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Nestled midway between Sheffield and Chesterfield, alongside the picturesque Moss Valley is the historic village of Ridgeway. Situated within a designated area of outstanding natural beauty this delightful gritstone village is a popular spot for hikers, ramblers and wildlife enthusiasts alike.
Surrounded by dense woodland and scenic mill ponds this ancient village is documented as far back as the thirteenth century. The earliest evidence makes reference to the village's assocation with scythe and sickle making.
Only one of a few areas in Britain in specialise in this craft, the village's very last scythe and sickle factory - the Phoenix Works - closed quite recently. At its height it produced 4,000 sickles and 2,000 scythes weekls, and employed 20 people.
Historical evidence dating as far back as Tudor times refers to Ridgeway's connection also with the cutlery trade. Ideally suited for this the village had an abundance of iron ore...mined from the Moss Valley...water, and charcoal. Some historians have even debated whether or not Ridgeway's early activities could have been the forerunner to the Sheffield cutlery industry.
Although there were many 'little smiths' well into the late 18th and 19th centuries, the village's main industry now is farming.
The area surrounding Ridgeway has connections with Chesterfield too. Less than half a mile away is the ancient Plumbley Hall Farm. This was believed to have been the home of a very famous Elizabethan, Sir Thomas Linacre, thought to be a relative of a notable Chesterfield family of the same name. Sir Thomas was well known in his time for being a physician to Henry VIII, the founder of the Royal College of Physicians and also a founder of the colleges at Oxford.
Aspects of Ridgeway's historic past can be seen at the village's Craft Centre on the main road. Here, a restored farm building houses an active workshop keeping alive such ancient arts and crafts as book binding, lead window making, lace making, smithy, chocolate making, furniture restoring, jewellery making, even decoupage, crochet and dried flower arranging.
Note Kent House. This property was named after the family who originally lived there back in 1660. The Hutton family were later tenanted there in the mid 18th century. At the early part of this century Ridgeway villagers agreed to buy the house from the Hutton family and make it a memorial to the 18 young men who died in the 1914-18 war.
The oldest inn hereabouts has to be The Swan. It dates back to the 13th century and at one time was also the meeting place of the Funeral Society, who their annual meeting there on bonfire night.
Close to the Bridge Inn will be seen a quaint stone commemorating the death of Ned on the 22nd December 1818. 'Old Ned' was in fact a donkey who worked for the Slagg family operating the one time Sough Wheel. He died at the grand old age (for a donkey) of 36.
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