Harpur Hill
| Harpur Hill | |
| Derbyshire | |
|---|---|
 St James, Harpur Hill. | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK065711 |
| Location: | 53°14’13"N, 1°54’14"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Buxton |
| Postcode: | SK17 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | High Peak |
Harpur Hill is a small village on the outskirts of Buxton, Derbyshire. It has a primary school, a park, a pub, a working men's club and a Methodist church.
From 1938 to 1969, the RAF Maintenance Unit 28 was based at Harpur Hill and it included the RAF Mountain Rescue Team for the Peak District.[1]
RAF Harpur Hill was established as an underground munitions store. Tunnels were dug out to house munitions and ordnance. When the RAF left the tunnels were used as a mushroom farm. When the tunnels closed they were sold to a group of local businessmen and used as a cold store for cheese; a warehouse was built for dry and bonded wines and spirits. A number of local hauliers provided the transport for these goods. One of the hauliers was Lomas Distribution which was bought out by Christian Salvesen and was a major employer in the area; it later sold the site to French transport company Norbert Dentressangle. Many of the bunkers can still be seen in the surrounding hillside.[2][3]
The Health and Safety Executive Laboratory is not far from Harpur Hill.[4]
From 1916 to 1918 the site housed The Frith Artillery Range.[2] A railway was constructed with old London Underground Jubilee Line trains which were used to reconstruct the 7 July 2005 London bombings. A red flag is flown at the laboratory when an explosion is imminent.[3]
Also nearby is Far Hill Quarry, now flooded, where swimming is discouraged by the authorities as unsafe due to the high pH level of the water.[5]
Sport
- Football: Harpur Hill FC
- Rugby: Buxton Rugby Union Club. The tops of the rugby club's goal posts are the highest in the country.[6]
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Harpur Hill) |
References
- ↑ "RAF Harpur Hill". https://www.buxtonmountainrescue.org.uk/about_us.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Harpur Hill". 2015-06-16. https://buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk/harpur-hill/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Harpur Hill – Buxton Online – Peak District". http://www.buxtononline.net/harpur-hill-c34.html.
- ↑ "HSE: Timeline". https://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/timeline/.
- ↑ "Toxic Derbyshire 'Blue Lagoon' dyed black". BBC. 10 June 2013. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-22843481. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ↑ Buxton RUFC – Contacts
- Gibson, Gary. Peak Sport Climbs from Horseshoe to Harpur Hill: mid-grade sport climbing in the Buxton and Matlock area, British Mountaineering Council (2004). ISBN 9780903908726
