Coming of age… that’s Birchover’s glorious gardens!

Rowtor rock, birchover, magazines derbyshire, magazine chesterfield,

Brian Bunce tells all about the ‘humble place’ he loves, its rich history and its special anniversary this year.

IN AUGUST OF 1868, James Croston and a small group of friends from Manchester were walking through Derbyshire. On that particular day, after  leaving Stanton Moor and the fascinating Nine Ladies Circle, they found themselves descending along a rough and stony road winding erratically toward signs of habitation.  Mr Croston tells in his guide book, On Foot Through The Peak,  how the dwellings appear to have been built with ‘little regard to regularity’. Some facing the road, others standing at right angles to it and others again, in the most inhospitable fashion, turning their backs toward the visitors. So Mr Croston and his companions enter what they refer to as the ‘humble village’ of Birchover…