When an actor says this is a “very exciting time”, you have to think that there are some fascinating projects on the horizon. When that actor is Adrian Scarborough who you may know from Gavin And Stacey, Killing Eve and many other shows on the small screen, you’re inclined to take notice. Adrian will shortly […]
Product Test – Charlotte Tilbury
Magic Serum Crystal Elixir 100ml £130 Supersize your skincare with the NEW! XL 100ml bottle of the award-winning Charlotte’s Magic Serum Crystal Elixir! This hydrating face serum is the secret to your skin’s best future. Collaborated with expert scientists to bring you a ground-breaking serum for hydrated, youthful-looking skin. A magic matrix of […]
The Lost Houses of Derbyshire – The New Hall Buxton by Maxwell Craven
From considerable prominence during the Roman period as Aquae Arnemetiae, Buxton drops from record almost completely (avoiding an entry in Domesday Book) until it re-surfaces as Bawkestanes in a document of 1108. Yet the hot springs and associated bathing facilities may well have survived and in use, if only informally, throughout the 600 or so […]
Great Northern Railway and The Bennerley Viaduct – by Brian Spencer
The first time I came across the Bennerley Viaduct was one foggy November day, a few years back. We were following the twists and turns of the Nottingham Canal along the Erewash Valley and decided to swap sides and cross the valley in order to reach the Erewash Canal on our way back to Ilkeston. […]
Restaurant Review – Kayi Mezze Grill, Mickleover
Experiencing a different culture’s dietary habits really broadens your horizons where the use of ingredients is concerned, some familiar and some not so. Kayi Mezze Grill, named after the owners two daughters, is based in Mickleover and features a mix of delightful Turkish and Syrian cuisine , refreshingly clean to the palette. But we will […]
Restaurant Review – The Little Kitchen, Little Eaton
On our travels Susan and myself have eaten breakfast in some very memorable places: an ‘all American’ diner on I50, somewhere near Williamsburg, Maryland, overlooking one of the many picturesque creeks that litter the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. In the roof top restaurant of the Hotel Bristol, Sorrento, Italy, with its magnificent view of […]
Walk Derbyshire – The Roaches
As a few members of my brood have a nought at the end of their birthdates this year, we decided to celebrate by holding a family get-together. The venue decided upon was the Mermaid Inn, an old drovers’ pub high on Morridge Ridge above Leek. Due to the change in drinking habits following the ‘drink/drive’ […]
Celebrity Interview – Arthur Smith
There are some people you think you’re going to like even before you speak to them. Anyone who’s written a memoir called My Name Is Daphne Fairfax sounds a fascinating character and Arthur Smith lives up to expectations. When I rang Arthur to talk about his upcoming show in Derby, I didn’t interview him; we […]
Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Middleton – By – Youlegreave
As is the case with so many other of Derbyshire’s lost houses, the present Middleton Hall, at Middleton-by-Youlgreave, is a replacement, on another site in this case, of an earlier house. Indeed, there had been a manor house in Middleton from a relatively early date, for there had been a domestic chapel there before the […]
A Voyage Around the Small Isles of Scotland
This little ditty was taught to us by our Scottish geography teacher many years ago, and because of it, I have always wanted to explore the group of tiny sea-washed islands to the south of Skye. This opportunity came about when Sheila spotted an advert by a company called The Majestic Line. Apparently they operate […]