Local History

WW2 Electrical Accumulator

30th August 2016 by

Watson’s Radio Shop was situated at the top of the hill on Terrace Road where the party suppliers ‘Celebrations’ is now based. The shop would have supplied radio and electrical components but it also functioned as the place to recharge the ‘must have item’ for every 1940’s home- the electrical accumulator.

A very early photograph of the building, on the right of Terrace Road, which housed Watson’s Radio Shop

Bill Weston tells us how people obtained their electricity supply during the second world war. Please press the button below to hear his account of living on Terrace Road.

Press ‘more’ to read the transcription.
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Silverlands County Secondary School for Girls

30th August 2016 by

Silverlands County Secondary School for Girls was opened in September 1938 on Peveril Road, Buxton. The school was designed to accommodate 350 senior girls and was opened by the 10th Duke of Devonshire. The school has now been knocked down and replaced by a housing estate.

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Click the button to hear Janet Wood extol the virtues of Silverlands Girls School.

Cocker’s Supermarket – Frozen Food and High Fashion

24th August 2016 by

Cocker’s supermarket was one the first supermarkets to be established in Buxton. It consisted of two premises – one occupied numbers 5 and 6 Eagle Parade just off the Market Square and the other was a boutique located on the opposite side of the square at Scarsdale Place.

Janet Wood – Cockers

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Tears and Chandeliers at the Crescent Library

24th August 2016 by

Look down the hill towards the left side of the Crescent building.

Buxton library took up residence in the Assembly Rooms on the first floor, east wing, of the Crescent building in 1970. The space was originally designed as an 18th century function room adjoined by a smaller card playing room.

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Please click on the button to hear former librarian Lyn Morris describe the beginning of the end for the Adams Room chandeliers.

Or read the transcription below;

Buxton 2nd Class Male Baths

23rd August 2016 by

The Poor Bath, also known as The Charity Bath, was first built by Cornelius White in 1695 and was fed by the second-hand water drained from the gentlemen’s baths. The bath was later relocated to adjoin the ladies baths before being demolished and rebuilt, along with several other baths, in a new complex designed by architect Henry Currey in 1851. The new building was located in the yard next to St. Anne’s Hotel and contained both gentlemen’s and ladies private baths (two apiece), and separate public and charity baths for each sex.

Click the button to hear Janet Byers childhood memories of the Buxton Males Second Class baths.

Or read the transcript below.

Buxton Ladie’s Baths

23rd August 2016 by

The Buxton Ladies Baths have been through many changes over the years. In 1695, when Cornelius White designed and built the first baths since the Roman invasion, ladies were expected to share the Poor, or Charity, Baths.

Later developments incorporated the ladies baths into the Thermal, or Hot Baths, building which utilized the famous glass ceilings. In 1985 the Hot baths were converted into a shopping centre known as the Cavendish Arcade which still retains original features of two of the smaller baths.

Click the button to hear Janet Byers recount the horrors of the cold water treatment lady.

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