on your left and across the car park. Continue along the path skirting Ironville.
Note the furnace slag used to construct the terraced houses on the left, similar to Forge Row in Codnor Park, which were associated with the iron works.
The path continues, passing under a foot bridge, until it arrives at Codnor Park reservoir. Turn left and then right to follow the southern edge of the lake, crossing a narrow metal footbridge over the Cromford canal. (D)

(3) Follow the path around the Southern edge of the lake and cross the canal on another metal footbridge. Turn left to follow the Cromford canal towards Golden Valley.
Some of the houses along here are also associated with the ironworks.
The path climbs up onto Newlands Road (E) and continues on the other side. To cross the road turn right and cross at the end of the railings. Turn back down the road and pass the former Newlands Inn. Turn right onto the canal towpath.

(4) Follow the canal towpath for a couple of hundred yards and climb the steps on your right. These skirt the end of the Golden Valley Light Railway and climb up into the woods. As the path levels out, take the path on the left and follow this through the woods in a North-West direction, staying on the path on the left.
You are walking between the light railway and main line, so they can be used to guide you if you get off route.
The path crosses a small wooden footbridge. Ignore the steps in front of you and take the path to the left. At a fork in the path take the right hand leg. The path then crosses another small footbridge. Shortly after, at another fork, take the right hand leg. Follow the path into a clearing, then back into the trees. Cross another footbridge and head up to the stile in the fence.

(5) Turn right and follow the path below the Butterley main line, emerging onto the end of Slack Lane. Turn left and follow the path under another railway bridge. Continue along the path with the field boundary on your left. At the field boundary, climb the stile and continue up the hill, with the hedge line on your left. On the skyline behind the Jessop monument is visible. Once you reach the ridge, continue to the hedge and turn right to follow the path back to Riddings. Keep the field boundary on the left across five small fields. (F)

(6) A wooden footbridge crosses the former Swanwick pit branch line and the path leads onto Peak Avenue. Turn right and follow this around until it turns sharp left and turns into Pennine Avenue. Follow the footpath ahead, which leads past the Lighthouse charity centre onto Greenhill Lane. Use the crossing to cross the road and return to the Community Centre along West Street.(S/E)

Terrain: Easy walk on footpaths. Care is needed when crossing roads.

Parking: The Riddings Community Centre. West Street

Transport: Nearest bus stop is Amber Business Centre, near Cantley Road.

Start: Riddings Community Centre, West Street. OS Grid ref. SK425527

More information at the Pentrich and South Wingfield Revolution website here.

(A) On the 12th December 1811: reports in the newspapers appear on Luddite attacks in Ilkeston, Crich, Holbrook, Heage, Swanwick, and Riddings. This is in the first year of Luddism, which had restarted across Nottinghamshire and south-east Derbyshire since November 1811.
The contemporary historian of the industry and hosier Felkin saw this as evidence of one of the four ‘gangs’ which were leading attacks across the area – Nottingham, Sutton in Ashfield, Arnold and Swanwick.
The Pentrich framework knitter Thomas Bacon was seen as the key person who lined up the gang in Swanwick/Pentrich with those in the other areas.

(B) In 1817 John Fletcher not only ran the Ripley Brewery but also owned several public houses in the area, including the ‘Red Lion’ at Ripley, known to have been frequented by some of the insurgents, and the ‘Seven Stars’ at Riddings, which he jointly owned with George Goodwin, the Butterley manager. On 6 June 1817, John Fletcher told the authorities about his suspicions, citing the large numbers of people recently attending the local radical Hampden clubs. The following day, at the joint request of George Goodwin and John Fletcher, 117 special constables were sworn in at Ripley. Fletcher would be retaliated against after this deed.

(C) After reaching Gilt Brook and retreating from the Hussars, the Pentrich revolutionaries headed back home. They found John Fletcher's special constables waiting in Riddings and Golden Valley woods to arrest them.

(D) Although no Riddings men were named in the court depositions, it didn’t mean none took part; they were active in this area when it came to framebreaking. Most Luddite attacks took place with the covert cooperation of the knitters, at least some of those. Maybe one attack was enough in Riddings to teach the hosier a lesson!
1817 Hampden Clubs: Riddings is close enough to the Alfreton Common meetings of the Hampden Club for it to have involved local people. It met at Peach’s public house, The Queen’s Head, and Job Walker called the meetings together. He had strong links to Bacon and even got Benbow, the ‘missionary’ from Liverpool, to come to speak at a meeting.

(E) Newlands Road would have been traversed by the men from Alfreton and Swanwick as they headed out towards Codnor and forward to Nottingham.

(F) Bankruptcy followed Fletcher and the ‘Seven Stars’ and the Ripley Brewery. Adverts appeared in the Derby Mercury for the sale of the Seven Stars, firstly in 1817, again in 1818, and in 1820 the company was declared bankrupt.