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Images Index> Matlock Bath, 20th and 21stC Images> This page |
| Tufa Cottage, Via Gellia, near Matlock Bath, 1905 | ||||||||||||
| Matlock Bath, Twentieth Century Photographs, Postcards, Engravings & Etchings | ||||||||||||
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The cottage in the Via Gellia (above) is built of tufa, which is a porous stone. According to the dictionary it is "formed of pulverised matter consolidated and often stratified ... a porous or vesicular carbonate of lime, generally deposited near the sources and along the courses of calcareous springs" (Oxford Dictionary[1]). "The Via Gellia, partly in this parish [Bonsall], is a beautiful wooded valley nearly four miles in length from Cromford to Grange Mill; the road winding along the bottom of the valley forms a level and charming promenade and drive" (Kelly[2]). "The Via Gellia is the Latinized name of a drive made by the late Philip Gell, of Hopton Hall, Wiksworth, along the beautiful ravine opening out on to the est of the road between Cromford and Bonsall. The highway passes through a picturesque valley with well-wooded and steeply sloping sides. In it the lily of the valley used to grow in profusion, and it is still to be found in fair abundance, in spite of the ravages of unthinking visitors. Nowhere in England, except the more secluded region of Woodhall Spa, in Lincolnshire, is this graceful flower so common. The coppice on the north side of the stream in the dell through which the Via Gellia runs is known as Bonsall Wood ; that on the other side is Middleton Wood" (Ward Lock[3]) |
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One of the Artistic Series, A.P. Co., 9 Bury Court, St. Mary Axe, London, E.C. No.1940. Card posted to Miss H. Walker, the webmistress's great aunt, in Matlock Bath on July 23 1905 Postcard in the collection of, provided by and © Ann Andrews Intended for personal use only |
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References: [1] "The Shorter Oxford Dictionary on Historic Principles" (1973), Oxford University Press [2] "Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire" (1912) Kelly & Co., p.66 [3] Ward Lock & Co's "Matlock, Dovedale, Bakewell and South Derbyshire", Illustrated Guide Books of England and Wales, 11th edit. rev. (1932-3), pp.57-8 There is more on site information about Bonsall on this website:  The
Andrews Pages : Picture Gallery has several photographs and old
cards
Kelly's Directory, 1891 - transcript of Bonsall entry |
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