The young man in the bowler hat is sitting on the grass under Scarthin Rock beside the Derwent. On the opposite side of the river are the lawns of Willersley Castle. The publisher, by giving this the title 'from Willersley Road' really means that this is the view from the riverside track. When this picture was taken there was one of Willersley Castle's gatehouses, Willersley Rocks Lodge, at the A6 end of the path; the lodge was demolished when the A6 was widened. St. Mary's Chapel is at the other end, on Mill Road (see "Cromford Church and Bridge", linked on the right).

The large property on the hillside is Woodbank and the hillside is known as Harp Edge. The hand coloured card is not quite an accurate depiction as we learn from an article about one of the farms on Cromford Moor that one of the views the farm enjoyed to the north was "the red roof of Woodbank amongst the dark foliage"^[1]. The Reverend Richard Ward wrote in 1827: "On the left of the same entrance into the dale [i.e. from Cromford where the turnpike road had been blasted through Scarthin Rock] is a high and steep hill called Harp Edge : this is the termination of the lofty mountainous country, which bounds the whole valley of Matlock on its western side"^[2].

1911-12

The second image was taken a few years later and from slightly further away from the river. We can see the limestone escarpment of Scarthin Rock as well as the path that connected the two castle lodges. It is interesting to see the neatly mown grass on either side of the path. The photographer is once more facing Harp Edge, and over Willersley Castle's lawns we can make out the shape of Woodbank although it is less clear than in the top picture.

The message on this card reads "Another view from my bedroom window. You see Woodbank on the extreme right of the card". A pencilled additional note says:"(The grounds at Woodbank)". The photograph would have been taken for the Co-operative Holidays Association, a group who leased the house for a number of years from 1911 onwards.

Enlargement, to show Woodbank. Willesley Castle grounds are on the opposite side of the river.
There appear to be headstones within the grounds.



Scarthin Rocks. This card shows the same part of the Rocks as the previous image, but from the opposite direction.
The River Derwent is to the left slightly lower than the path.

Benjamin Bryan described the Rocks in 1903.
"Opposite to the Castle, but separated from it by the lawn, the river, and at a distance of 250 or 300 yards, a series of perpendicular limestone cliffs rise to a height varying from 80 to 150 feet, nowhere exceeding 20 yards breadth, stretching from west to east, and coming down at the latter end, step by step, to the ground level. These are a spur of Masson, and formed originally the termination of the Harp Edge series of rocks, backing on Scarthin Nick. These rocks form a natural buteffective screen between the house and Arkwright's first water mills^[3]."

References:

^[1] "Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal", 13 October 1911. This was George Taylor's farm, leased from F. C. Arkwright of Willersley Castle.

^[2] Ward, Reverend Richard (1827) "The Matlock, Buxton and Castleton Guide, containing concise accounts of these and other remarkable places ... in the ... County of Derby", Derby

^[3] Bryan, Benjamin (1903) "History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish", London by Bemrose & Sons, Limited.