Which industrialist born in Wirksworth in 1803 opened Matlock Hydro in 1853?
John Smedley (industrialist) John Smedley (industrialist) John Smedley is the name of four generations of owners of Lea Mills, near Matlock, Derbyshire. The most famous of these was John Smedley (1803-1874), born Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Lea Mills was founded in 1784 by Peter Nightingale (a relation of Florence Nightingale) (former accountant to Richard Arkwright), and John Smedley (father of the better-known son of the same name). It was set up on a hilly site straddling a brook at Lea Bridge, just outside Matlock. The brook was used to both clean yarn and power machinery. The mill specialised in the production of muslin and spinning
Matlock Mercury Matlock Mercury The Matlock Mercury is a Weekly newspaper published on a Thursday in the United Kingdom which serves Matlock, Darley Dale, Wirksworth, Bakewell and smaller villages in the Derbyshire Dales area of Derbyshire. The "Matlock Mercury" began life in the late 1940s as "Coming Events", an entertainments guide published by Ella Smith from her house on Bakewell Road, Matlock which remained as the newspaper's home until October 2000 when a new office opened on Firs Parade in the centre of the town. The name "Matlock Mercury" was adopted in the mid-1950s. Much of the newspaper's archive was destroyed when