The Teetotal Terrace.

Close to the border of Cheshire, yet still in the county of Derbyshire can be found in the town of New Mills an ordinary looking end of terrace house. Although this house which can be found in Dyehouse lane looks run of the mill (excuse the pun) there is an unusual story attached to it (quite literally) as there is a plaque attached to the front of the house which tells the story briefly.

According to a magazine article which was published back in 1899 a Thomas Handford had brought this house which had once been the town prison. It is presumed  he had been locked up in it on more than one occasion as he was said to have been a hardened drinker, and added to the fact that this prison/house stood next door to a public house named the Cock Inn meant he didn’t have to travel far to be locked up or alternatively go to bed!

It is said that on one evening he was drinking in the Cock Inn with a drinking partner when this person collapsed and died in front of Thomas. “This awful visistation upset Handford to such an extent that he walked out of the pub and resolved in his own mind never to touch intoxicating drink again”

The Drunkards Reform plaque can be see to the right of the front bedroom window. In 1984 the house was renovated and the crumbling plaque replaced to keep this story alive.