The River Derwent has always been a major feature in the Matlock Bath landscape. This view show one of the scenes that, over the years, has been popular with artists as well as photographers.
See, for example, Hadfield Cubley's card of this scene (it is in the "Just images" section of the site).

However, the Matlock Bath historian Benjamin Bryan reminded us in 1903 that although it "makes a notable and attractive addition to the scenery, as water always does in a landscape, and ministers to the pleasure of thousands who gaze upon it or float in boats upon it. But a river, like the sea, can at times be very destructive and cruel, and there are painful reminiscences with the Derwent at Matlock Bath." He cites a number of examples.

The image was taken from close to the west side of Jubilee bridge, where the Derwent is turning course to flow southwards once more. Lovers' Walks is on the left and a row of commercial properties border the river on the right, ending with a boundary fence against the Promenade. The photographer of the original card may even have been sitting in a boat, close to the water.

The yellow building was the Devonshire Hotel, earlier called the Devonshire Arms. It was to become the Devonshire Café. Later images show the windows of some of the shops closer to the camera have the stone surround that simulates wood, echoing the design of the Clarence Terrace Houses. Behind, on the hillside, are some of the houses on Temple Walk.

All of the properties around this bend in the river were swept away by the massive road widening scheme of the 1960s.

References:

^[1] Bryan, Benjamin (1903) "History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish" London by Bemrose & Sons, Limited. Also see Flooding in the Matlocks.