114 RAMBLE OVER DERBYSHIRE HILLS AND DALES. 
From Baslow to Stoney Middleton the road gradually rises and 
runs by the left bank of the Derwent. The little village of 
Bubnell appears amongst the trees on the opposite side of the 
river, while on our right frown the precipitous masses of 
Baslow and Curbar Edges. Crossing the river at Calver, close by 
the large cotton mills, and leaving its course for the present, 
another mile-and-a-quarter brought us to the village of Stoney 
Middleton, often spoken of as a most picturesque place—it had 
not that appearance to me. The stone houses looked too dirty 
and too much alike, though the inequalities of the rocky ground 
on which they are built break up their monotony: there is a want 
of gardens to the cottages, and trees to take away the bareness 
of the scene. Such were my first impressions. The church is of 
an octagonal shape, added to an older tower, and is exceedingly 
ugly. In the churchyard, near the porch, is an old font of eight 
unequal sides, three of which are ornamented with shields; two 
of the shields are plain, and the other has a chevron, the arms 
of the Eyres, of Hassop; it is most probable this font belonged 
to the old church. We photographed it. Near the churchyard 
is the tepid bath supposed to have been used by the Romans. 
The Hall, the residence of Lord Denman, is an old building on 
the right of the road just before entering the village. The 
Parsonage is built on the hill side, commanding fine views. We 
saw the effect of the late storms in this village, many windows 
still testifying to the force of the hail and ice that had battered 
them so thoroughly. The lower part of the village had been 
inundated, and in one house we saw marks on the walls showing 
where the water had risen to nearly four feet in height; many 
hundred tons of mud brought from the hills had to be removed 
from the brook-course and street. I observed in this place 
several chimneys crowned with an inverted W (A) of slate or thin 
stones, with a heavier stone on the top to prevent them being 
blown away ; a smoke preventer I imagined. ~ 
Refreshing ourselves at the “ Moon” Inn, we continued through 
the village till we arrived at the entrance of its far-famed Dale. 
