Sherlockian Sojourns #62: ‘The Cold, Bracing Atmosphere of the Peak Country’ (Part 1)

 

‘The Priory School is, without exception, the best and most select preparatory school in England’
                                                                                                                                           - Thorneycroft Huxtable   [PRIO].

 

Only one story in the Canon is set in Derbyshire (called ‘Hallamshire’ by Watson) and that is ‘The Adventure of The Priory School’ (published in 1904). This was the furthest railway journey north made by Holmes and Watson. In the story, Holmes makes a number of comments on being in the North of England, with Conan Doyle as a Scotsman being aware of the provincialism displayed by those who spent most of their lives in London. Over the years, there has been much speculation over the location of the area described as ‘Mackleton’ by Watson in his account, where the titular school is located, and the true location of Holdernesse Hall, the seat of the Duke of Holdernesse. (I’ve even previously stayed in one of the possible candidates for the latter – now YHA Ilam Hall). General agreement, however, is that Mackleton is in the vicinity of its near namesake, Matlock, with Bernard Davies stating that the story takes place north east of Matlock, with Mackleton being an anagram of N.E. Matlock, whilst Philip Weller states that Mackleton is a combination of Matlock and nearby Castleton.  (Interestingly, Castleton has old mine workings where the world famous Blue John stone was extracted, leading to Watson’s literary agent, Conan Doyle, to set his story ‘The Terror of Blue John Gap’ in the area, having previously been a medical dispensary assistant in Sheffield). I therefore decided to explore the area of Mackleton.

Visiting a friend to attend an event the previous day (at which I met John Noble, who plays Holmes’ father Morland in ‘Elementary’), it was another rare example of my being accompanied on this sojourn by a fellow Sherlockian, who had enjoyed our previous sojourns to Sheffield and Liverpool. Leaving early, it was a fifty-minute drive to our first location – The Highwayman Inn, on the outskirts of Chesterfield (where Neville St. Clair had gone to school and where his father was a schoolmaster).  This inn (now a Beefeater and Premier Inn) has been identified by both Davies and Weller as the true identity of ‘The Fighting Cock Inn’ where Lord Saltire, the heir to the Duke is being kept hostage. The inn was originally a small coaching house. It is not the ‘forbidding and squalid inn’ described in the story, at least not today, being plain and squat-looking. Davies speculates that the advent of the railways may have reduced it to its current status. However, it still has a large sweeping forecourt and a rear yard with stabling.

  

     

 

‘”I have earned the reward. I know where your son is, and I know some, at least, of those who are holding him.”, said Holmes.
“Where is he?”, the Duke gasped.
“He is, or was last night, at the Fighting Cock Inn, about two miles from your park gate.”
“And whom do you accuse ?”
“I accuse YOU,” said he.’   [PRIO]

The plan had originally then been to make our way to the nearby Chatsworth House. One of the grandest stately homes in England, constructed in the Baroque style, this is the most favoured location for the home of the Duke of Holdernesse, with both Davies and Weller attributing it as Holdernesse Hall, due to its location to other identified sites, and the remarkable similarity in both appearance and biography between the Duke of Holdernesse and the Eighth Duke of Devonshire. It even appeared as the exterior of the Hall in the 1984 Granada TV dramatisation of ‘The Priory School’. However, despite it only being the middle of November, they were hosting a Christmas Market with over 100 stalls, which meant that only those pre-booked for this event (at a greatly increased price for entrance not including the house) were being allowed in. However, we still made our way to the entrance to see if we could taken any photos from a distance, which it turned out we could not. This was therefore added to a proposed second ‘Hallamshire’ jaunt the next year.

We, therefore, motored to the next location, another possible Holdernesse Hall, one of the most wonderful medieval and Tudor manor houses in England, Haddon Hall. Although being empty at the time of the story, but owned by the Duke of Rutland, it does share some of the architectural features of the building described in the story, namely the ‘magnificent Elizabethan doorway’ and turrets referred to by Watson. Haddon Hall was also used in the 1984 Granada ‘Priory School’, but not as Holdernesse Hall, rather as the exterior of the School itself. [The Hall also appeared in the 1990 BBC dramatisation of ‘The Silver Chair’ (starring Tom Baker) as the Giants’ Castle].

Making our way into what was described as a car park, but was in fact a very large muddy field, we were surprised that we didn’t have to pay for parking as this was included in entrance to the Hall. My companion decided to sit this one out, given rain beginning to drizzle and the large uneven muddy field to negotiate which he was concerned might exacerbate an existing hip problem. I therefore dashed through the mud, across the main road, and down a short path to a gateway into the Hall’s grounds. Managing to swerve the payment kiosk as I didn’t need actual entry to the Hall, I walked past another Christmas Market, before managing to take photos of the Hall from the bottom of the hill that it sits on, trying to match screenshots from the Granada episode.

     

 

     

Photos taken, I made my way back to the car park, purchasing some postcards of the Hall as I passed the kiosk. Rejoining my friend, we managed to find our way out of the car park, and to nearby Cromford, where we visited Cromford Collectors Corner, to browse their sci-fi memorabilia, look at their screen-used props, and for myself to get a photo with a mini Dalek and Cyberman.

A ten minute drive through Matlock Bath (a seaside town without the sea) brought us into Matlock itself, where unfortunately the Vintage Toy Exchange, was not open on a Sunday. We did, however, glance into Punnydukes, a magical/fantasy/Harry Potter themed shop and a local second-hand bookshop, whilst making our way to Matlock/’Mackleton’ Station, which would have been the station arrived at by Holmes, Watson, and Huxtable on their way to The Priory School, from where Holmes later sends some telegrams.

Originally called Matlock Bridge, the station was opened by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway. The station saw its first passengers on 4 June 1849, when the line between Ambergate and Rowsley opened. The stone station buildings, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, of the Crystal Palace fame, opened in 1850. The station is still served by EMR services to Derby and Nottingham. During the summer, Peak Rail also runs steam trains from Matlock to Rowsley South.

       

 

‘He hardly opened his lips during that weary trudge across the moor, nor would he enter the school when he reached it, but went on to Mackleton Station, whence he could send some telegrams’.  [PRIO]

 

Returning to the car, and the rain restarting, it was agreed to postpone our search for the moorland searched by Holmes and Watson, with its tell-tale bicycle tracks, to our planned future trip. We therefore made our way back to my friend’s brother’s home a little over an hour away for Sunday lunch, and an afternoon of tabletop war-gaming, with our English troops being overwhelmed by the Spanish troops, as they had been in the 1595 invasion of West Cornwall that we were recreating. It was then time to make my way to a nearby station, and my train home. The journey was spent in planning the next year’s follow up sojourn to Chatsworth and the nearby moors.