Are we going to spend the rest of our lives bemoaning the fact that something’s not happening or are we as a city going to do something collectively about it? Critics have found it comical that Derby, whose leading entertainment venue has been closed for more than seven years, has submitted a bid to become […]
Product Test – Weleda
This month we’re testing the 100 year old beauty brand Weleda. Since it was established, Weleda has followed aims which sprang from its founding principles. Our products are intended to support people in their personal development, in maintaining, promoting and restoring their health and in their efforts to achieve physical well-being and a balanced lifestyle. […]
Places Pevsner Forgot 2 – Foston
It might reasonably be argued that the reason that Sir Nikolaus Pevsner omitted certain settlements from his magisterial series The Buildings of England was that they contained no buildings worthy of note. Yet times change, tastes change, scholarship uncovers matters closed to Sir Nikolaus when he began his project in 1948. Last time, we looked […]
Walk Derbyshire – Walking Eyam, Bretton Edge and Foolow
Here is a walk through some of the historical countryside surrounding the plague village of Eyam, a village where the Covid-19 pandemic must have jogged some deep folk memories from a time when the inhabitants of Eyam made a courageous stand against an outbreak far worse than that which beset them in more recent days. […]
Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Rivetts House
Alderman Thomas Rivett (1713-1763) was an example of the astonishing social mobility that was far more commonplace in the 17th and 18th centuries than professional social commentators like to admit. Rivett was a third generation maltster in Derby, a city which was then famous for the quality of its beer, long pre-dating the fame of […]
How Eyam Dealt With Two Epidemics
Hopefully the Covid – 19 pandemic is beginning to show signs of at least slowing down. Members of the Peakland village of Eyam like the rest of us, must be grateful for the slow easing of restrictions, while at the same time taking sensible precautions in case yet another Covid variant comes along. The folk […]
Bowes Museum – Barnard Castle
When Dominic Cummings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson MP’s political aid made his controversial dash to Specsavers in Barnard Castle, it is doubtful he had the time to visit the Bowes Museum. This was a pity, because it is nearby, on the outskirts of the town. If he had managed the short diversion away from the […]
Product Test – UpCircle Beauty
As well as being 100% natural, our skincare range is also 100% brilliant. Because you shouldn’t have to choose between doing the right thing and getting the best results. With UpCircle, you get to enjoy the uplifting benefits of nature’s own skin rejuvenators – and do the planet some good, too. That’s all round better […]
Walk Derbyshire – Walking from Golden Valley to Codnor Castle
Here is a walk through history – from medieval times through the industrial revolution to the present day. Starting at the quaintly named Golden Valley, it passes the monument to a Victorian ironmaster and civil engineer, before crossing farmland slowly recovering from the depredation of open-cast coal mining in order. From here farm lanes reach […]
Celebrity Interview – Paul Jones of the Manfreds
Paul Jones laughs a lot as he happily looks forward to the next few months. The singer, harmonica player, actor, radio personality and television presenter has had a stellar career – yet at the age of 79 he’s going on the road again with the band he made his name with, the Manfreds. Not only […]