
Youlgreave 'cut off' by 'bizarrely timed' road closure
Dr Edward Oakley from The Youlgreave Surgery said some of his patients had arrived late for appointments.He also said the closure was having a big effect on home visits.Derbyshire County Council's (DCC) temporary order, which enforces the closure, said it could last until 5 September, but the road would reopen as soon as the work was done.
Aiden Marsh, who runs The George Hotel in Youlgreave, said he is concerned about the closure's impact on custom during one of the busiest periods of the year."It's especially hard for caravans to get through. And obviously the six weeks holidays as well," he said."To me it just seems a bit of an utterly bizarre time to choose to do it. And why you can't have traffic lights up or at least [the road] opened at night?"Mr Marsh's father recently died, and he is also concerned about the impact on the undertakers."His funeral's next Friday and I've been trying to think about how the hearse is going to get here. It's not an easy route to be doing," Mr Marsh added.
Amy Young, who runs the Post Office and Village Store, said: "People aren't going to come to Youlgreave, it's not the most accessible place anyway, but with that road closed, there's no easy option of getting into the village."I run the shop, but I also run the village milk round."So we deliver milk to Alport which means a four-mile round trip."
People who live near Youlgreave say they are concerned about the impact motorists taking unsigned diversions could have on windy single-track roads around the village."It's a nonsense, they've got to cut down a few trees, there's no respect for the shops, for the pubs," said resident Phil Wildbore.
'Least worst option'
In a statement, Lord Edward Manners, of Haddon Hall, said the closure allowed dead and dying trees with Ash dieback to be felled."Due to the steep sided banks of the valley on one side and the river on the other the estate has no other option but to close the road which we have done in full consultation with DCC Highways senior traffic technicians," he said."There is no ideal time to do this work, but closing the road during the school holidays was considered the least worst option."We have a large team working as fast as they can, seven days a week with extended hours to complete the job as soon as possible and we thank the local community for their forbearance."The road will be temporarily reopened for the August bank holiday between 22 August at 17:30 BST and 26 August at 06:30.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Sun
28 minutes ago
- The Sun
Five off-limit attractions in the UK offering free secret tours – including 10 Downing Street
THERE is nothing more exciting than getting to explore a place where visitors are usually not allowed. Think: Downing Street, the BBC Broadcasting House and the BT Towe 5 And as part of London 's Open House Festival, there are over 700 properties, buildings and places where the public will be welcomed to visit between September 13 and 21. Five of these are offering extremely exclusive limited tours, with a public ballet now open until August 18. According to the Open House Festival website, many of the destinations will be a "be once in a lifetime visit". Here are the five places you can enter the ballot for, as well as what dates you will be able to visit. 10 Downing Street The home of British Prime Ministers since 1735 will open its doors to the public for two sessions on September 13. Guests will get to see behind the famous black door, where some of the most important decisions in UK politics are made. Currently, 10 Downing Street is undergoing some upgrades to its facilities to ensure the historic building is preserved. BBC Broadcasting House We all know the BBC and see content from it daily, but for the Open House Festival people can go to the first ever purpose-built broadcast centre in the UK. It was built back in 1932 and features an art-deco design, including a clock tower. More recently the building was refurbished and extended to create a new broadcasting house. Inside multi-million pound upgrade for popular Scots tourist attraction The building is now home to the largest live newsroom in Europe, right at the centre of the complex. Again, to go to this spot you will need to enter the ballot, with 12, one-hour sessions on September 20. BT Tower When in the depths of London's streets, you can often catch glimpses of the BT Tower. The tower's famous revolving floor sits 158 metres above the streets of the capital. Two high speed lights will transport visitors to the revolving floor in just 30 seconds. Bizarrely, the Tower was classified as an 'official secret' until 1993 despite it being evident in the city's skyline. To see this building, you will also need to enter a ballot for one of 16 tours, each lasting 45 minutes across September 20 and 21. 5 Canada House Canada House is to the Canadian Embassy and was originally designed as two buildings. Just over 10 years ago, the building underwent a large scale revitalisation linking it to the former Sun Life Assurance of Canada building. Inside today, the building houses around 300 pieces of Canadian Art. One tour will run on September 13. London Museum Currently under construction, the public can enter a ballot to go on a tour of the Poultry Market, at the new London Museum. The London Museum is set to open in 2026, bringing new life into the historic Smithfield market buildings. And with this tour, lucky visitors will get a sneak peak ahead of its opening. Six tours will be open to the public on September 20. The museum's permanent galleries are set to open in 2026 and the 1960s Poultry Market will open in 2028. The Poultry Market will eventually house the museum's collection stores and temporary exhibition and learning spaces. 5 New locations for 2025 There are also a number of new destinations part of the festival this year including Studio AVC's offices - which are located in a 1929 shop which used to be Liberty's printing workshop and part of William Morris' Arts and Crafts legacy. Or you could head to The King's Foundation, in Hackney, which is set in a refurbished factory warehouse. And there is the London Film School as well, in a former banana warehouse. For architecture buffs, you can head inside the RIBA House of the Year from 2024. A new £100million indoor resort is also set to open in the UK with a 'next generation waterpark' and thermal spas. Plus, a much-loved UK theme park reveals new rainy day guarantee – with free return after bad weather. 5


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Planes struggle to land in high winds as Storm Floris batters parts of UK
Planes battling high winds have struggled to land at airports as Storm Floris batters parts of the UK. Footage shows a Ryanair Boeing 737 -800 attempting to land at Leeds Bradford Airport through a strong crosswind on Monday (4 August). The aircraft sways in the air before touching down on the runway. Many flights were diverted as Storm Floris caused widespread disruption. Three aircraft – two British Airways flights from London Heathrow and one KLM flight from Amsterdam – attempted to land in Aberdeen but were forced to return to their departure airports due to the strong winds.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Train operator bucks trend by introducing first-class travel
A train operator is to introduce first-class sections for passengers willing to pay more to travel, bucking the trend for making trains standard class only. Chiltern Railways announced trains on its route between London and the West Midlands will have first-class carriages from next year. It said they will feature 'more spacious seats and improved connectivity', but will not include catering. Chiltern Railways currently has no first-class seating on its trains after abolishing the option more than a decade ago. It also stopped having a designated business zone – for which users were charged an on-board upgrade – in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Several train operators in Britain have scrapped first-class travel in recent years because of a lack of demand. These include London Northwestern Railway (in May 2023), Southeastern (in December 2022) and Stansted Express (in January 2020). Others have made the switch for certain routes, such as Greater Anglia, Thameslink and Great Western Railway. First-class tickets can cost several times the amount of standard-class fares. Some long-distance operators such as Avanti West Coast and LNER provide more space, hot food and alcoholic drinks to passengers who pay the extra money. Rail historian and broadcaster Christian Wolmar said he is 'very surprised' at the announcement by Chiltern Railways as passengers wanting a premium service are 'probably in a hurry' so travel on Avanti West Coast services between London and Birmingham, which are generally more expensive but quicker. He told the PA news agency that for suburban services, premium travel is 'an outdated concept from the days of bowler-hatted gentlemen in their first-class compartment while their secretaries sat in second'. He went on: 'That era has gone. I think for those sort of services, there are very few people who would really want to pay for a premium.' Chiltern Railways is replacing its oldest carriages – Mark 3s which date back to the 1970s – with 13 Mark 5A trains from spring next year. The trains – previously operated by TransPennine Express – are already configured with first-class sections, and it would have cost millions of pounds to convert them all to standard class. Chiltern Railways said it will have more standard-class seats than today once the introduction of the new fleet is completed. Features for passengers include plug sockets and USB ports at every seat, enhanced wi-fi and digital information screens. The trains will enable additional services to be added to timetables from December 2026. Richard Allan, managing director of Chiltern Railways, said: 'We are thrilled for our customers that we will be able to replace our oldest trains, which are nearly 50-years-old, with their modern equivalent that are just six-years-old and provide significant improvement to their on-board experience. 'Chiltern will be renting more trains than it has today, which means we can operate additional services from the end of 2026 to help meet rising demand. 'The trains will be formed of modern carriages hauled by locomotives fuelled by recycled vegetable oil and fitted with the latest stop-start engine technology.' The announcement forms part of the operator's ambition to modernise and decarbonise its trains by 2030. This includes replacing its diesel trains with battery-electric trains. Rail minister Lord Hendy said: 'This Government is putting passengers back at the heart of the 21st-century railway by investing to make journeys easier, greener and more comfortable. 'We are continuing to support Chiltern as they develop a plan to introduce additional services into their timetable, giving people more opportunities to work, live and socialise.' The Department for Transport has not announced when Chiltern Railways will be nationalised as part of its strategy to bring all train operators under public control as existing contract expire or reach a break point. The operator's contract runs until December 2027.