Today we walked the Pentrich Revolution Trail.

As the helpful leaflet explains, the revolution had several causes. The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 brought recession to the iron and textile industries. Attempts to provide relief resulted in the overburdening of families that were still financially viable, many of whom ended up bankrupted. The weather was catastrophic in 1816 (as a result of the Tambora volcanic eruption of 1815), and crops failed. By 1817, the Industrial Revolution was gathering pace, and it became ever-clearer that the growing -- and increasingly urban -- population was politically under-represented. These factors combined to push demands for political reform -- and in some cases plans for insurrection.

Thomas Bacon, resident in Pentrich, began to take part in the reform meetings, known as Hampden Clubs, that took place in Nottingham, Derby, and Ripley. He reported to the villagers that an insurrection was planned, with men from Yorkshire, Nottingham, and other places intending to march on London, and unseat the government. What the locals didn't know was that there was a government spy, known as Oliver, in their midst. Eventually morphing into the role of agent provocateur, Oliver persuaded local people that -- despite the now frequent dissolution of reform meetings and the imprisonment of their leaders -- the rising was still slated to go ahead.

Bacon stepped back, but he was replaced by others, who in June 1817 duly took their followers -- fairly ingloriously, it must be said -- across the border into Nottinghamshire. Here, predictably but no less sadly, they were met by a detachment of the King's Hussars... A show trial in October 1817 sentenced three rebels to hang, fourteen to be transported, and six to serve gaol terms.


For Pentrich, the results were long-lasting: "The history of Pentrich almost stopped with the revolution. The Duke [of Devonshire]'s agents ensured that houses where guilty men had lived were pulled down... Wives and children were put out of their tenancies and years later can be traced in other parts of the country still scraping a livelihood after their disgrace. In the village those who had not taken part distanced themselves from the trouble refusing to associate with those suspected of taking part, and offering evidence against them. Land taken from guilty men was redistributed to loyal tenants, some of whom had given evidence at the trial... The village became smaller and less important in succeeding years... The harsh sentences handed down to the Pentrich Revolutionaries had the effect the government wanted. The call for reform was temporarily silenced and it was to be almost 20 more years before reform was achieved."

All in all, a sad story of the poor and uneducated being thoroughly shafted... And of course this same plot is still being replicated in various parts of the world to this day.

So, although there's little to "see" on this trail in terms of actual sites and artefacts, it's good to think that these would-be agents of change are at least being remembered.

We followed the trail as described in the leaflet. The only unpleasant bit was the stretch that takes you along the A610, which was pretty busy this morning. But there's lots that's of interest: