Cromford village and Arkwright's satanic mills

I checked the weather forecast last week and was informed that Sunday would be wet, with rain pelting down all day, so we'd decided to go along to an art exhibition in Cromford. The weather had other ideas though; it was a lovely sunny, even warm, day, and we decided to have a wander round the village as well.

Cromford's a place we've driven through countless times, often stopped and walked along the canal or up among the bluebell woods, but never round the village.

We headed behind The Greyhound to the pond built to provide water power to Arkwright's mill. Today it looks pretty with waterfowl and swans  (no crocodiles despite the warning sign), surrounded by olde-worlde houses and steep hills, but I doubt any mill workers had time to enjoy their surroundings and probably would have loved a flatter walk home at the end of the day.

Corn Mill

Manager's House

Then we headed back to the car park via the mill complex built by Richard Arkwright from 1771 onwards  

The water from the mill pond goes under Cromford village and the main 'A' road to emerge here by Arkwright's second mill where once it powered the machinery.

In Spring sunshine, with small shops and a cafe now occupying the old buildings, the mill looks an attractive place but I can't imagine it was when working full out. It's possible to go on a tour of the buildings but it was getting late so we left that till some other time.

Cromford village has spread out to the south of the mill complex, so a short walk beyond it in the opposite direction,past the canal wharf from which the mills' products were shipped out, we were back to the open countryside - although this is actually the view from the car park taken before heading home.