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Photos of Borrowash, Derbyshire, England.
Borrowash is a small village located SE
of Derby, It is only just outside the Derby city boundary.
In the south part of the village runs the former Derby canal which is
currently being restored, next to the canal the Derby to Nottingham railway
tracks and the river Derwent also run past the village.
Borrowash used to have its own railway station but unfortunately in 1966
a man named Dr. Beeching decided that England didn’t need as many
stations and he closed stations all over England.
If travelling to Borrowash from Elvaston along Station road, you will
pass over a three bridges. The first one which is 700 Yards long opened
in 1898 and took 18 months to build. Borrowash Bridge has 3 arches over
the river and 2 over land to cope with floods. The 2 'dry' arches are
south of the river. The two channels from the old mill are to the north
of the river under the approach road. You will then pass over a bridge over the railway tracks and finally a
small bridge over the former Derby canal.
The Derby canal is currently being restored by the Derby and Sandiacre
Canal Society. If you would like to see the work they have carried out
so far then it is well worth the walk east down the Cycle path. You will
see that Borrowash Bottom lock is begining to look like a canal lock again.
The railway was built in 1828, running in 1829, the Midland Counties Railway
was in the course of formation and the workmen were excavating near the
village, they cut through the centre of a piece of ground which had evidently
been a tumulus or barrow and many interesting remains were discovered.
About 2 feet below the surface of the earth the soil assumed a blackish
tinge and a quantity of bones, evidently burnt, were found. As the labourers
proceeded with their work whole skeletons of the human body appeared,
about 90 of them and layed aligned east to west. One of them had undergone
more regular interrment, being enclosed as it were in a kind of vault
over which stones had been piled.
The most important find was a stone axe head, in Sheffield Museum with
the rest. The whole of the Bateman collection was sold to Sheffield.
Borrowash has its own school which is Ashbrook Infants & Junior located
on Victoria Avenue.
Victoria Avenue is the main road on the west side of the village which
goes to Ockbrook. It used to be called Ockbrook Lane, The Trees which
line it were given by H. Tropolet Alton, the brewer, who lived in Borrowash
at that time.
For a map of the Borrowash area click HERE.
For an Aerial photo of the Borrowash & Ockbrook areas click HERE.
I would like to thank Mary Beilby of the Borrowash Historical Society,
Pat Sheldon & Kevin Bailey for the help they provided me with while
creating this page.
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