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In 1867 Richard Johnson and his nephew opened a wireworks spanning the river Derwent near to Ambergate. Products from the Johnson factory were once household names, and their company lorries carried the slogan “A wise buyer buys Johnsons wire” During its heyday it employed over 500 people and the business specialised in telegraph wire and suspension cables. The company produced the telegraph wires used under the English channel during WW2. In 1990 the Bridon company took over production which lasted until 1996 when all wire production ceased, it was latterly used as a storage and distrubution centre and some parts are still live.
The house, 'Oakhurst' nearby was originally built by the Hurt family in 1846, however when the Johnson family bought it they enlarged the property. It changed purpose a number of times, (one reference seems to be that it was used by the army during WW2) it was also a retreat for the local diocese and finally became flats during the 1970's, which ultimately led to its demise when the owning company folded in the 80's.
The house, 'Oakhurst' nearby was originally built by the Hurt family in 1846, however when the Johnson family bought it they enlarged the property. It changed purpose a number of times, (one reference seems to be that it was used by the army during WW2) it was also a retreat for the local diocese and finally became flats during the 1970's, which ultimately led to its demise when the owning company folded in the 80's.
I haven't managed to get out much lately so it was nice to spend the morning wondering around here, there really isn't that much to see here the buildings which are left are just big open space's but if you look hard enough there is a few interesting bits still lying around
Enjoyable morning spent here with @Fatpanda
After a while in the wireworks we headed off in search for Oakhurst house and it didn't take long thanks to Fat Panda as he spotted it nestled amongst the trees just down the road
Mock Tudor is architecture which imitates the style of the Tudor period
The house was fubar inside so we didnt bother going in, instead we headed down to a peculiar looking building a little further down the road
Thanks for reading
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