Sepia Saturday 98: Cart, Coach and Carriage Drivers and the Day Excursion

Reverse of card mount by George Renwick, Burton-on-Trent
Image © and courtesy of Marion Oubhie
Marion Oubhie sent me an image of an unidentified man, possibly from her Showell family, asking if I could estimate a date. It is a standard carte de visite by the Burton-upon-Trent (Staffordshire) studio of George Renwick. From the design of the card mount (see image below) and the negative number, I believe that the photograph was produced around 1883-1885.


Unidentified man with a whip, c. late 1870s/early 1880s
Carte de visite portrait by George Renwick, Burton-on-Trent
Image © and courtesy of Marion Oubhie
The date of the portrait sitting is a little more difficult to estimate, partly because the studio setting and furniture are not visible, but also because my knowledge of the subject of men's clothing fashions is meagre. It is possible that the subject sat for the portrait in the early to mid-1880s, as suggested by the mount, but I think it more likely that it is actually a copy of a slightly earlier photograph, taken perhaps in the mid- to late 1870s. Perhaps the man visited a studio first in the late 1870s, and then ordered a further copy of the portrait half a dozen or so years later.

I was intrigued with the object in the man's right hand, which appears to be a whip and suggests an occupation involving driving a team of horses or draft animals. He was probably a wagon, coach or carriage driver. Marion's Showell ancestors were agricultural or brewer's labourers and farmers, so it seems likely that this man drove a wagon transporting farm produce or supplies for the brewing industry in Burton.


William Mottram and his daughter Sarah, c. late 1860s/early 1870s
Carte de visite portrait by John Clark of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of Linda Snyder
These two images sent to me by Linda Snyder, and taken by Matlock Bath photographer John Clark, portray an occupation which is far less equivocal. William Mottram (c.1813-1879) is shown as an ostler in the 1861 Census, and as a labourer ten years later, but Linda tells me that he was employed as a coachman at the time these portraits were taken.


William Mottram, c. late 1860s/early 1870s
Carte de visite portrait by John Clark of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of Linda Snyder
The clothing certainly gives that impression, with the short ornamented jacket, top hat and leather riding boots. He also has a special leather side flap fastened with buckles to the outer side of his lower right leg, presumably to protect his boots, clothes and calves from the horses harness or something similar. I'm sure there's a name for these, something like leggings or chaps, although neither of those terms seem to quite fit this item.


Reverse of card mounts, John Clark of Matlock Bath
Although clearly taken at the same sitting the card mounts used for these two portraits are different. Together with the studio setting and clothing and hair styles of the young woman, the card designs suggest to me that the portrait was taken in the late 1860s or very early 1870s. Sarah would have turned 18 years old in late 1871 or early 1872.



The last image in this series was sent to me by Ann Bruce, whose great-grandparents James and Ann Smith (nee Gosling), he standing up in the carriage, are about to head off on a day's excursion from Aberystwyth. They lived in Smethwick, near Birmingham so would have travelled by train to the coastal town in north Wales, and stayed in a hotel there before taking the excursion. Unfortunately the driver is mostly hidden by a passenger in the front seat anxious to show his best side to the camera.

From the size of the "leg of mutton" sleeves of the dresses that the two visible women members of the party are wearing, I estimate the photograph to have been taken in the mid-1890s. The number "935" appears to have been written in black ink on the negative, this printing out white on the print. The photographer is likely to have handed out tickets with this number printed to members of the excursion party, and they would no doubt have been able to buy a print upon their return, much as Bailey did in Bournemouth between the wars (Sepia Saturday 92: All Aboard the Bournemouth Queen). It also suggests that the photographer was a regular habitue of excursion parties, and it may well be that there are other such photographs surviving out there. Actually, I'm being somewhat disingenuous, because I have already featured an Aberystwyth excursion photo by Gyde, using an identical card mount, and with the negative number "1139," on Photo-Sleuth three years ago.

I see there is a second, as yet unoccupied, horse drawn carriage behind the first, presumably waiting for the next party to arrive, and I suspect that the large, double storey building in the background was some sort of inn or hotel. There is something behind and to the left of the main carriage, but I can't work out exactly what it is. The printing on it, "THE DE... WATER ... AND G..." is tantalising, but as yet unrevealing.

Thank you very much Marion, Linda and Ann for these excellent examples of occupational photographs, which have slotted nicely into my take on this week's Sepia Saturday theme. I trust you will now head over there to check out what the other slaves to sepia have on offer.

Derby Photographers: Pollard Graham

Barker Pollard Graham, like many photographers of his day, went through several "boom and bust" cycles during his lengthy career. Some of these phases of activity were in the form of partnerships, often with local businessmen who would have provided financial backing to his various schemes. It's difficult, perhaps impossible, to assess now how much his failures were due to poor business sense, and how much to unfortunate turns of events - most likely a bit of both.


Carte de visite portrait of John Hunter, junior, September 1880
by Pollard Graham of New Road, Belper & North End, Wirksworth
Images © and courtesy of Ron Cosens
His first venture appears to have been started around 1878 - I don't yet have a firm date - working as a photographer and gelatine dry plate manufacturer at New Road in Belper, but also operating in Wirksworth. Reports of financial difficulties in mid-1881 assert that he traded as "Pollard Graham & Co." Although I have yet to see any other evidence for use of this name at this early stage, I suspect that the "& Co." referred to his brother-in-law Michael Charnock, also a photographer, who was living him on census night in April 1881. In February 1886 there is another report of court proceedings between the "Derby Photographic Dry Plate Company" and "Pollard Graham & Co." but no details of location or are given. To my knowledge the suffix "& Co." never appeared on any of his card mounts or trade directory entries during this period.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1886-7
by Pollard Graham of New Road, Belper & The Zoological Gardens, Southport
Images © and courtesy of Ron Cosens
Around 1886-1887 Graham replaced his Wirksworth sideline with one at The Zoological Gardens, Southport, as shown only by the addresses on several carte de visites. It seems probable that his visits to Southport were merely seasonal, catering to the zoo's summer visitors, and he is unlikely to have occupied permanent premises there.

In early 1887, together with several Derby businessmen, he registered "Pollard Graham and Company, Limited" in the business of gelatine bromide photographic dry plate manufacturers. In that year he was operating from premises in Agard Street, Derby. Again it appears that the business did not thrive, and three years later, in March 1890, the "stock in trade and working plant" of Pollard Graham & Co., Ltd., Agard Street, Derby was offered for sale. A liquidation notice for Pollard Graham & Co., Ltd., Derwent Dry Plate Works, Agard Street, which had been operating since 1886, appeared in June 1890. As I've not seen any card mounts with the Agard Street address, I'm not sure whether he ever operated a studio from there.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1891-3
by Pollard Graham of Rodney Chambers, Corn Market, Derby
Image © and courtesy of Lies Ligthard
The portrait business, however, continued, and it is clear from mentions in the local newspaper that he was taking portraits from premises at Rodney Chambers, Corn Market in August 1890. By March 1891 it is likely that his son James Charnock Graham was working for him. This studio appears to have then remained open, possibly continuously, until his death in 1932. I have no clear, unequivocal evidence for it, but I suspect that the portrait studio operated outside the framework of both of these early "Pollard Graham & Co" businesses, which appear to have been formed specifically for the commercial manufacture of dry plates, presumably for supply to local studios.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1895-7
by Pollard Graham of Derby & Burton on Trent
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
Pollard Graham's next venture was to open a branch studio in the nearby brewing town of Burton-upon-Trent, probably some time between 1893 and 1895. The entries in trade directories for 1896 and 1900 show him with the addresses 12 and 113a Station Street respectively. I believe this branch remained open until around 1900, but again I don't have a firm date for its closure. It is complicated by the firm possibly using card mounts with both "Burton & Derby" and "Derby" addresses simultaneously during this period.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1905-7
by Pollard Graham of Burnley, Leigh, Peterboro' & Derby
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
From 1903 until 1910, Pollard Graham also operated several other branches, of varying duration, in other Midland towns. According to my research, these were in Peterborough, Burnley, Leigh and Wigan, and all examples that I have seen from these branches were styled "Pollard Graham," with no suffix.


Large format mounted portrait of Lily May Campbell, c.1910
by Pollard Graham & Co. of Burslem, Longton, Coventry & Northampton
Image © and courtesy of Diane Lilley
Some time prior to March 1915, when the partnership was dissolved, Pollard Graham went into a collaboration with Albert Hutchinson. This firm was styled, "Pollard Graham & Co." and at the time of dissolution was operating "in the trade or business of Photographers" at Friar-gate, Derby. From what I can tell, all of the card mounts with "Pollard Graham & Co." printed on them can be ascribed to this pre-war period of operation, when they had branches in Burslem, Longton, Coventry, Northampton, Rotherham, Luton and Lincoln. From an analysis of the photographs which have the "& Co." suffix - sadly, none are dated - and various trade directory entries, I believe that the partnership between Hutchinson and Graham probably corresponds to the use of the "& Co." title, and commenced around 1910. I have not seen any photograph with "Pollard Graham & Co." printed on it, or a trade directory entry for "Pollard Graham & Co." prior to 1910 or after 1915.


Postcard portrait of unidentified man, c.1914
by Pollard Graham of 108A Friargate, Derby
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
The Great War seems to have had a significant impact on Pollard Graham's business. Apparently all of the branch studios were closed around 1914-1915, with only the "Head Office and Works" remaining open until around 1920. It is not clear what happened to the studio at Rodney Chambers, Corn Market during the War, because it the address is not shown on extant postcard backs from 1915-1920. It may have been closed temporarily until business picked up again in peace time.


Postcard portrait of Caroline Sadler, c.1921-5
by Pollard Graham of Derby & Northampton
Images © and courtesy of Caroline Dean
In about 1920, perhaps sensing business was indeed rejuvenating, he opened a new branch in Northampton.


Postcard portrait of unidentified man, c.1925-6
by Pollard Graham of Derby, Northampton, Kettering & Wellingborough
Images © and courtesy of Rob Jennings
Around 1925, he went into a short-lived partnership with his son James, and they opened more branches, successively, in Kettering and Wellingborough. Postcards and card mounts bear the name "Pollard Graham & Son" and "Pollard Graham & Son's Studios," respectively. This would not last long, however. The partnership was dissolved in October 1926, Pollard Graham keeping the Corn Market studio, and his son retaining the others.


Postcard portrait of Ada Mary Oxspring, c.1928-32
by Pollard Graham of Rodney Chambers, Corn Market, Derby
Images © and courtesy of Graham Robinson
From late 1926 until his death in 1932, Pollard Graham continued to take portraits at Rodney Chambers, Corn Market.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all of those who have kindly contributed both images and information over a period of some years for my revised profile of the Derby photographer Pollard Graham - without them, this study would be very patchy.

Nigel Aspdin, Hilary Booth, Betty Bowler, Boz, Kerrie Brailsford, Pat Cahill, Grace-Ellen Capier, John Copley, Brian Coxon, Helen Cullum, Joss Davis, Caroline Dean, Sophie Dickerson, Chris Elmore, Jack Fletcher, John Frearson, Helen Frost, Gillian Fynes, Angela Galloway, Brian Goodhead, Angus Graham, Clive Greatorex, Carole Haywood, John Hoddinott, Martin Jackson, Rob Jennings, Kim Klump, Lies Ligthart, Diane Lilley, Dorothy Livesey, Marilyn McMillan, Cynthia Maddock, Barry Muir, Sarah Nash, Margaret Page, Graham Pare, Fran Powles, Alan Radford, Kevin Rhodes, Graham Robinson, David Roughley, Robert Silverwood, Derek Smith, Valerie Stern, Lynne Tedder and Andrew Wryobek.

Photographic Ephemera: Posting envelopes and their relevance

Portrait of young man by Pollard Graham of Derby
Mounted print 250 x 350mm
Last week I wrote in the article "Which sibling is it?" about the importance of dating photographs in the process of identification of subjects. Today I return to this topic with an image sent to me three years ago by Graham Pare, who provided some background to the photograph:

It is the only photo I have from this area - my father's family were from Derbyshire, my great grandfather was Francis Willoughby Pare born Belper 1909 and his father was Robert Stanley Lee Pare, born Ripley 1887 - I guess it could be either of them, depending on your estimated year? There again it could be neither of them!

Imprint: Pollard Graham & Co, Head Office 108A Friar Gate, Derby
Negative number 68770
My response was as follows:

I believe that it was taken just before or during the First World War, perhaps between 1911 and 1916. This is from a comparison of the young man's clothing with other photos in my collection, as well as the number 68770 which you quoted from the reverse, and which I think must be a negative number. I have a post card photo of my own family by this studio with the negative number 70932, which is accurately dated at 13 Jul 1917, and I think yours must have been taken not too long before this date. I think it must therefore be the father, Robert Stanley Lee Pare, born in 1887, as the son would have been a maximum of seven years old, while the father was somewhere between 24 and 29. Does this fit with any conclusions you might have come to?

Portrait of young man by Pollard Graham of Derby
Mounted print
Then two years later I heard from Graham again with an update on the portrait:

I have now discovered that it is from my mother’s side of my family and not my father’s, as I originally thought. My brother had the same photo, but smaller, in his collection, and it was still in its original envelope!

Photograph envelope used by Pollard Graham of Derby
The envelope from Pollard Graham & Co. with Head Offices and Works at 108a Friar Gate, Derby is addressed to "Mr. S. Harding, The Rookery Cottage, Brixworth, Nr. Northampton," with a Derby postmark dated 31 July 1914, and the hand written negative number 68770.

The gentleman in the photo we now believe to be Sidney Harding, my grandfather’s brother. At the outset of WW1, Sidney enlisted as a Private, regimental number 25220, with the South Wales Borderers (formerly 8145 Army Cyclist Corps) at Northampton, where he was working as an engineering apprentice. He spent periods attached to 229 Company Royal Engineers and the Machine Gun Corps. Sid was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, on 4th February 1894 and would have therefore been around 20 years old at the time of this photo.

How nice for Graham to have not only an approximate date for the photograph, but also an address and a positive identification for the subject. I would be a little bit wary about the date, though, because the smaller mounted print posted within the envelope may have been an additional copy ordered after the original portrait had been received.

For me, however, the second portrait and the envelope with which it is associated provide additional information, rarely seen because these envelopes often don't survive.


View Pollard Graham Studios 1878-1932 in a larger map
Firstly it demonstrates that in mid-1914, on the eve of the British declaration of war on Germany, Pollard Graham & Co. was operating, in addition to the Derby studio, seven branches in Coventry, Northampton, Burslem, Longton, Rotherham, Luton and Lincoln simultaneously. This appears to have been the peak of a rapid period of expansion for the firm, commencing around 1904. Between then and 1905 Pollard Graham opened new studios in Peterborough, Burnely, Leigh, Wigan and Northampton. Around 1910, he went into partnership with Albert Hutchinson - hence the "Pollard Graham & Co.." The Peterborough and Burnley branches were closed, followed by Leigh in 1911 and Wigan in 1913, balanced by the opening of several branches in other, presumably more attractive, towns elsewhere in the Midlands.

As discussed in a previous article, lack of business due to wartime hardships quickly caused the closure of all the branches, and the partnership between Graham and Hutchinson was formally dissolved in March 1915. The Derby studio appears to have remained in business for much of the war's duration, judging by the number of portraits of servicemen taken there (see Pollard Graham portfolio), although the number of customers was no doubt significantly reduced.


Environs of 108A Friargate, Derby, c.1912, by F.W. Scarratt
Image courtesy of Rod Jewell's Yesterday's Derby and its Districts
Secondly it indicates that the exposed negatives of portraits taken at the branch studios, in this case the Northampton branch, were sent to the firm's Derby headquarters for printing. I had already suspected this, since they included the words "Head Office and Works" in their card mounts from c.1910 to 1915, and because most, if not all, of the negative numbers used between 1895 and 1922 appear to fit into a single sequence. However, it's good to have confirmation that it was happening in July 1914. Presumably increased efficiencies in the postal service of the time made it feasible, and both economies of scale and the reduced capital requirement for individual branches made it worthwhile.

Sending large numbers of glass plate negatives from around the Midlands by post to the Derby Works in Friargate seems to me a venture fraught with risk. Perhaps I'm underestimating the transport methods available at the time, but I can't imagine that even a small proportion of losses due to breakage would have been acceptable to either the firm or their clients. I wonder, therefore, if they were by this stage using roll film rather than dry-plate glass negatives, rapid developments having been made in roll film technology on the 1890s and early 1900s. Kodak introduced 9 new roll film sizes - from 3½" x 3½" up to 7" x 5" - to the commercial market in 1898 alone. I appreciate that glass plates still provided higher quality prints, and remained popular for some years. It's clear that this subject needs more research, but perhaps a reader or two can help with some in depth knowledge of the cameras used by studios at that time.

Sepia Saturday 91: A Black Horse, a Black Hearse and Fast-fading Flowers

"Western funerals: black hearses, and black horses, and fast-fading flowers. Why should black be the colour of death? Why not the colours of a sunset?"

Daniele Varè, The Maker of Heavenly Trousers

Funeral group at unidentified location
Image © and courtesy of Rachel Thomson
I was sent this photograph of a funeral scene a couple of years ago by Rachel Thomson, who wrote:

I found it in my parents' estate and no one seems to know its origins. It's morbidly fascinating as it's of a child's funeral. It could quite well be taken in Scotland. What is interesting is the reflections of peoples faces in the glass hearse. I thought someone might have a theory of its origins.

I did have a good look at the photograph at the time, and did some research into horse-drawn hearses, but didn't come to any conclusions as to location, and didn't feel that I had anything useful to contribute. Then, I'm afraid the query was neglected under the usual pile in my Inbox.

The image chosen for the Sepia Saturday this week is of a quite different topic, in a generalised sense, but Alan chose to make a point of the contrasting action within. I think this photograph shows similar qualities, and it is easy to be drawn into the scene. It depicts what must be the funeral of a young child, the funeral party arranged for the photographer around a horse-drawn hearse, which is itself parked in front of a long, single-storey building.


Detail of funeral group: the central characters
The "morbidly fascinating" aspect of the image centres around the tiny open white coffin, held by two young men at a slightly alarming angle, obviously so that the well-draped deceased baby would be in full view of the camera lens. This group of five each hold a silver candlestick. I'm not familiar enough with funeral rites and accoutrements to know whether these are characteristic of any particular denomination. I found this account of Scottish Burial Customs, but it makes no mention of candlesticks.


Detail of funeral group: the grieving parents
On the left of this central group are a couple who I suspect are the parents of the deceased child. Their eyes are turned downwards, but perhaps they are primarily concerned with how their older child, shown below, is managing with her candlestick. The woman's hair and clothing style, including the wide lace collar, lead me to tentatively suggest a date of perhaps the late 1870s or early to mid-1880s.


Detail of funeral group: the big sister
The child dressed in white, with a frilly bonnet and her mouth partly hidden by a ribbon or flower posie, is perhaps two to three years old and could easily be an older sibling of the dead child. She looks cautiously at the photographer.


Detail of funeral group: the coffin bearers
The two young men holding the child's coffin - actually only one of them seems to have a good grip on it - could be uncles of the deceased. They are both holding candlesticks and while one faces directly into the camera lens, the other is more intent on something off to the left - perhaps the the child's mother is his sister. Be


Detail of funeral group: the supporting cast
To the right there is a large group of young men, two or three of who are holding candlesticks and are holding up the decorated coffin lid, and one young woman. The latter's face is partly hidden in this image, but her dress is visible in the larger image above. All face the photographer except for one on the left who looks down at the lid.


Detail of funeral group: faces through the glass
Just visible through the glass of the hearse - and therefore probably standing behind it - are the ghostly faces of at least four, possibly five, women, and potentially another man. In light of the Scottish custom of the burial at the cemetery only being attennded by the menfolk, mentioned in the previous reference, it's interesting to note that most of the men are off to the right, and the women behind the hearse.


Detail of funeral group: the undertaker and his horse
The undertaker in his spotless coat and top hat, and the horses with their shiny polished bridle and harness, are off to the right. Yes, there are two horses, although one is pretty well hidden - look at the shadows. The undertaker, no doubt doubling as driver of the hearse, has his hands behind his back, and is probably holding the reins to keep the horses still. Leaning against the wall at the left is a dustpan with a handle, which may or may not have something to do with the horses.


Detail of funeral group: Finial on hearse
I found images of several horse-drawn hearses of a similar shape to the one in the photograph, but one feature renders it a little unusual. The hearse appears to be of a design that was more or less standard during the latter half of the 19th Century, but I've not been able to find anything similar to the five carved finials attached to its roof. Finials were not always used, but when they were present they were usually turned, and thus with a circular-section, or carved into shapes resembling drapery, rather than this square-section form.

The building itself is constructed from roughly shaped and dressed stone, with a slate roof bordered at the left with lead flashing, and topped by two stone chimneys, each with two pottery chimney pipes. The three visible glazed windows each have substantial wooden shutters on iron hinges, suggesting to me that the location may be a coastal one which commonly experiences adverse weather conditions. There is an open doorway behind the hearse, only just visible over the top of it.

My commentary is therefore long on observation, and rather short on both interpretation and conclusion. I'd welcome further contributions from readers, please, because I'm a little bereft of ideas to progress the investigation at the moment. Perhaps you have a different reading of the way people are standing and interacting with each other? Please leave your comments below, and then head over to Sepia Saturday 91 to enjoy the other interpretations of this week's theme.

The Compleat Angler, a Derbyshire fishing trip

Back in March I used this photograph of my great-grandfather Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941) and a group of friends outside an ivy-clad building to illustrate an article about his leisure activities.


At the time I had no idea of the location, but suspected it was somewhere in Derbyshire, and perhaps formed a suitable watering hole and starting point for excursions by walkers and fly-fishermen. More recently I was going over some notes made by my Dad in 2002, and came across the following:

... in J.B. Firth's "Highways & Byways in Derbyshire" where CVP pencilled many marginal asterisks and underlined passages which caught his eye, e.g. Apropos Beresford Dale: "... for peaceful loveliness and sheer prettiness nothing in Derbyshire excels it." ... As far as I know, fishing was his (CVP's) only outdoor pursuit in later years, unless you count attending sales all over the place and doing whatever he did at the Cromford Nursery.

Boy fishing, unknown location, undated, Loose paper print
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
I've long known that Charles Vincent was a keen trout fisherman, because my Dad inherited his rods and tackle and, although I was given my own cheap but perfectly adequate split cane rod - probably made in Hong Kong - at a fairly young age, I used an old reel of his, which I carried around in an old Great War gas mask bag brought back from the Western Front by my Grandpa.


Hallam fishing, Upper Waihou River, 27 July 2011
I think my brother Hallam, who has since become a far more knowledgeable and skillful trout fisherman than I, used the old rods until they disintegrated. Not surprising, really, because they must have been all of fifty or sixty years old by then.


Marchant Brooks & Co. auction sale notice, Fishing Rights and Fishing Lodge, Cromford Bridge, 22 July 1947, Collection of Brett Payne
In the 1930s Charles Vincent owned, along with Bow Wood Farm and the Cromford Bridge Chapel, about which I have written previously, a small fishing lodge adjacent to Cromford Bridge and 3000 yards of fishing rights on the River Derwent. He died in 1941 and, after the war had ended, my grandfather Leslie Payne sold Bow Wood Farm. Jobs were scarce at that time, in the post-war economic depression, and it was some time after his demobilisation from the Pioneer Corps before he eventually found a job with Gleeds, the Nottingham quantity surveyors, so money must have been tight. The Lodge and Bridge Chapel were gifted to the Derbyshire Archaeological Society, who I believe still own it.


Fisherman on the River Derwent, near Cromford Bridge
Image © and courtesy of Mick Martin
When the Matlock & Cromford Angling Association invited him to become a vice-president in 1942 they promised there would be "no irksome duties." I don't know if the fishing rights went with it, but Grandpa wasn't much of a fisherman, and from the surviving correspondence in our family archives it appears to have been more trouble than it was worth. Since no keeper had been employed the river had been neglected during the war, compounded by problems with effluent from a nearby fluorspar quarry. It appears that the family's connection with Cromford Bridge and the Derwent ended shortly thereafter.


Richard Arkwright's Fishing Lodge, Cromford Bridge
© Copyright Peter Barr Courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The fishing lodge was originally built in the late 18th Century by Richard Arkwright junior, then living nearby at Willersley Castle, as accomodation for his bailiff. An inscription on the lintel above the doorway - "Piscatoribus Sacrum" - provides a clue to the lodge's origins.


Charles Cotton's Fishing Lodge, Beresford Dale
© Copyright Neil Gibbs Courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
It is supposed to have been based on a similarly adorned - but rather more picturesque and architecturally pleasing - lodge built in 1674 on the banks of the River Dove at Beresford Dale by Charles Cotton, and made famous in his friend Isaac Walton's A Compleat Angler, or The Contemplative Man's Recreation.


The Fishing House, Beresford Dale
from Highway and Byways in Derbyshire, by J.B. Firth (1905)
A plate from Firth's 1905 Highway and Byways in Derbyshire, so lavishly annotated by Charles Vincent, displays the temple carefully restored after having been much neglected in previous times.


"Piscatoribus Sacrum," Walton and Cotton's Fishing House, Beresford Dale Postcard by unknown publisher, c.1920s-1930s
That Walton and Cotton's fishing retreat was still a well known landmark in the 1920s and 1930s is evidenced by this postcard, showing it within a couple of metres of the streambank in a particularly tranquil setting. Unfortunately it is on private land, and therefore only visible to the general public from the opposite bank close to where the path from Hartington reaches the river.


Beresford Dale
Postcard 0171 by G. Hill & Sons, c.1920s-1930s
Another postcard view from the same era shows a peaceful scene which is probably little changed from Walton and Cotton's time ...


Land the Trout, Engraving from The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton (4th Edition, 1844)
... and I have little difficulty envisaging Charles Vincent and a friend casting a line or two on these waters, much as those good friends Cotton and Walton had done two and a half centuries before.


Fisherman at Dovedale, c.1850s-1860s
One half of a stereoview by unidentified photographer
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Further downstream through Wolfscote Dale the valley deepens considerably, and by the time one reaches Dovedale the vistas might better be described as spectacular than tranquil. Steep, thickly wooded hillsides are punctuated by bare prominences such as Dove Holes, Ilam Rock, Reynard's Cave, Lion Head Rock, Tissington Spires and Lover's Leap.


Fisherman at Dovedale, c.1850s-1860s
One half of a stereoview by Poulton & Son of London
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
By early Victorian times, a steady stream of day trippers were visiting Dovedale (see previous Photo-Sleuth article, Donkey Rides at Dovedale), and serious anglers no doubt had to plan their excursions a little more carefully to avoid the throngs.


Fisherman heading home with his bag, Dovedale, c.1850s-1860s
One half of a stereoview by John Latham of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Click image for animated 3-d view
This stereoscopic view shows a fisherman crossing the Stepping Stones over the Dove, at the southern end of Dovedale. He is perhaps on his way home at the end of a pleasant day's outing.


The The Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale, c. 1856-1859
One half of a stereoview by Sedgefield (English Scenery No. 720)
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
He may even have been heading back to the very popular Izaak Walton Hotel, situated close to the entrance to the Dale, shown here in another mid-century stereoview. The entrance on the right hand (eastern facade) of the building looked somewhat familiar ...


The Clarion Cycling Club Easter Meet, Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale, 1895
Image © and courtesy of the National Clarion Cycle Club

Wedding at the Isaac Walton Hotel, Dovedale
Image © and courtesy of the The Izaak Walton Hotel
... and a further search for images brought up several which show it in sufficient detail to be able to identify it as the ivy-clad building in front of which Charles Vincent and friends were standing in the photograph displayed at the head of this article. It seems very likely that they were about to spend a pleasant day on the River Dove. Which leaves us with a satisfactory outcome to the quest, and at a convenient point at which to conclude our own brief tour of some of Derbyshire's very pleasant trout fishing spots.


View Cromford Bridge & Dovedale in a larger map
Walton & Cotton's Derbyshire Locations mentioned in this incomplete and rather superficial tour of Derbyshire trout streams are shown on the annotated satellite image from Google Maps above.


Cover of Penguin edition of The Compleat Angler, 1939
Image courtesy of A Penguin a Week
Finally, to round off a rather lengthy post, I recently adopted this postcard showing the cover of the 1939 Penguin edition of The Compleat Angler, receiving it under separate cover, and then sending it back with an appropriate trout fishing stamp to postcard collector Emilie Staubs of Massachusetts. A fitting post script to this line of research, I think.