Derby then & now : Museum of making (Silk Mill) fading from 1913 to 2024

I present my latest fading Derby then and now video. This is a view of the Museum of making and I have matched the view exactly with one taken here in 1913 so you can see how it used to look if you were a time traveller.

I bet a lot of people didn't even realise that a very long time ago water used to flow down the side of the Silk Mill building through a mill race under a bridge where the Bakewell gates are sited.

I hope my Then & now has taught you something you didn't know.

► If you enjoyed this then please like, Leave a comment, Share, subscribe.

Feel free to share to Facebook, X (Twitter) or to anyone you think would like to see it. This is one of many in my collection of fading then and now videos, Ive been making high accuracy then and now photographs for 20 years. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66g1qABzy4

The Robert Bakewell gates (made 1725) were reinstated to their original orientation and position in 2020, previously they had were in line with the entrance to the then "Industrial museum" where they were placed in 1984, before that they had been sited next to the old central library in the Wardwick since 1928.

Derby Silk Mill is widely regarded as the site of the world’s first modern factory.

Lombe's Mill was built next to Thomas Cotchett's 1704 mill on the west bank of the River Derwent in Derby. At this point a weir had been constructed across the river, and the mill was built on an island downstream which separated the river from the tail race of three corn mills. The tail race was also called a fleam or a leat.

The museum is located on the former site of Lombe's Mill, a historic silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

Photo A taken : 1913 Postcard

Photo B taken : 18th February 2024

Time elapsed : 111 years

Derby Past & Present - in fading Photographs.

High quality resolution fading photos showing local scenes as they were and how they are today from exactly the same view point. Then and now, Now and then, Past and Present, Old and New, Before and After. Call it what you want, just try one and see the effect!

See my Google Streetview 360 degree photograph of the Bakewell gates (2.2 Million views) : 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gErPBsHtQqZ45VeJ9

The presentations you can see here are the result of many hours of work put in by myself ensuring that the old and new photographs line up precisely, I don't publish any if I'm not 100% happy with the match. 

http://www.derbyphotos.co.uk/thenandnow/

Please note that the Then & now section on my website is currently in need of a revamp as they were all created back in 2005 using Flash and this is no longer supported so I will have to recreate all of my work again using a different method. In the meantime I'm publishing them on my YouTube channel like this one.

Thanks

Andy

#Derby #ThenAndNow #History

Mapping out the Derby Canal route - 360 degree photographs, Drone flights all on an Interactive accurate map.

 Mapping out the original Derby Canal route – Current project

I started this project on 13th April.

Back in 2011 I created a custom Google map of the entire route of the Derby Canal network, I added links to bridges, lock etc and this was very popular but in 2020 I accidentally deleted my Derby canal map. Custom Google maps live in your Google Drive, but I didn’t know that and had emptied the drive out and it was more than 30 days since I had realised this so the option to recover the map from the trash was not possible.

I had a few people contact me to say that links to my map were not working so I decided to recreate the map again, It took 6 hours to get the basic structure in place. This new map is a lot better than my original, better organised, and even more accurate.

Technology has improved so much since 2011, I thought it would be good to go even further with this project, I am a specialist Google Street View contributor, Street View Trusted Photographer and Level 7 Google Local Guide, Keen photographer and Drone flyer so started doing a number of things.

Most of the former Derby Canal route is not on Google Street View, a lot of this is now cycle paths and I thought it would really help if I used my 360 degree camera to survey the entire route for Google Street View, this would mean that people could virtually walk along the old canal route. This would help promote the work that the Canal society have done on the route with regard to restoration and also help visualise where it ran.

Google Street View shows up as a continuous blue line overlaid on Google Maps, it allows you to walk along a route by clicking on the white arrows in 3M jumps, you can also use the cursor keys to do this.

I have been able to accurately mark out the route by using a great website that overlays old maps on Google Maps with a sliding fader so you can work out the precise route the Derby canal took. I used two computers next to each other with two large screen and marked out the custom route on one while moving the other map and fading between the old and new maps so I could transfer my location data onto the other computer.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.90211&lon=-1.31629&layers=6&b=1

I started surveying the Derby Canal on 16th April, the section between Borrowash and Spondon. Then I thought it would be handy to also use my drone to fly the route to make an informative video. It’s a lot clearer from up in the air to see the route of the Derby canal and where it used to flow.

One of my Derby Canal series videos :

So what started out as just recreating my map has now ballooned into a very large project that will take a few months to complete but it’s a great project to work on, helping promote the restoration of the Derby Canal.

As of 25th April I have surveyed the entire route for Google Street View from Sandiacre lock all the way to Station Road, Spondon. That’s 6 Miles worth so far. There is just a small section between Ullickers bridge and Rovings Drive that needs to be redone as its not showing with a blue line yet (most likely poor GPS data due to trees).

As well as Google Street View I have captured lots single 360 degree photographs in certain places, these are known as Google Photo Spheres and show up on Google maps as a single blue dot. 

And then I realised I could create high resolution 360 Google Photo Spheres using my drone, I use my drone to take 26 photographs in a sphere and stich them together to make a high-resolution photograph 399 foot in the air above the canal, these really help show off the route of the Derby Canal.

One of my amazing 400 foot high 360 degree views over the canal :

My intention is to carry on with my mapping project until I have completed the entire Derby Canal route including the Little Eaton branch. Obviously, there are large parts in the Centre of Derby that I won’t be able to survey as they are built over. And things have been demolished such as Long Bridge over the river Derwent.

So if your interested in discovering where exactly the Derby Canal used to run then check out my interactive Derby Canal map. I have marked every single lock, bridge etc. I have a large and ever-growing collection of 360 degree photographs along the route allowing you to look in all directions.

To keep up to date with my Derby Canal mapping project, follow me on Twitter and Subscribe to my YouTube channel.

My Derby Canal mapping links :

My accurate interactive Derby Canal Map of the original route

My YouTube playlist of Derby Canal videos, Flights and Then and nows.

Thanks

Andy

Derby Arboretum "A viewpoint" by Andy Savage. Britain's first public park

To celebrate the 180th birthday of Derby Arboretum (park) I have made this little video. For me the this amazing park is all about the trees so I have tried to film some of the trees up close and personal. I have used a mixture of filming techniques to create this, hopefully you will like it.

I have used a 360 degree camera on an extremely long selfie stick allowing me to get shots from 5 Metres up in the air. If you enjoyed my film then please like and leave a comment. Music Credits : Breathe by Roary Equipment used : Insta360 One X, 3M Carbon Fibre Extension pole. Software used : Insta360 Studio 2020, Sony Vegas Pro 17 Thanks Andy https://twitter.com/AndySavage1969 #DerbyArbo2020