Members of Belper’s Civic Forum inspected several important sites at risk in the town centre after their AGM on 9 June 2010. Led by local historian Adrian Farmer, their tour included the frontage of the former Thornton’s chocolate factory on Derwent Street, the former Brettles factory shop on Chapel Street, and the course of the carriage drive across Belper Meadows to the Strutt family house.
‘It’s important that people remember the role these buildings and places have played in the life of the town’, said newly elected Forum Chair Roger Shelley. ‘Few people think everything from the past should be saved, but re-conditioned buildings are often more in keeping with their surroundings and contribute to popular memory and identity. We will continue to put pressure on owners and the authorities to give these places a chance – it is vital that buildings like our first ‘grammar’ school (Chapel Street) and the theatre hall where Gracie Fields performed (Derwent Street) are recognised, given emergency repairs and proper action plans for renovation.’