The Derbyshire Peak was once the major supplier of lead in the world. There is the possibility of lead being dug from close to the surface in pre-Roman times, but it was one of the reasons why Rome decided to annexe Britain to its empire. There is a folk memory of a kind of concentration […]
Modern Collectibles – Motor Car Club Badges
Both my parents were keen motorists, and I was often as a child taken to events where like-minded people congregated. Whilst out driving with my mother, I was taught to recognise all the makes and models of cars on the road – this was early 1950s, I might add, when the roads were still littered […]
Walk Derbyshire – Youlgreave & Its Two Dales
5 miles (8km): easy riverside walking along two attractive dales, linked by an interesting village street. RECOMMENDED MAP: Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale Outdoor Leisure Series; Sheet 24, The Peak District, White Peak Area. PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Hulley’s 171 hourly service from Bakewell (no Sunday service). CAR PARKING: laybys at roadside beyond River Lathkill bridge outside Alport. […]
Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Chesshyre’s House, Derby
The Chesshyre family has been amongst the elite tradesmen of Derby since the beginning of the seventeenth century, when brothers Robert and John Cheshire, sons of a Breadsall farmer, set up in business in the town. John (1613-1689) was Mayor in 1680 and left descendants in the town, as did Robert (1602-1673) who was a […]
Images of Donegal & Ulster
Only a country like Ireland could have its most northerly point in the south, but as Brian Spencer discovered on a recent visit, that is part of the enjoyment of a visit to this delightful neighbour of ours across the Irish Sea. An early start from Slack’s Coaches at Matlock brought us to Holyhead’s seaport […]
Product Test – Weleda
Replenish with Weleda Sea Buckthorn Replenishing Body Lotion 200ml £18.95 Intensive body care for dry skin. Fresh, fruity fragrant and replenishing body lotion to help your skin back to its natural beauty balance. Sun-ripened riches in a bottle – organic sea buckthorn fruits and seeds yield the oil which makes this lotion rich and replenishing. […]
Celebrity Interview – Kate Humble
“There’s nothing better than walking into a mucky stable or a mucky barn with a pitchfork and a wheelbarrow and cleaning it out” The feeling of writer and TV presenter Kate Humble who’s known mainly for specialising in wildlife and science programmes for the BBC. She’s also appearing in theatres around the country and will […]
Restaurant Review – The New Inn @ Milford
A Fusion of Flavours I’m not ashamed to say ‘I love Derbyshire’; every bit of it. From the Dark Peak of the moorland above Glossop to the ambling course of the River Trent as it twists and turns through the floodplain at the southern tip of the county. I also love its diverse industrial history. […]
Northern Tea Merchants – A World of Teas Under One Roof
My lack of tea-making skills is legendary. Even workmen choking on brick dust refuse to drink it. It doesn’t matter how much gourmet blend and organic milk I throw into the cup – it always has the slight undernote of a licked battery. In short, if I want people to drink my tea, I get […]
Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Green Hall, Belper
The story of the Strutt family and that of modern Belper, which they more or less created, are intertwined. They built the mills and the workers’ housing (to a very high standard for the period) and over several generations endowed the town with numerous benisons, leaving the built environment the better for it; today it […]