The RSPB is calling on homeowners and businesses in UK towns and cities to take simple steps to help save swifts. Swift numbers have plummeted by half in just twenty years. Now’s the time to act – before the birds return from Africa in spring to raise their families The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) […]
Product Test – Nourish Naturally with Neal’s Yard Remedies
Spend a little bit of extra time on yourself with some natural products. Wild Rose Body Elixir£30 Blended with organic wild rosehip oil and acai, Wild Rose Body Elixir helps boost your skin’s radiance and hydration. Rich in antioxidants and essential fatty acids, with a balancing blend of organic geranium and patchouli essential oils, it […]
Celebrity Interview – Sherrie Hewson
Sherrie Hewson is feeling a little bit emotional. The Nottinghamshire-born actress is delighted to be returning to Nottingham’s Theatre Royal in a show that has provoked a “wild” reaction from audiences. But she’s also sad to be saying goodbye to a character she’s become synonymous with as well as a group of actors who she […]
Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Breadsall Mount
Breadsall was one of the villages immediately surrounding Derby that so far has escaped being absorbed by the ever-expanding city below it and to the south, although a considerable amount of land on the southern edge of the parish was absorbed in 1921 and is now host to the Breadsall Hill Top estate, created through […]
Local Collectibles – Classic Histories of Derby
In 2013 I wrote an article in Country Images about collecting local books, and threatened to continue the theme with further examples at a later date. Since then, we have been concentrating on modern collectibles, but following three separate appeals from readers for me to continue with collectible old local books, I thought I might […]
Dining Out – The Curry Lounge, Somercotes
They’re in every town centre and sometimes have the same names; that’s Indian restaurants. Somercotes is no exception. At the side of the parish church, on what remains of the Market Place, is the Curry Lounge; an independent restaurant, owned and skillfully managed by Ukeel. Susan and myself visited the Curry Lounge on a Saturday […]
Walk Derbyshire – Walking Above the Canal – Cromford
The car park at the Cromford end of its namesake canal is a popular starting point for at least five walks to my reckoning. Most weekends and days in between, well-clad walkers will be congregating, busily pulling on their boots and at the same time, chatting to their friends. This walk starts, like all the […]
The National Stone Centre
Travelling back in time a few millenia, Brian Spencer describes what the Peak District looked like when land that became the British Isles was part of a tropical island situated near the Equator. A series of small inter-connected abandoned limestone quarries off the road to Ashbourne, near the top of the hill marking the boundary […]
Taste Derbyshire – A Slice of Italy – Lambarelli’s
The outskirts of Chesterfield on a grey and dismal morning seems an unlikely place to find la dolce vita. But follow your nose into Lambarelli’s Italian Caffé and Pasta Bar on Chesterfield Road and you’ll be instantly transported from North Derbyshire to Southern Italy on an aromatic cloud of fresh herbs, strong coffee and sweet […]
Taste Derbyshire – Spotted Calf Cafe
There’s something a bit magical about the Spotted Calf café – the small but perfectly formed off-spring of the Spotted Cow pub at Holbrook. It’s not just the quality of the coffee – roasted to perfection in the Derbyshire Peaks – or the tanginess of the home-made lemon polenta cake. It’s the cosy, welcoming nature […]