I wouldn’t say that the Winter has been particularly bad, looking back on my gardening diary we had 7ft snow drifts in 2014 in South Derbyshire but I do think it has been a long one. For the first time in 20 years we had snow early in December so after stop – start with […]
Derbyshire Walk – Tissington
I had visions of Michael Fish, the man whose forecast about there being no danger of hurricanes, went as his Scots forebears would have put it; ‘gone aft a’gley’. In my case it was a completely wrong interpretation of the forecast. According to a weather map in the Guardian a day or so before the […]
Darley Dale ‘Out and About’
Despite sharing the same DE4 post code, most of Darley Dale’s inhabitants prefer to think of themselves as living separate from neighbouring Matlock. Attempts to build on the small ‘green belt’ next to the DFS warehouse on the A6 between the two are met with furious objections. Darley Dale is, to them, still as it […]
Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Spondon House
Spondon House was a fine Georgian mansion, in reality a secondary seat on the Locko estate of the Drury Lowes. Yet it was not without presence, and its history not without interest. All accounts of the house, the building records for which are absent from the Drury-Lowe archive at the University of Nottingham Library, aver […]
Derbyshire Antiques & Collectibles : Collectible UK Comics
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 […]
Berlin Beyond Checkpoint Charlie
It came as a bit of a shock to be woken by four year-old Lotte impatiently jigging up and down crying ‘die Toilete ist kaputt’. With visions of the apartment flooding and drowning us, I staggered out of bed ready to use my non-existent plumbing skills, only to find that the toilet seat had come […]
Celebrity Interview – Steve Delaney aka Count Arthur Strong
The voice on the other end of the telephone is confident and assured. It’s soon evident that Steve Delaney is a businessman as much as an entertainer. You hear only occasionally a trace of Steve’s alter ego: the bumbling, pompous, delusional, malapropism-uttering Count Arthur Strong. The character came to light in the early 1980s when […]
Product Test – Regenerate with Dr. Hauschka
Regenerating Day Cream 40ml £56 Regenerating Day Cream supports the skin’s natural processes of renewal to minimise the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Skin looks and feels vital, rejuvenated and smooth. Formulation: Red clover, acerola berries, raspberry seed oil and shea butter protect and support natural skin regeneration. Jojoba, avocado, sweet almond and olive […]
The Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Willesley Hall, Ashby
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 […]
Over The Sea to Capri … And The Villa San Michelle
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 […]