Harpur Hill

Harpur Hill

St.James church at the junction in Harpur Hill.
Harpur Hill
 Harpur Hill shown within Derbyshire
OS grid referenceSK065711
DistrictHigh Peak
Shire countyDerbyshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BUXTON
Postcode district SK17
Police Derbyshire
Fire Derbyshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
List of places
UK
England
Derbyshire

Coordinates: 53°14′13″N 1°54′14″W / 53.237°N 1.904°W / 53.237; -1.904

Harpur Hill is a small village on the outskirts of Buxton, Derbyshire. The population is included in the Cote Heath ward of the High Peak District council. It has a primary school, a park, a pub, a working men's club and a Methodist Church, and contains parts of the University of Derby. It also has 3 football pitches which are homes to Harpur Club & Harpur Hill FC. Buxton Rugby Union Club also have their HQ at Harpur Hill. They can be found on Sunnyfields Road. The tops of Buxton Rugby Club's goal posts are the highest in the country.

In 1938 the RAF used Harpur Hill 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, trading as Stowtime, 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, the most notable being Lomas Distribution. The business 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.

A Health and Safety laboratory is also situated not far from Harpur Hill. A railway has been constructed with old Jubilee Line, London Underground trains that were used to reconstruct the 7/7 London Tube bombings. When the red flag is flying at the laboratory, an explosion of toxic gas is imminent.

Also nearby is Far Hill Quarry, now flooded, where swimming has been popular but is encouraged by the authorities as unsafe.[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harpur Hill.
  1. "Toxic Derbyshire 'Blue Lagoon' dyed black". BBC. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
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