In December 2021 the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS) reached its 20th birthday! To create the site was a very great achievement in the first place, and it is a further achievement to reach 20 years. With the World Heritage Site (WHS) lying completely within the Derwent Valley, it is obvious that the fortunes of the WHS and of Derwent Valley Trust (DVT) are completely intertwined. DVT’s Derwent Valley Heritage Way takes walkers along the length of the WHS, and the planned cycleway will do a similar thing for cyclists and other off-road users.
The WHS have produced a celebration video, available here. This summarises the site, and contains many messages of support from local stakeholders and supporters. Among these is the chair of our cycleway working group, Tanya Spilsbury, who shows off developments along Wyver Lane. Look out for this as you watch the video. If you’re in a hurry, creep forward to 6 minutes and 20 seconds!
It is an honour for all of us associated with the Derwent Valley to see “our” site appear in the UNESCO listing, alongside places like the pyramids in Egypt, or the Great Wall of China! The listing also carries a sober warning to us. Just a few places below the DVMWHS the delisted Liverpool site still shows. This represents a fate that we must never allow to befall our own site. The DVT is actively contributing to enhancing the WHS, by providing means of sustainable access along its length.
The picture shows the noble Masson Mill, one of the many gems of the DVMWHS, after a night of heavy rain.
