Rod Smallwood: Nether Moor Images
I was recently skimmimg through a book on 20th century gardens and landscapes, and came across a reference to Hope Cement Works. We have lived near this for fifty years, so I was immediately interested. The cement works is the largest in the country, producing 1.5 million tons of cement a year, and is in the middle of the Peak District National Park.
In 1943, four years before the designation of the Park, Gordon Jellicoe was asked to produce a fifty-year plan for the landscaping of the works – his first major commission. He produced a model of what the quarry and its surroundings would look like by 1993 if his proposals were followed. His main recommendations were that the quarry should have a narrow entrance, and not break the skyline, so as to minimise its visibility; waste tipping should, as far as possible, be within the quarry, and otherwise should follow the natural contours of the valley slopes; the clay extraction ponds should be landscaped as recreational lakes when extraction was completed; and that there should be extensive tree planting around the works. The quarry has grown considerably since 1993, had several owners, but still has a landscaping plan. How successful is it – on the face of it, tree planting is not going to screen a 132 m tall chimney!
In the 1970s the works was much more conspicuous. There was always a plume of smoke from the chimney, and you could smell the coal smoke when 3.6 km away on top of Win Hill. Now there is no plume and no smell.
There are two public footpaths through the works. The lower one runs from Michlow Lane in Bradwell to the corner of Pindale Road, between Hope and Castleton. It runs through a wooded area between the works and the quarry, but you cannot see the quarry. The picture above shows where the path crosses an access road to the quarry. The works is remarkably well screened.
The buildings are enormous – seen above when crossing the access road, and below through the perimeter fencing.
At a second access road you come to the 132 m chimney and associated building, which must be about 60 m high.
It is a bit of a surprise to find that there are lawns and trees around the buildings – not the usual wasteland that surrounds quarries. The picture above shows one of the rotary kilns.
The second public footpath starts on Siggate, the original road from Tideswell to Castleton, which is now diverted around the top of the quarry. An access road leads to a shelter at the edge of the quarry, where the scale of the operation becomes obvious. From the shelter, which is below the skyline, you can watch the peregrines which nest in the quarry.
The pictures above and below were taken from the same place, and show the increase in size of the quarry over a ten-year period. 2.5 million tons of stone are extracted each year. To give an idea of scale, in the middle of the picture below, there is an excavator and dumper truck. The wheels on the dumper truck are the same height as a Land Rover.
The quarry and works are bound to look enormous when one is in them. More important is their impact in the landscape. From Bradwell, about 1.5 km from the chimney, the works is pretty dominant but the quarry cannot be seen – the conveyor buildings can be seen going up the hillside on the left. Mam Tor is on the left skyline, and the Grey Ditch is in the foreground. The Grey Ditch is a defensive rampart built in the 5th and 6th centuries CE.
The next two views are taken a bit further away on Brough Lane, going up from Brough and over to Abney. In both views, the crusher building and store at the mouth of the quarry can be seen.
We are now on Bradwell Edge, about 2.5 km from the chimney, which is off the right edge of the image. The top tiers of the quarry can be seen, but most of it is not visible. The crusher is just off the right edge of the image, which gives an idea of the size of the quarry – it is approaching 2 km long. The upper part of Bradwell is in the foreground. Batham Gate, the Roman road to Buxton from the fort at Brough, can be seen running from the houses on the right edge of the image diagonally across the centre to the solitary barn which is near the tree belt on the edge of the quarry.
The view from the north-west, on the side of Win Hill. Despite their size, the buildings do not dominate the landscape from here. The crusher and storage buildings can just be seen, but the quarry is hidden. The trees on the hill above the works, and on the lower ground, break up the massing of the buildings and disconnect them from the quarry.
From 5 km away, on Bamford Edge, the buildings have become part of the landscape. From here, the back of the quarry is visible. It faces north-east, so is in shadow, and is well below the skyline. The most obvious thing from here is the straight access road up the righthand side of the quarry.
About 8 km from the chimney, on the hill above Hathersage Church. The building is an exclamation mark, but in scale with the great width of the valley which is dominated by the dramatic face of Mam Tor and the skyline of Rushup Edge, Mam Tor and Kinder Scout.
Further away still, on Burbage Edge, over 10 km from the chimney, it is still a significant feature in the landscape, but Carl Wark and Higger Tor in the foreground, and Mam Tor, can easily compete for attention. The storage building can just be seen, and the quarry is difficult to pick out.
From Stanage Edge (this is above the Plantation), about 8 km from the chimney, the buildings don’t stand out at all, but the quarry is more visible but still below the skyline.
The view is much the same from Carhead Rocks below Stanage Edge.
So, what is my verdict? I think Jellicoe’s plan has been remarkably successful. It would be impossible to disguise either buildings or quarry – they are far too big – but they do not look out of place in the landscape, unlike many of the other limestone quarries, around Buxton for instance. It is obvious in the image above that the scale of the valley and the surrounding hills is sufficiently large to contain the buildings and the quarry. The chimney and its associated tower actually give scale to the valley. I think an eighteenth century traveller would have said it was Sublime, and Chantrey would have painted it!
Further reading
The book which started this is ‘100 20th-Century Gardens & Landscapes’, edited Susannah Charlton and Elain Harwood.
I have been unable to find a copy of Jellicoe’s original report, but it was reviewed in the Architectural Review. The review is online at Jellicoe at Hope Works. It has photos of Jellicoe’s model, but no plans, because it was wartime and publishing maps was forbidden.
Image Gallery
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