 Riber Castle, Matlock, Derbyshire, England May 27, 2007 We first noticed Riber Castle in 2006 while staying with friends in Derbyshire. It's difficult to miss, as it dominates the skyline, perched on a hill about 200 metres (600 feet) above the town of Matlock. On a damp, cold Sunday afternoon in April we decided to explore and set off up the path towards the ruins. When we finally arrived we were disappointed to find that it was surrounded by a nasty looking security fence. Undeterred, we clambered over and dropped down into the desserted grounds. It's a forbidding place. Crumbling walls, broken glass, crows, vandalism. We were nervous. Here we were in the shadow of the castle itself, a massive, crumbling and completely hollow Victorian mock-gothic stately home, covered in Keep Out and Danger signs. We wandered around for perhaps half an hour, but the place gave us the creeps. There was something really unsettling about it. A couple of months later we watched Shane Meadows' gripping film 'Dead Man's Shoes' and our mouths dropped open as the final, horrible climax is played out in the grounds of the castle. I won't say any more. Rent the DVD. Designed and built by John Smedley, a mill owner, in 1862 as his residence, he didn't live to see it completed. It has been the former site of a boys' school, a food store during World War Two and later remained derelict for many years until, in the 1960s, a group of zoologists set up a Nature Reserve. I've heard that against some local opposition, it's to be turned into flats in the near future. If you can get there, go and visit soon. This year, visting the same part of Derbyshire, we returned to the castle armed with two Holgas. I was very excited. Amy and myself wandered round in the bright sunshine, but just didn't feel inspired to take many pictures. I'm not sure why. This one was taken by Amy. She forgot to focus and I forgot to check that the camera wasn't set to 'B'. Holga CFN + Ilford HP5+ © Amy Arnold 2007 Comment (12) | Permalink |
