Standing at 850 feet above sea level on an isolated hilltop, Riber Castle, to give it its acknowledged title, has dominated Matlock’s eastern skyline ever since John Smedley built it in 1862. His idea was to make it the de-lux version of the spa hotels springing up around the town, venues of places offering accommodation for those taking part in his ‘water cure’. Visitors from all stations of society came to this attempt to copy a European spa such as Baden Baden in order not simply to drink the waters, but to be subjected to high pressure hosepipes blasted by evil-minded operatives, wielding hoses aimed at various parts of the victim’s anatomy. This rather curious method of health improvement, enjoyed a short-lived popularity until changes in attitude and two world wars brought about its demise. With its departure, Matlock took advantage of the spas. Some became nursing homes and others developed as apartments; the main one found a use as the headquarters of Derbyshire County Council. Smedley first had the idea of his ‘water cure’ when he was in recovery following a nervous breakdown. Part of his cure was time spent at one of the European spas. Feeling much better after the spell of being sluiced by the Germanic system of being mauled with powerful jets of water, he came home with the idea of turning the tiny market town of Matlock into the spa of dreams. Already a successful businessman, owning a garment knitting factory in Lea Mill that still flourishes, he decided to use his captive team of employees as guinea pigs in order to try out his new cure-all ideas. There is no record of his employees’ willingness or otherwise to take part in his experiments, but, as none of them appear to have suffered more...
