By Maxwell Craven Like its Domesday Book twin, Newton Solney, Bretby is a total delight to visit, although much smaller and more sequestered, despite its closeness to the sprawling outer suburbs of Burton. Taking Bretby Lane out of Winshill one rises up onto the undulating higher ground south of the Trent and turns right into […]
The Beauty Report – Pixi
FortifEYE Hydrogel Eye Patches £22 These luxurious eye patches in a hydrogel format adheres to skin easily to deliver essential nutrients to the delicate eye area. The FortifEYE Hydrogel patch instantly firms and lifts while infusing the delicate eye area with hydration. DetoxifEYE water-based gel-form patch depuffs and revives skin with maximum hydration. Glow Tonic […]
Dining Out – Yassou Greek Kitchen, Little Eaton
We are huge fans of shared eating so Yassou suited us down to the ground and evoked memories of dining at restaurants over in the Dodecanese, especially the historical ‘capital island’ Rhodes. The huge contrast was that we set off on a freezing cold evening with coats and scarves on, rather than in the gentle […]
Walk Derbyshire – A Walk to the Bull Ring at Snitterton
By Rambler Before I begin my description of this walk, I must put in an explanation of what I mean by Bull Ring. First and foremost I have no intensions of sending walkers all the way down the A38 in order to walk round Birmingham’s busy Bull Ring commercial district. The bull ring (notice the […]
Places Pevsner Forgot – Hardstoft & Astwith
Hardstoft and Astwith lie atop a pair of west-east ridges, with the Dawley stream rising in between and running down to the Doe Lea, above which towers Hardwick old and new halls, which visually dominate both hamlets from the east. We first made the acquaintance of Hardstoft around 1980, when, with my colleague Mick Stanley […]
Haddon Hall – A Sleeping Tudor Beauty
by Brian Spencer “What we see today is basically the unaltered fortified manor house developed between the late 12th century, and 1620 when the last and minor ‘improvements’ were made” One autumn evening a few decades ago, driving home along the A6, just short of the entrance to Haddon Hall I was stopped by a […]
The Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Hearthcote House, Swadlincote
by Maxwell Craven Hearthcote House was a deceptively ancient and complex building by the time of its demolition in 1980. At first glance, it appeared to be an eighteenth century two storey L-plan brick farmhouse, lit by sash windows both conventional and side opening (the latter usually called York sashes), under cambered heads and with […]
Images 2023 BIG Quiz
Dining In Derbyshire – MEZZO, Derby
To the south east of Derby, sandwiched between the River Derwent and the old A6 London Road is a vast area of former industrial land that had been part of the larger railway yards. An ambitious project by Derby City Council has transformed the once derelict area in to a thriving business park. The site […]
Derbyshire’s National Heritage Corridor
by Brian Spencer It is wrong to suggest that the Industrial Revolution began in and around the Derwent Valley, but even so the new order was given a massive push forward by the innovations of two mill owners, Richard Arkwright and Jedediah Strutt. They were, as the saying goes, ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’. […]