On the way to work #1

It was a lovely morning drive to go back to work. I am lucky to have just a 15 minute drive but there are some nice spots along the way and as winter light descends I think I will start a mini series to record my drive along the Derwent Valley. This is a view of Milford along with its derelict mill.

In 1778 Jedediah Strutt (you can make out the Strutt Arms pub) built cotton spinning mills after the pattern developed by Richard Arkwright having been in partnership with him when he built the mill at Cromford, further up the valley. Milford's claim to fame is that one of Strutt's apprentices at Milford was Samuel Slater who absconded to America carrying Arkwright's system in his head. He settled in Pawtucket,  Rhode Island and replicated Arkwright's success thus becoming one of the founding fathers of the American textile industry.