Tansley is a village on the southern edge of the
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...
, two miles east of
Matlock.
History
Tansley is recorded in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
as Taneslege, and its name comes from the combination of the Old English elements ''tān'' and ''lēah''. ''Lēah'' has been translated as 'woodland clearing', but the ''tān'' element is contested. It may mean 'branch', perhaps used of 'a valley branching off from the main valley'. However, it has also been translated as a masculine Anglo-Saxon personal name, that is otherwise unrecorded. Other suggestions have been 'sprout, shoot', thus translating the name as 'wood or clearing from which shoots were obtained'.
Tansley grew during the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, its main industry being the quarrying of millstone grit (for making mill-stones, now adopted as the symbol of the
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...
National Park). A copious amount of water runs off Tansley moor above the village, eventually running into
Bentley Brook
Bentley Brook is a stream in Derbyshire, England. It rises on Matlock Moor, flowing south through Cuckoostone Dale, under the A632, into Lumsdale, gathering the valley's waters—notably from Knabhall Brook, out of Tansley, itself dammed and s ...
, a tributary of the
Derwent.
Bentley Brook
Bentley Brook is a stream in Derbyshire, England. It rises on Matlock Moor, flowing south through Cuckoostone Dale, under the A632, into Lumsdale, gathering the valley's waters—notably from Knabhall Brook, out of Tansley, itself dammed and s ...
and three of its feeder streams have been dammed in the past to make artificial lakes which provided water to power mills. As well as five mills in
Lumsdale Valley there were also three mills in Tansley village, two of which remain having been restored for new uses. Nowadays the surviving lakes are stocked with fish for angling. The water also led to the establishment of Tansley Hydro (later Tansley House residential adult care home, now closed) when
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
s and
hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...
were in fashion and Victorian tourists came to the
Matlock area for its
Romantic charm.
Tansley is now more famous for its many
garden centre
A garden centre (Commonwealth English spelling; U.S. nursery or garden center) is a retail operation that sells plants and related products for the domestic garden as its primary business.
It is a development from the concept of the retail plant n ...
s and plant nurseries, its many small businesses and its large Sunday car-boot market.
Twinning arrangements
Tansley has an informal twinning arrangement with the small town of
Babadag
Babadag (; tr, Babadağ, "Father Mountain"), formerly known as Babatag, is a town in Tulcea County, Romania, located on a small lake formed by the river Taița, in the densely wooded highlands of Northern Dobruja. One of the several tombs ...
in
Tulcea County
Tulcea County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube.
Demographics
In 2011, Tulcea Cou ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. The two communities have occasional exchange visits, and more frequent postal and email contact, arranged through an organisation named TABALINK (the Tansley Babadag Association). The aims of TABALINK are:
- to promote friendship and understanding between the people of the village of Tansley, and the wider area of Derbyshire, England; and the people of the town of Babadag and the surrounding area of Tulcea, Eastern Romania.
- to build links between the peoples of the communities concerned in all possible ways - educational, cultural and commercial.
- to stimulate and foster mutual exchanges between individuals, families and societies within the communities.
- to organize social and fund raising events and activities to support the objects of the Association.
Media
The Tansley Village Hall was used in
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's ''
How to Look Good Naked
''How to Look Good Naked'' is a television program, first aired on British Channel 4 in 2006, in which fashion stylist Gok Wan encourages women and men who are insecure with their bodies to strip nude for the camera. The programme is unique am ...
'' in 2009. Tansley was also used a filming location for Shane Meadows' 2004 film ''
Dead Man's Shoes.''
Tansley's communications network includes the Tansley Hotwire, a village e-mail service which distributes news and information to residents, and a website.
In February 2010 Tansley featured in the Sunday Times Property Section as a village that was "alive and kicking", one where community spirit still thrives.
Community buildings
Anglican Church
![Tansley - Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Tansley_-_Church.JPG)
In 1839 Tansley was part of the parish of Crich. At that time it is recorded in a petition by the churchwardens and other parishioners of the parish of Crich that "the hamlet of Tansley contains a population of upwards of 500 souls and is distant from the Parish Church (of Crich) of four miles and that it is extremely inconvenient for the inhabitants of the said hamlet to attend divine service in the said parish of Crich, and in order to provide some church accommodation and aid for spiritual wants of the people residing therein considerable funds have been raised by voluntary contributions together with other grants to build a chapel".
The church was started in 1839, built of stone quarried locally, and opened 1 year later dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
By the middle of the 1860s,
Matlock Bank
Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated in the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The town is twinned with the French town of Eaubonne. The former spa resort of Matloc ...
, just over a mile away, had become popular with visitors coming to take the waters and although
Holy Trinity church was large enough for local residents, it was not big enough to cope with additional visitors from Matlock Bank. The church was enlarged in 1870 by adding a North Aisle. New pews replaced the box pews and the altar area was changed. It was recognised that the addition of one aisle “ ..... produced an oddity but it is intended to add a corresponding wing should further accommodation be necessary". In the event, it obviously did not prove to be necessary.
Methodist Church
![Tansley - Methodist Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Tansley_-_Methodist_Church.jpg)
The Methodist church was built in Church Street in 1829, 11 years before the Anglican church (Holy Trinity).
It replaced the smaller old Chapel, an octagonal building at The Knoll, built in 1811 on the site of a former cockfighting pit.
The present church has been modernised in recent years. It has its own schoolroom behind it.
Village Hall
![Tansley Village Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Tansley_Village_Hall.jpg)
Tansley Village Hall is located next to Tansley village green. It is a popular venue for clubs, groups, parties and events. It is home to Tansley Film, hosts live comedy and musical shows (including Live & Local), and provides a meeting place for Tansley Ladies Group, Tansley Garden & Countryside Club, Tansley Tuesday Club, Tansley Players (drama group), an art group, yoga, pilates, Zumba, tai chi and pre-school children's cookery classes.
The hall, opened in 1843, was used as a school until 1949.
The hall (as of February 2014) has been substantially renovated since July 2010. It has had a new entrance, with oak door and disabled access, new toilet facilities, a new ground floor roof with a skylight, a new upper floor roof, new windows, internal renovation and redecoration of the main hall, bar area and small meeting room (with kitchen) and new curtains and blinds.
Community Hall
![Tansley - Community Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Tansley_-_Community_Hall.JPG)
The Community Hall, at the lower end of Church Street, was built in 1887 as the Liberal Club when stones in the front wall were inscribed with the names of eminent men from the parish.
Its ownership was later transferred to the Parish Council, as seen by the inscription "Parish Building" over the entrance. The Parish Council sub-let it in 1906 to the Tansley Institute as a Reading Room, to replace the one within The Church School. The institute also used it as a non-sectarian Adult Sunday School and for Technical Education. Later it was also used for general recreation such as snooker and billiards and a youth club.
Sport
Tansley is home to Tansley Juniors Football Club, a charter standard club who currently have around 10 teams ranging from U7s to Seniors. The club has the first Under-21 football team within the Derbyshire Dales.
The village is the site of the headquarters of the British
Orienteering
Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...
Federation.
References
External links
Tansley Village website, a comprehensive portal to other websites relating to Tansley.
{{Commons category
Towns and villages of the Peak District