This is a highly readable book that chronicles the rise and fall of the Buxton Hydro between 1866 and 1974. There is a varied mix of sources including interviews with old members of staff, photographs, letters and advertisements from the local papers.
There is also an informative, and often amusing, chapter on examples of the treatments on offer, as well as a family tree of the original and subsequent owners of the spa hotel. A great social history of a middle-class establishment that spans two centuries.
Family History Monthly, October 2007
Reverend James Shore, an Anglican minister, was unjustly imprisoned for preaching without a licence in Totnes, Devon in the 1840s, prompting a change of direction in life. After spending some time in Smedley’s in Matlock, he went on to open the Malvern House Hydro in Buxton. Upon Shore’s death in 1974, his grandson H R P Lomas, changed the name and built it up to become on of the largest spas in the Midlands.
As well as covering the history of hydros, the book features many unique insights into life and events at the Buxton Hydro, including details of staff members and important visitors, Its multi-layered history includes it being requisitioned during WW1 as a Canadian hospital, and purchased during WW11 by the Norwich Union for offices. The story ends with the tragic demolition of the large Victorian building in the 1970s, an event that in these more enlightened times, would not have been allowed to take place.
Best of British, September 2007