Buxton Local History Society

18/10/2026

13/01/2026

The first meeting of the Buxton Local History Society is on Wednesday 21st January when the topic is the Devonshire Hospital, before the National Health Service took over. Everyone is welcome at Trinity church hall, Hardwick Mount. Doors open at 7pm and the talk will begin at 7:30.
We look forward to seeing you then.

09/01/2026

A snowy picture for the snowy weather. I don’t know who these children are or the date, but quite possibly the 1940s. However, I am pretty certain that is the Cromford & High Peak Railway bridge over Heathfield Nook Road, Harpur Hill. The photo was kindly donated to the Society by Karen Taylor.

03/01/2026

As Mayoress, Dorothy Howe had various duties to perform, although why she was chosen to kick-off this football match we can only speculate. With those shoes I can’t see her scoring from the centre spot. The teams and occasion are unknown but this time I venture to suggest the location is in the Sherwood estate by the look of the houses in the background. The estate was built in stages, the first between 1925 – 1938 according to maps, but this narrows that to 1925 -1931, when the photo was taken.

28/12/2025

George Howe was born in Wirksworth, the son of a grocer and druggist. Initially he worked for his father who had moved to Tideswell but then went to Edinburgh to train as a veterinary surgeon. After qualifying he came to Buxton and established his “Overdale” business in about 1890 at 27 Market St., but by 1901 had moved to larger premisses in New Market St., where the practice still exists today. George became a Councillor, then Alderman, and in 1930 was elected Mayor. His wife, Sarah, had died in 1916 so his daughter, Dorothy, took on the role of Mayoress. But where was this photo taken, I don’t recognise the houses or location?

17/12/2025

One of the privileges of being a Freeman of the City of London is that he may drive his sheep across London Bridge without paying the required toll. An old rite which has been revived and celebrated today. Do Freemen of Buxton have any similar benefits?

11/12/2025

This scroll was presented to Alderman George Smithurst in 1934 on his admission to be an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Buxton. George came to Buxton from Hucknall, Notts, with his father and older brother and set up draper’s shops in both High Street and Spring Gardens, also providing lodgings in the season. He was first elected to the Local Board in 1891, later being a Councillor, then Alderman, and Mayor in 1924, the fourth to hold that office. Photo courtesy of Martin Smithurst.

03/12/2025

All the runners up in the Buxton Canadian Baseball League got was a baseball but the winners got a silver trophy, which they had presented to the league themselves. I guess they thought the league might last more than one year. This is the Canadian Discharge Depot team outside their base in the Empire Hotel. These men were considered unfit to be returned to the trenches and were on their way home to Canada.

25/11/2025

A Spalding USA baseball inscribed “Peak Hydro Baseball Team runners up Buxton League 1918”. They were not Americans but Canadian soldiers who were being treated in the various hospitals in the town. There were four teams in the league from the Imperial, Palace, Peak Hydro, and Spa Hydro, and the winners were those from the Imperial, the Canadian Discharge Depot. The league lasted just one year and I don’t know that baseball has been played in Buxton since.

06/11/2025

Micah Salt’s best work was at Thirst House cave in Deep Dale which continued over many years. Many of the exhibits in Buxton museum came from there including the bear’s skull. In 1898 an internment was discovered about half way between the cave and the dale floor. This was similar to those found in barrows in the area but unusual in that it was on a slope and stones to support the covering slabs were only needed on the lower side. One can only wonder at the purpose of this burial, a bit like burying granddad in the front garden! Perhaps the person was important, but not enough for a hill top site.