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One Man, Hob the Goblin and the Doorway to a Secret Land

One night long, long ago a local Derbyshire man – some say a farmer, others a miner - was walking back to his home in Chelmorton. It was quite late but by the light of the moon he saw a Goblin or Hob (Goblins were known as Hob’s in the Derbyshire area – see Derbyshire Dialect.)

He couldn’t believe his luck as it was well known that if you could tame a Hob and keep it in your house it would do all the housework in an evening (shades of Harry Potter here I think!). The only payment the Hob would ask for would be a glass of ale a day and a bowl of porridge. The man, not being too keen on housework after a full day toiling at his day job, decided to try and capture the Hob. He carefully crept up behind the Hob and just before it was able to make a get-a-way he snatched the Hob and stuffed it in a sack.

Feeling quite pleased with himself the man once again set off for home, whistling a happy tune, secure in the knowledge that after a glass of ale and a bowl of porridge for the Hob, he could retire to bed and awake to a tidy house.

But, as he carried on with his walk the Hob began to cry and begged the man to let him go. He was not a hard, unfeeling man and as the Hob’s cries escalated into a heart-wrenching wailing he eventually took pity on it. Lowering the sack to the ground the man undid the tie at the top and released the Hob. Pleased with himself that he had been so merciful – but also a little disappointed, truth be told, that he would have to clean his own house – the man watched as the Hob scampered all the way back to its home which was in a cave just below Topley Pike. This cave was known as Hob Hurst's House known today as Thirst House.

Just outside this cave is a spring of water and it is said that the Hob charmed these waters so that anyone drinking from it on a Good Friday would have all their ailments cured. Inside the cave is also supposed to be a mysterious doorway which is invisible to mortal eyes. This doorway is said to lead to a land inhabited by goblins, elves and fairy folk which no mortal has ever seen.

• Hob Hurst's House

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County:  Derbyshire

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