"The Derwent Dale is the most familiar of holiday grounds to the workers of the Midlands. Not only does the immediate neighbourhood ... abound in charm and interest, but it is a centre for excursions by rail and charabanc to places of more than local fame"^[1].

The Fish Pond Hotel, partially shown on the left, provided stabling and the charabanc excursions described above would leave from here to visit places such as Dovedale.

Local photographer Percy Rowbottom has captured the holiday crowds ambling, walking, talking, seen, being seen or just simply standing still and looking at the world go by in South Parade over a hundred years ago. The pavements were not wide enough to cater for so many people, so they spilled into the roadway around the horse drawn vehicles.

The photograph was probably taken at Bank Holiday time in Matlock Bath, about 1905. When you see so many people on the Parade, it perhaps explains why the cab drivers needed to shout so loudly to warn pedestrians! Their passengers were crammed on the vehicles, with little protection. One passenger, seated in the northbound cab in the centre of the photo, was dangling his right leg over the back. In the foreground, with their backs to vehicle registration W.671, were two members of the local police force who were watching the proceedings. Although he is diffficult to see on the image above, there is another member of the force standing in a group behind the central cab.

Compare this scene with a slightly more recent one of Matlock Bath in the summer of 1966. (the image will open in a new window)

References:

^[1] Ward Lock & Co's "Guide to Matlock, Dovedale, Etc.", Illustrated Guide Books of England and Wales (Guide Series 1903-4) Introduction.