Millthorpe

Millthorpe is a tiny hamlet in the parish of Holmesfield, surrounded by beautiful countryside verging onto the Peak District National Park. Visit in early summer to see the rhododendrons in Cordwell Valley in full flower.Millthorpe's most famous resident was Edward Carpenter (1844-1929), the poet and socialist philosopher. He was a close friend of the poet Walt Whitman and corresponded with many famous figures including Mahatma Gandhi and D H Lawrence. Carpenter was a founder member of the Independent Labour Party with, among others, George Bernard Shaw. He advocated the simple life, a closer association with the land and greater development of the inner self, which lead him to take up market gardening in Millthorpe.Millthorpe remains the quiet village that attracted Edward Carpenter, with no church and only one pub - the Royal Oak.