Eyres Lane

Eyres Lane is a private road that meets Leake Road just to the north of Hill Road. Formerly it provided access across fields in a south-westerly direction to two gypsum adits which were last worked in the 19th century but now abandoned.

A narrow gauge line used to follow the route of Eyres Lane to Leake Road. A short distance up the mineral line there was an access track parallel with Leake Road that came out at the rear of the present bus garage.

The road was known as Eyres Lane from the thirties after Ben Eyre bought the first brick built house named Oaklands and the adjacent land for a smallholding. There are now seven properties on the lane. Newhaven, the last dwelling to be constructed was built on scrub land cleared by Second World War PoWs. Originally it was intended for Lord Belper’s gamekeeper as a smallholding but the keeper died. The land was then sold and the present bungalow built.

Of the seven properties on the lane, three of the earlier ones built before the war were of wooden construction. Subsequently they have been rebuilt in brick.

It should be mentioned that Eyres Lane has been cut in two by the construction in 1997 of a relief road called Gypsum Way built to enable heavy traffic to by-pass the village.