Matlock - Work in Progress

The centre of Matlock is still dominated by Environment Agency work to improve flood defences. The station, already tightly hemmed into the urban landscape on the west side of town is currently not accessible using its own approach road. We parked at Sainsbury’s and took the dedicated footpath to the town centre and then the modern footbridge that straddles the station site itself.

Work was clearly also ongoing behind the scaffolding for the original station buildings on platform one. Additionally, Peak Rail’s website says it is presently working on “a new way of getting into platform two” and so trains currently turn back towards Rowsley at Matlock Riverside. A two-car Class 156 unit left on its journey towards Derby soon after we arrived.

Chatsworth was hosting a large-scale sculptures exhibition entitled Radical Horizons, and many of the pieces were ingenious and amusing. The highlight for me, however, was the kingfisher on the opposite bank of the Derwent, untroubled by the steady flow of visitors to his domain on our side of the river, and very much hard at work. He had found a productive patch of water below the riverbank and some sturdy ferns to fish from. Though we have seen kingfishers many times, I’ve never witnessed one actually fishing before. They are usually hurrying from one post to another along the Trent and mainly spotted in flight. This one obliged by returning to his perch with his latest catch clearly visible in his beak.