by Maxwell Craven People often quite reasonably assume that Derby’s Market Place was the original historic core of the borough, but appearances can be deceptive. When King Edward the Elder founded the city as a defended settlement c. 928, the actual core was the area between the Cathedral and old St. Alkmund’s (now part of […]
The Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Parkfields, Derby
by Maxwell Craven A notable surge in prosperity in Derby during the Napoleonic wars and afterwards, led to the building of nearly a dozen Regency villas on the fringes, in the suburbs and in the immediate area of the borough, of varying size and quality. Most were built by prosperous merchants and a few by […]
Ashton Coleman
Ashton & Coleman Furniture Matlock’s latest retail shop, Ashton & Coleman Furniture, may be new to Matlock but they have been busy building the foundations of their business for almost 10 years. Starting the business partnership in late 2014 combining two separate joinery businesses run by Simon Ashton and Peter Coleman. Settling on Ashton & […]
Cosy Garden Rooms & The rise in outdoor living
A noticeable trend has emerged in recent years – the rise in popularity of outdoor living. To some extent the pandemic taught us the importance and value of fresh air, nature and outdoor spaces. For the best part of two years our homes and gardens came under scrutiny like never before; our gardens and outdoor spaces […]
The Historic Core of Derby
by Maxwell Craven People often quite reasonably assume that Derby’s Market Place was the original historic core of the borough, but appearances can be deceptive. When King Edward the Elder founded the city as a defended settlement c. 928, the actual core was the area between the Cathedral and old St. Alkmund’s (now part of […]
Walk Derbyshire – A Walk Between Monyash & Flagg
If you were living in the Peak District countryside around a hundred years ago, the chances are that you would be following a dual working schedule. Part of your working day would be tending the needs of a dairy herd and maybe carrying out a little ploughing and growing feed crops for those valuable cattle. […]
Celebrity Interview – Billy Ivory
Imagine you’re writing a film and you’re asked who you would ideally like to play the two lead roles. That happened to Nottinghamshire-born screenwriter William Ivory on his last project and he had no hesitation: Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson. When approached both actors astonishingly said they wanted parts in The Great Escaper which was […]
The Lost Houses of Derbyshire – West Hallam Hall
No native West Hallam resident, of course, would acknowledge being resident of Ilkeston – they are fiercely independent folk – but the loss of the hall caused this unexpected expansion, and the man responsible was bullish Nottingham developer and bigwig, Alderman Sir Albert Ball (1863-1946), as with one of two other lost Derbyshire houses (not […]
English Wine Project – Award winning wines from Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county that produces some of the country’s greatest products and each month we feature one of Derbyshire’s best independent producers. It’s just getting interesting again for Darley Abbey based wine maker, Kieron Atkinson. After a couple of weeks of ‘quieter’ times post-Christmas, Kieron’s gearing up for the announcement of the latest international […]
Walk Derbyshire – Shardlow’s Inland Port and Eighteenth Century Walk
When the eighteenth century Duke of Bridgewater’s fiancé gave him what we might today call the push, he decided that not only was he secretly pleased to be rid of her, but to be honest, he was also bored by London, which took up too much of her time through the London Society she frequented. […]