Birch Vale

Birch Vale

Birch Vale from Lower Cliff. Looking SSW across the Sett valley, with the end of Hayfield Sewage Works just visible far left; in the centre is Birch Vale Reservoir and beyond that the houses of Birch Vale along the A6015.
Birch Vale
Birch Vale shown within Derbyshire
Population 2,174 [1]
OS grid reference SK0232786824
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town HIGH PEAK
Postcode district SK22
Dialling code 01663
Police Derbyshire
Fire Derbyshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK Parliament

Birch Vale is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, just outside the boundary of the Peak District National Park, between New Mills and Hayfield. Most of Birch Vale, including the attached village of Thornsett, comes under the administration of New Mills Town Council, though the small part to the east of the Grouse public house is within the boundaries of Hayfield.

The Vine Tavern, Birch Vale (now closed)

There are no shops, but three surviving public houses: the Grouse Inn on the main A6015 road and the Sycamore Inn and Printers Arms in Thornsett (the Vine Tavern has closed permanently and the Waltzing Weasel became a B&B in 2013). There is a primary school in Thornsett.[2] Until 1970, Birch Vale had a railway station on the branch line from New Mills Central to Hayfield with through trains to Manchester Piccadilly.[3] Today the trackbed of the former railway line carries the Sett Valley Trail, and the nearest railheads are the stations in New Mills — Central and Newtown — about two miles away. There are frequent bus services into New Mills, Hayfield, Glossop, Buxton and Stockport.

Birch Vale's most famous daughter is the TV presenter Tess Daly who grew up there. [4] In 2017 a Green Party candidate for the High Peak borough council elections was a Birch Vale resident; Sue Ledger stood for the Etherow division position. [5]

The former Birch Vale railway station in 1965

Factory fire 2009

In the early evening of Friday 2 October 2009 a large explosion was heard by residents as the Stirling Lloyd factory on a local Industrial Estate caught fire. It took around 16–20 hours to bring the fire under control. Local residents were evacuated shortly after police arrived. New Mills Fire and Rescue Team were among the first on the scene.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Area: Sett (Ward); Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics". Office for National Statistics. 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2014. Note that Sett Ward includes Thornsett, Rowarth and Little Hayfield as well as Birch Vale.
  2. ↑ "School Homepage". Thornsett Primary School. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Smith, Ian R & Fox, G K (2003). Manchester London Road to Hayfield: Scenes from The Past 45. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 1-870119-73-8.
  4. ↑ Bryant, Tom (9 March 2013). "Tess Daly reflects on the drug-taking and eating disorders which gripped the fashion world". Daily Record. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "NOTICE OF ELECTION High Peak Election of County Councillors for the Divisions listed below" (PDF). 27 March 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Homes evacuated after explosion". BBC News. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2014.

Media related to Birch Vale at Wikimedia Commons


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.