The dales this walk covers are within a mile or two of each other and even though they join later, both are entirely different in character.  Their names are the Manifold and the Dove. Their character is mostly determined by the rocks over which their rivers flow; gritstone shales for the Manifold and carboniferous limestone […]

This short walk can be fitted in with a trip exploring more of Dovedale or simply as a day out combined with lunch at one of the hospitable pubs in villages round and about the valley. It is over 300 years since Izaak Walton fished in the pure waters of the river Dove along with […]

On a sunny weekend today’s Matlock Bath is popular with middle-aged motorcyclists whose expensive mounts line the riverside frontage.  They are just the modern manifestation of the visitors who come to enjoy the local scenery.  As far back as the Georgian era, people have come to admire the unique setting of this small village: at […]

This year’s winter warmer walk starts and finishes conveniently at the Barrel Inn at Bretton. The inn is just one of five buildings making this ridgetop settlement which stands at 1300 feet on the moors above the plague village of Eyam. Dating back to 1597,the Barrel has an excellent reputation for good food and well-kept […]

Starting with Swarkestone Bridge, there are three other historical features passed by on this walk around the Trent’s floodplain near Melbourne.  With a total ascent of only 65 feet (20 metres), it follows grassy footpaths, an old railway trail, minor roads and a quiet farm track on its way around this historical part of South […]

Many years ago, before man had walked on the moon or The Beatles had got together, one of the simple highlights of a warm summer Sunday evening was to walk with my brother and our parents to The Dog at Pentrich. Our route was via Lowes Hill, Hammersmith, Asher Fields (no A38 in those days) […]

It had been one of those days when the mellow mists and fruitfulness of Autumn were being replaced by the damp drizzle and frostiness of Winter. The spirits were in need of a lift and what better way than with the prospect of comforting food, good beer and someone else doing the cooking and washing […]

Consistency is essential in the food industry, we go back to places because we enjoy what they present. The beauty at the Sanam Tandoori Restaurant,  King Street, Alfreton is that the chefs have remained the same since they opened over twenty years ago. So we go confident in the knowledge that we will get what […]

Walking along the leafy, broad street leading out of the centre of Derby, the innocuous stone frontage of Anoki belies the drama of the restaurant which lies behind. Straight in through the entrance and we were greeted with a warm welcome as the waiter asked if we would like pre-diner drinks, or to be shown […]

Ears pricked up in the office when they heard that this months dining out was at The Old Poets Corner in Ashover. So Jane was well and truly out of the frame, as Alistair, Scott and I pushed our way in to dine there. Since Kim Beresford took over the  ‘Red Lion’  in Ashover 14 […]

I can still recall, aged five or six, being taken out by my nanny to catch a train for a visit to the Science Museum at London – a favourite destination of mine at that age. On the way to our suburban station was a newsagent’s shop, with current titles and the day’s papers displayed […]

The breathtaking view from this enchanted spot creates the feeling that time has ceased to exist. Exiting Amalfi harbour for our trip to Capri was made tricky due to the fact that I wanted to film it all as it happened.  I admit that I’m not the worlds most happy person on a boat especially […]

Last year we had a whole bunch of railwayana through Bamfords, mainly authentic relics of the great age of travel, but amongst them the nameplate of a locomotive built by the Southern Railway just after the Second World War and known to enthusiasts (in my time at least) as a ‘spam can’. These were large […]

Kay Mellor can hardly contain her excitement. The scriptwriter and director who was behind such gripping television dramas as Band of Gold, Playing the Field and The Syndicate has come up with her first musical which will visit Nottingham on a huge tour – and she can barely stop herself from attending every night. She’s […]

Having looked at a pre-historic thoroughfare last month I thought it opportune to look at some of the roads imposed upon the landscape by the Romans. The Romans, of course, are famous for the straightness of their roads, and much ink has been spilt on the surveying methods used to achieve this. Essentially, sightings were […]

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Until the local government reforms of 1888-1889 Derbyshire did not sit inside a single boundary; it has detached ‘islands’, mainly to its south, created in the Saxon period by assarting – clearing of woodland by men of Derbyshire in un-adopted regions. The settlements so created, once the County system had become established in the mid-10th […]

Francis Meynell (1698-1768) was a member of what was, in the early eighteenth century, a younger branch of the great Derbyshire house of Meynell, recorded in the county as of knightly status from c. 1100. His father had an estate at Anslow in Staffordshire and property elsewhere in that county, but also set up as […]

  One of my oldest friends is a great enthusiast for huge spiky Gothic Victorian country houses. He thinks Samuel Sander Teulon (‘the good ship Teulon’ as he always calls him) a genius who far outshines Wren or Adam and considers Damien Hurst deserving almost of deification for buying and restoring vast, inchoate and sprawling […]

As one travels north on the A6 one of the less uplifting sights in an area of stunning beauty is the wire works, covering the valley floor not many hundreds of yards south of the bridge by the former Derwent Inn, now a tea-room. Should you be caught in slow traffic – fairly likely at […]

Someone mentioned to me the other day that there were many other lost houses of historic and architectural importance apart from country mansions and town gentry houses and why didn’t I write about something just slightly different every now and again? Well, often the problem is that a paucity of images prevents one from doing […]

Over the past month the colours in the trees have really started to change, have you got space in your garden for a small growing tree? There are plenty of different varieties that are suitable for a modern small garden – they create a focal point that is evident all year especially if you choose […]

Wow October already!  It truly has been one of the best years for growing.  With last month’s ‘Indian’ summer along with the warm start to the autumn season this continues to be a kind year to gardeners and more importantly those of us able to be outside enjoying the garden. With the fantastic sunny weather […]

Last month I was asked to judge Ticknall Flower and Produce show for the third time. The standard was very high again and extremely difficult to judge. I was pleased to see a great effort from the children’s category and an interesting section “Gardening Disasters” which strangely enough made me smile than cry. I said […]

Its always interesting looking back on my diary and what I wrote this time last year in Country Images Magazine. I wrote about how the rain just kept coming and it rotted the Rose blooms on the plants – it just shows that 2 years are never the same and you have to adjust your […]

Last month I visited a place where I used to go as a child almost every weekend, Elvaston Castle near Borrowash. It must have been about 15 years ago that I last visited the walled gardens – I had the opportunity to visit again to see what the gardeners have done (with very little money). […]