Author: Lorraine

Walk Derbyshire – The Four Villages Walk – Brassington, Ballidon, Parwich & Bradbourne

I am indebted to Amber Valley Group of the Ramblers Association, as it is they who first planned this interesting walk.  Despite their good work, especially in producing the excellent leaflet I picked up way back in 2005, regrettably the leaflet is now out of print, but luckily I came across a rather dog-eared copy the other day, which helped me to follow my version of their described walk. I enjoyed it so much that it prompted me to carry out some research into the history of these ancient places of worship, together with the villages they have served since Saxon times.  Here is my version. Starting from the small car park above Brassington, the route soon passes St James,’ a church with at least Norman foundations, if not earlier.  It has served the village for centuries, a focal point for generations of lead miners who delved far beneath the nearby grassy moors.  The only link with this long-dead industry is in the name of one of the local pubs, The Miners’ Arms, and a smoke-stained cave high on jagged Rainster Rocks.  This is where a miner and his family lived as described by Daniel Defo in his book about a journey through England in the early 1700s.  His description of the family living like a group of troglodytes clearly brings to life the harsh conditions of a life dependant on living and working in stygian gloom for days on end. First mentioned in local records around 1281, when its Norman foundations were laid on the site of an earlier Saxon oratory, is St James’ church.   The present church, Grade II Listed, is the result of the Victorian craze for ‘improvements’, such as the embattled parapet added to the Norman tower, but at least they left the plain bowl of the font, untouched since Saxons ruled the land. Many of the cottages in Brassington date from a time when they housed families more prosperous than Defo’s troglodytes.  The village layout would not pass today’s planners, and as a result we are left with a cat’s cradle of narrow streets and ginnels, all just waiting to be explored. Moving out of the village and following a narrow lane, the walk crosses the B5056 Bakewell to Fenny Bentley road.  Joining a short section of the Limestone Way, it skirts Ballidon where a tiny chapel originating from the 13th century is built on the footprint of a much older edifice.  The village itself is tiny, sheltering under the protection of White Edge and Blackstone’s Low, today it caters mainly for the needs of quarrymen’s, or heavy goods drivers and their families. The Limestone Way is followed through fields, as far as Parwich.  This time it is the Victorian adaptation of a Norman church and many of the game animals inhabiting the district in medieval times are represented within.  Once a subsidiary Chapel in Ashbourne parish, it stands as it has done since the first monk, preaching beside a rough stone cross, brought Christianity to the pagan Saxons.  They were the earliest settled people to live in this sheltered hollow. The church we see today is listed Grade II and seems to have ministered to the needs of a gradually swelling population, one of whom at least, if his 12th century grave cover is anything to go by, joined one of the Crusades in medieval times.  Parwich is sheltered from cold winds blowing from the north, by a grassy hill.  Here an 18th century Manor Hall surrounded by pretty gardens, overlooks the grey-stone village houses surrounding a small green. Finally Bradbourne’s Grade I Listed All Saints, dates back to the 13th century, but like the others in this quartet, probably dates from a much earlier chapel.  A weathered Saxon Cross has stood in the churchyard since around 800AD.  The Old Hall and other interesting des-res buildings line the surrounding village. The actor Alan Bates is buried in the graveyard to the rear of the church, alongside other members of his family. A quiet stroll along a farm lane leads back to Brassington by way of a series of fields lined by farm houses and a scattering of other attractive houses.  The track reaches Brassington conveniently close to the Gate Inn, but if it is crowded the Miners’ is an alternative just a little further into the village. USEFUL INFORMATION: A moderate walk by field paths through meadows and along quiet country lanes, covering 9miles, (14.5km).  One busy road, the B5056 Bakewell/Ashbourne road is crossed twice.  Muddy sections in fields between Ballidon and Parwich. RECOMMENDED MAP: OS Explorer 1:25000 OL24, the Peak District, White Peak Area. CAR PARKING: Small car park in Brassington Quarry off the Wirksworth road out of Brassington. PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Buses from Ashbourne. REFRESHMENTS:Pubs in Brassington and Parwich. THE WALK – STEP BY STEP Turn left outside the car park and walk down Dale Road for about 100yards towards the village, and then go right on into a narrow road leading towards the church – (use the church tower as a guide). Follow Church Street until it joins Hillside.  Turn right here and walk uphill for about 150 yards, then go left at a footpath sign, following it until it reaches the head of a field track going left. Turn left along the track, and follow it downhill when it becomes Pasture Lane and is metalled. Cross the main road with care and go through the gate opposite.  Follow the gently rising track as far as a solitary standing stone. Turn left off the track here and keep to the left of the stone, aiming for a stile in a stone wall about 100yards away and cross the stile. Beyond the stile go steadily downhill, soon to aim for tiny Bradbourne Chapel. Follow the concrete path behind the church, down to the road used by heavy traffic serving the nearby quarry. Turn left and walk in single file on your right of the road and look out for a footpath

Celebrity Interview – Patrick Kielty

The future of Britain after Brexit, national identity and political upheaval don’t appear to be subjects that would have you guffawing with mirth. But these are the themes that Northern Ireland comedian and television presenter Patrick Kielty has chosen for his new stand-up show Borderline which will visit Nottingham next month. While he’s primarily known for making people laugh, he also has experience of dealing with serious subjects. In 2007 he was invited to conduct an in-depth interview at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahearn about the Northern Ireland peace process. His personal involvement goes much deeper. He was 16 in 1988 when his father Jack was shot dead by loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association. Yet in a referendum for the Good Friday Agreement – the accord that ended most of the Troubles which had been going on since the late 1960s – Patrick voted yes. Even though it meant his father’s killers were released from prison. He explains why he did that. “It was an easier decision than maybe you think because if you go through something like that, one of the first things that’s in your head is you don’t want anyone else to go through it,” he says in his unmistakeable Northern Ireland lilt. “I also think that sometimes we paint ourselves into corners. Making peace is very hard. If you look at what’s going on in the world right now, making peace with people that want to kill each other is very difficult. “One of the things in the show, weirdly on a personal level, is when you actually go through all that, you can look at situations slightly differently. If you share your story, people might think about their story in a different way.” Patrick is quick to point out that his new show isn’t a lecture. He should know what an audience wants: during the Northern Ireland Troubles he set up a comedy club in Belfast, “probably the most successful comedy club in the UK because people wanted to come and hear satire about bigger politics and they wanted a release from the tension that was going on around them. “When you look at where the UK is at the moment, with borders and protocols and Brexiteers and Remainers, sometimes you need a little pressure valve and go ‘there’s funny stuff in here that we can all laugh at.’ “If you look at how people are living at the moment with rising prices and a shortage of oil, none of those things is funny but when you see how we get to certain places and where we’re going, there’s funny in there.” Patrick Kielty was born on 31 January 1971 in County Down. As a teenager he was a talented Gaelic footballer.  He began performing while a pupil at St Patrick’s Grammar School, Downpatrick when a teacher spotted him impersonating politicians, sportsmen and celebrities. His professional career started while he was still a psychology student at Queen’s University, Belfast. After presenting television shows in Northern Ireland, he came to the attention of London-based broadcasters and fronted programmes including Fame Academy, Love Island and The One Show. In 2012 he married the TV presenter Cat Deeley. They have two young sons. They moved to Los Angeles so that she could host the show So You Think You Can Dance but they came back to London two years ago after Patrick and their elder son narrowly avoided a shooting in a shopping mall. Patrick is undertaking his first UK tour in seven years. Most of the gigs are towards the end of the week. Patrick quips: “I don’t look on it as a three- or four-month tour – I look at it more as a series of mini-breaks!” Borderline started in Northern Ireland and he’s pleased with the reception so far. “In your head you think to yourself that stand-up is like putting on a pair of slippers – but it’s not like that at all. It’s like putting on a new pair of high heels! You’re trying to squeeze your toes in and learn how to walk in them again.  “I’m now at the stage where I’m able to walk and dance in them. We’ve been selling out pretty much everywhere, people have been saying nice things and audiences seem to be enjoying it. There’s always that wee bit of relief whenever you get something up and running and people like it.” The proceeds from the second date, in Larne, went to the Unicef Ukraine appeal.  “That was the week when things really started to get bad there (Ukraine)”, says Patrick.  I’ve got two young kids myself and you’re seeing kids on TV and everything that was going on. I just wanted to do something. It’s a very small thing but every little helps, I suppose.” Patrick explains why he called the tour Borderline. “I wanted to write something about Northern Ireland and the second new border. There’s talk of Scottish independence, there’s talk of Boris Johnson presiding over the break-up of the Union – all these weird things that you never really thought would even be on the table.  “We live in a world where people go ‘I’m right, you’re wrong’. It seems to me that people want to see the world in black and white.  “To come from a polarised society that actually managed to come together to see a little bit of what the other side thinks and make peace by letting go of preconceptions a little bit – it was an interesting time for me to see the world going the other way. “So I thought now is a good time to get on stage and talk about national pride, nationalism and where that leads us.” Patrick always knows roughly what he wants to say in his shows. He explains that the skill is to weave it all together and say it in a funny way. “I think one of the

Happy Trails – Riding the railways that turbocharged Derbyshire’s industrial revolution

Derbyshire has done more than any county in England to convert its disused railways into traffic-free greenways for cycling and walking. This route is a variation on the classic ‘trails triangle’ that combines two of the most popular Peak District cycle trails — the High Peak Trail and the Tissington Trail — with the traffic-free path around Carsington Water. The route starts at the railway station in Cromford, but starting at Middleton Top C would avoid the steep climb up from the Derwent Valley and reduce the overall distance by 7 miles.  Cromford was one of the most important locations in the early years of the Industrial Revolution. It was here in 1771 that self-made inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright built the world’s earliest water-powered cotton spinning mill. It is regarded as the first modern factory, a system of production that would quickly wipe out traditional artisan cottage industries. Working conditions were severe. Two thirteen-hour shifts a day kept the factory in continuous production. Whole families were employed, including large numbers of children, as young as seven. Workers had a week’s holiday a year, on condition that they didn’t travel beyond Cromford. Arkwright made a fortune and set to building a country seat to match his elevated status. Willersley Castle can be seen from the bridge, though he died before it was completed. The mill complex is now part of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage site and hosts a visitor centre, shops and two cafés A.  From Cromford it’s a stiff climb up Intake Lane to join the route of the Cromford and High Peak Railway. One of the earliest railways in Britain, it was built to carry minerals and goods between the Derwent Valley and the canal network around Manchester, as an alternative to the lengthy canal route to the south of the Pennines. Wagons were hauled up the many steep inclines by chain, and later by wire cables, wound by stationary engines. It ran until the 1960s and now lives a second life as the High Peak Trail for walking and cycling. On the way up you’ll pass the National Stone Centre, an educational charity based in an old limestone quarry. It offers a short self-guided fossil and geology walking trail, and runs courses in dry stone walling and stone carving – including for absolute beginners B.  Once onto the high plateau at Middleton Top, it’s pleasant, traffic-free riding all the way towards Parsley Hay, where there’s a café and bike hire shop E. Before you get there, just off the route and accessible by a permissive footpath, is Minninglow Hill. At the top, in a wooded clearing, is the largest Neolithic chambered tomb in Derbyshire and two Bronze Age bowl barrows D. A little further along, the route passes the Friden brickworks, a major local employer for over a century, which specialises in making heatresistant bricks for blast furnaces, glass making and other high temperature applications. The critical ingredient is silica, which for decades was quarried from local deposits, though now it is imported.  Two miles past Parsley Hay, the route leaves the High Peak Trail for an interlude of splendid gated roads, initially along Dovedale, then through Hartington. Once a local centre for the mining of ironstone, lead and limestone, Hartington is also known for its cheesemaking: its creamery is the only one in the county where Stilton is made (by law Stilton can only be made in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire).  From Hartington, a classic Peak District farm track leads to Biggin, where the route picks up another ex-railway line cycleway, the Tissington Trail. It’s worth a short deviation from the most direct route to visit the pretty estate village of Tissington F. The current lord of the manor is the amiable Sir Richard FitzHerbert, who inherited unexpectedly from his uncle and can often be seen lending a hand at the bustling cycling-friendly café opposite the church, as well as giving regular tours of the manor house. In 2007 Tissington Hall was among several historic houses to draw attention to its involvement in the slave trade and the wealth it derived from sugar plantations in the Caribbean.  From Tissington it’s rolling lanes via Bradbourne to Carsington Water G, a reservoir ringed by a shared use cycling and walking path, followed by one last climb back to the High Peak Trail, and the return to Middleton Top. If you’ve ridden up from Cromford, the way back follows the same route – take care as it’s steep and the surface is loose in places. 00

Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Lockett’s House Wardwick, Derby

The Wardwick is, even today, one of Derby’s most elegant streets; in Georgian times it was the bees’ knees as a place to live, despite having Markeaton Brook flowing along the back gardens of the houses on the north side and the Odd Brook as a meandering feature in the pleasure grounds of those on the south. Originally a pre-Norman settlement, separate from Derby, Wardwick, with its parish church dedicated to the Mercian Princess, Werburgh, was absorbed by its bigger neighbour after the Conquest, but the name survived in the street, which ran from St. James’s Bridge westward to join the main road to Ashbourne, where now is Ford Street. The south side has survived tolerably well, although the pitching of Becket Steet, resulted in the loss of two thirds of the Jacobean House, but the north side suffered more ‘improvement’, with the Mechanics’ Institute being built on the site of a town house and a jumble of cottages, in 1836, the Museum replacing the impressive town residence built for the Locketts of Clonterbrook , Swettenham, Cheshire, in 1879, and its extension plus road widening put paid to Dr. Francis Fox’s house in 1913. The house built for the Lockett family boasted a facade less than seven bays wide, three full storeys high and the three bay centrepiece broke forward about a foot and contained the porticoed entrance, reached up steps to a perron embellished by iron railings, probably by Benjamin Yates, Robert Bakewell’s foreman and successor. It was entirely of brick, very severe, with a banded parapet and gauged brick lintels over the windows. A single storey Regency brick bow was later added to the west (garden) front in the 1810/1820 period. However, the only known picture of it, by S. H. Parkins of Derby, was done retrospectively, so we cannot fully rely on it as a true rendering of the original. One is inclined to suspect that it was a lot better proportioned and may also have included more detailing; one suspects a first-floor sill band might have been included, for instance. The house was built for William Merrill Lockett (1732-1777) in 1751, on the legacy left by his father, William, an opulent parson, who had long been incumbent of the combined parishes of St. Werburgh and St. Michael, Derby, as well as serving as perpetual curate of Osmaston-by-Derby. He was the second son of Jeffery Lockett of Clonterbrook, Swettenham, Cheshire, a house built in 1697, sold by the parson’s cousin once removed (another William who preferred to live in Knutsford) and re-purchased by the family in 1939. The family had extensive trading and shipping interests in Liverpool. William Merrill Lockett himself went to Derby School and Inner Temple, before setting himself up as an attorney in 1757, and being appointed Town Clerk of Derby in 1765. The plain-ness of the house is typical of the period, and it is not impossible that the architect was a London acquaintance of the young Lockett. The alternative is that it may have come from a London pattern book and have been put up by a Derby builder. Certainly, it is unique in Derby in its austere façade.  Unfortunately, Lockett died in 1777, unmarried, and the property devolved upon his cousin twice removed, William Jeffery Lockett (1768-1839), in whose time Stephen Glover described the place as ‘a large and handsome house’. However, W. J. Lockett was only nine when he inherited his cousin’s Derby property, and it is likely that the house was let in the interim. In the event, he took up occupancy there on his marriage in 1794 to Anne, daughter of William Bilbie of Berry Hill Hall, Mansfield, whose mother was an heiress of a member of the Barber family of Greasley; Anne Lockett’s bother was indeed another lawyer, and it may be that he occupied the house for a while. Prior to being culverted to create The Strand in 1870 (at the expense of opulent railway contractor Sir Abraham Woodiwiss) the Markeaton Brook, running along the northern boundary of the property, tended to overflow when it backed up, due to the Derwent, into which it flows, being in spate. The Revd. Thomas Mozley – brother-in-law to Cardinal Newman – knew Lockett’s House well, writing in around 1825:  The gas came in 1820, sponsored by William Strutt.  Thomas Mozley described W J Lockett as ‘Copley’s friend’, here referring to the Anglo-Irish but American born artist, John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), who came to England in 1774 and never returned to his native land. The friendship’s origin is difficult to disentangle, but it is said that Copley and his wife were frequent visitors to the house, and that Lockett stood by him during his least, lean years, during the French wars. Indeed, Lockett’s influence may have been seminal in inspiring their son John (later 1st Lord Lyndhurst, thrice Lord Chancellor) to take up law. There must be a portrait of Lockett by Copley (whose portraits are highly rated over his historical scenes) and it may be it is with the family still, in Cheshire. The only surprise is that there are not more Derby or Derbyshire people amongst his known commissions, but maybe his visits were to escape the tyrany of his easel. Lockett became a member of the Derby Philosophical Society at about the time that Copley died, where he was befriended by William Strutt. He served on the Derby bench and, on his death in 1839 – the year of the first great exhibition of the arts and sciences in the new Mechanics’ Institute next door – the house passed to his only child, William, then forty-two and his father’s partner in his legal practice, which he continued until his own death, unmarried, in 1848.  Following the success of the exhibition of 1839, those behind it, including William Strutt’s son Edward (later 1st Lord Belper), Douglas Fox (whose family lived next door to the Locketts) and other members of the Derby Philosophical Society had gathered together a

From Hen Racing to a Bygone Industry What do you know about Bonsall?

Bonsall is tucked away in an upland bowl, high above the Derwent Valley and seems a place where time has passed it by.  Nevertheless it has been home to a proud group of villagers since long before William the Conqueror’s scribes listed it as Bonteshall in the Domesday Survey. Its early prosperity was based on lead mining and the ore’s by-products, and also calamine (zinc carbonate) which when amalgamated with copper makes brass. Textile manufacturing followed the development of Richard Arkwright’s spinning mills at nearby Cromford, but before that came about, manually operated knitting frames were busy producing stockings in little barn-like sheds still recognisable up and down the village.   Farming was Bonsall’s oldest activity, an occupation that took place as it still does on the rolling acres of limestone moors just beyond the village centre.  Probably it is Bonsall’s remoteness that has preserved many of its old buildings and traces of the now dead industries.   Access to the village is along the steep side road leading into Yeoman Street and the village centre before the road divides at Fountain Square, and then climbs to aptly named Uppertown by way of a winding tricky byway.  The road up into the main part of the village is known locally as ‘Clatterway’, no doubt from the sound of mill workers’ clogs as they made their way down to Arkwright’s Via Gellia Mill.  Now split into small industrial units, it was the unlikely birthplace of ‘Viyella’ fabric, the name a variant of Via Gellia, was invented by Hollins & Co, the firm which took over the mill.   Red tape so loved by bureaucrats was briefly made in Bonsall. Standing on the corner directly opposite Via Gellia Mill is a house where the name above the door ‘The Pig of Lead’, recognises that it was until fairly recently a pub where miners could slake their thirsts before climbing back up Clatterway.  The ‘pig’ has nothing to do with porkers but comes from the word for a lead ingot. A short diversion beyond the mill leads to another link with by-gone industry.  A high wall separates what was once a lead smelting mill, but is now a storage depot for a skip-hire company from the busy road.  This was latterly the site of a colour works where limestone-based powders were mixed with coloured sands for industrial use.  It ceased production in the 1960s, but its sister company in Matlock Bath continued for a few more decades. At points along the Via Gellia road, occasional free-standing walls are all that is left of lime kilns where stone from nearby quarries was burnt to create valuable lime destined to sweeten farm fields far and wide.  Turning up the Clatterway, the road passes groups of attractive cottages, once the base of no fewer than five separate industries.  Within the space of around a quarter of a mile there was a blacksmith, a colour works (later moving into the Via Gellia site), a carpenter and finally a water-powered corn mill.  There was even a small workshop making once fashionable combs from tortoiseshell.  A ropewalk in a long narrow field made essential safety lines for lead miners. Bonsall Brook flows along a deep ravine to the side of Clatterway, its waters enhancing the attractive cottage gardens. Bonsall Brook seems to flow from below the lorry park next to the village recreation ground, but it starts life beyond the top of the village at Town Head and until it was culverted openly flowed down the side of Yeoman Street where every house had its own little limestone slab, which the locals proudly referred to as marble bridges.  Traffic demands led to culverting the brook in order to widen the street; the nearby recreation ground is on the site of an in-filled dam made redundant with the reduced demand for water to power mills in Cromford. A fountain that once trapped the unwary by creating an ice rink every winter marks the turning into The Dale.  Standing above it is a small café that was the ‘New Inn’, later it became known as the ‘Fountain’ until it closed in the 1980s.  Next door is the village hall which took over the building from the local school when it was moved to larger premises next to the parish church, across the valley.  To the left of the fountain and that increasing rarity these days, a well-cared for public toilet, a garage stands on the site of a private gas works; it belonged to the now completely demolished grand house called ‘The Study’, home of the Prince family. Yeoman Street and its continuation High Street can be said to mark the true centre of Bonsall.  Although there are few indications of their former use, many of the houses lining both sides of the street were once shops.  Due to its slightly isolated situation, the village was more or less self-supporting, with grocers, butchers, milliners, tobacconists, sweet shops and a corn chandler all serving the village’s needs.  There were two Co-op shops, a post office and at least three fish and chip shops!  The post office and co-op stood opposite the King’s Head public house and the premises have been so well converted it is hard to tell that the 19th century terraced house was once a shop. The mounting block outside the King’s Head is a sure indication of its 17th century origins. Its Jacobean links are continued by the low beams and totally unspoilt interior; all the past landlords are listed on a notice hanging behind the bar.  The house next door known as the Queen’s Arms is of equal age and was also a pub that became a café and guest house.  Facing both buildings is Bonsall’s stepped market cross which if local information is correct is built around a wooden framework, but nowadays rarely used as either a preaching cross or where produce was sold.  Taking a right turn at the cross the narrow street first known

Walk Derbyshire – Along the Great Nortner & Bonnie Prince Charlies Trails

This short walk skirts the rapidly expanding western boundary of Derby enjoying some of the fine surrounding countryside, and returns by way of the Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk. The Great Northern Railway was once a cross country line from Grantham to Stafford by way of Nottingham, effectively linking both east and west coast mainlines.  It passed through Derby to the north of the city centre, crossing Friar Gate (Ashbourne road), on a magnificently decorated wrought iron bridge: it still exists and its listed status ensures its preservation. Apart from the trail, the bridge (now a two-starred listed monument), is the only nearby link with what must have been an extremely useful railway.  Another subsequently useful link with the history of this line is the recently restored Bennerley Viaduct, a uniquely constructed listed and stared building – a rarity in this country, it is made from latticework wrought-iron, crossing the Erewash Valley, as well as its canals and also the Nottingham/Sheffield branch of the Midland Railway, in one huge high level swoop. With the restoration of Bennerley Viaduct, much of the central section of the Great Northern has been open to pedestrian and cycle traffic, albeit the bit beyond the viaduct unfortunately is buried beneath housing estates.  What the Bennerley Viaduct does, however, is act as a link between two canal tow paths, thereby making an excellent walk through a long gone industrial area. For a longer walk, the section beyond Mickleover takes some beating; this walk follows part of the Mickleover section before wandering off through Derby’s Green Belt to follow part of the Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Way. Suffering the fate of the Beeching Axe, the line was decreed to be uneconomical, but rather than submit meekly its demise was slow and long drawn out.  Officially the line was closed to freight on 7th September 1964, but until the 4th September 1967 it continued to operate carrying passengers only.  Even then it had its uses when the Mickleover to Willington section was used as a test track for experimental rolling stock.  The station at Mickleover is still there, but fulfilling a completely new existence as a private house and with the name of the Great Northern Railway immortalised by the one-time station pub on the main road. Starting from the small car park beside the Mackworth to Mickleover road opposite the Great Northern pub, the walk follows the converted railway for about a mile before branching out along paths to the North West, meandering over the fields leading towards Radbourne.  A walk along a short rural lane wandering away from the village forges links with part of the Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk.  This path is abandoned where it abuts a field track, which in turn is then followed all the way back to the railway trail.  Here a left turn is made to return to the car park. THE WALK – STEP BY STEP From the car park follow the surfaced lane down to the site of the old station and join the trail. The remains of the old Mickleover station have been converted into private houses, but it nowadays turns its back on what was once the station platform.  You can still see traces of siding where coal deliveries for the local district and goods were offloaded. The trail which here runs as far as Etwall is as proclaimed by the blue cast iron signpost to be part of Route 54, within the national cycle network.  Walkers and cyclists can enjoy the safety of the track away from the danger of motorised traffic. Interesting art-work beside the bridge next to the last house gives a few facts and figures appertaining to the Trans-Pennine Cycleway, that runs, as the information on the nearby five-barred gate, for 350miles between Derby and Berwick on Tweed. Follow the trail for a little over a mile and look out for a footpath sign on your right. Leave the trail and drop down to and then cross a narrow stream.  Climb up through rough woodland and out into open fields. Follow the right-hand edge of woodland before crossing four crop growing fields. Go through two gates on either sides of the minor road in order to enter a small wood. Leave the wood by going through a kissing gate and then bear slightly left and uphill. Aim for a wooden pole.  It marks the route and on reaching it start to walk gently downhill, bearing right on a faint grassy path. This section of the route is along the right of way through Radbourne Hall Park, traditional home of the Pole family, at least since the late 18th century when the brick-built hall was erected.  In 1781 the hall was the home of Erasmus Darwin, father of Charles whose theories delved into the origins and development of life on earth.  Bonnie Prince Charlie is said to have spent a night at Radbourne Hall on his abortive march south. The village sprawls in a layout the medieval inhabitants would easily recognise, possibly finding it easier than modern visitors who frequently complain about getting lost when attempting to find the church.  Incidentally it is probably easier to find when following this walk, as it lies in plain sight a matter of four or five yards from the footpath from Mickleover. Cross a small bridge and then aim for St Andrew’s church. Go through the little cast iron gate on your right and walk past the church, keeping the bell tower to your right. If the church is open it is well worth a visit, if only to admire the medieval tombs. Here lies Sir John Chambers, friend of Edward the Black Prince in the 14th century.  Many of the Pole family intermarried with the Chandos family and later were laid to rest within the nave.  Here is the effigy of Peter de la Pole who died in 1432 and is shown lying alongside his wife Elizabeth.  He has long straight hair and holds a sword marked

Celebrity Interview – Steve Backshall

Explorer, naturalist, television presenter and writer Steve Backshall has dived with sharks, been hunted by a polar bear and gone on expeditions to parts of the globe that have never been explored before. So what is he afraid of? His answer may shock you: “I’m afraid of people. I think we’re far more frightening than any animal could ever be.” Taking time off from preparing for his new show Ocean which is touring to both Buxton Opera House and the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, Steve explains that he’s not afraid of any animal. This is despite being bitten on the leg by a caiman while searching for anaconda in an Argentinian swamp. “I’ve been working with animals long enough to know what I have to do to stay safe. As long as I keep to my own rules, then things tend to work.” Some of the animals he has encountered in his career will be on stage with him when he presents the show Ocean. The audience need not be worried – they will be life-sized replicas. “What I’m trying to do,” says Steve, “is bring marine environments and more importantly marine animals to life on the stage inside the theatre. That will be some of the very biggest creatures ever known to have lived, some of the most iconic animals that we have on our planet, many of which we know next to nothing about. “I’ll be using life-sized replicas and some of them simply won’t get into theatres. I don’t think that’ll be a problem in Buxton or Nottingham because they’re good-sized theatres. But it certainly will be in some of the venues.” Steve is compiling his first tour for five years, finding clips of some of the shows he has done over the past 25 years, editing them together and sourcing the props he needs for his show. He will be doing 34 shows in five weeks, a schedule which he describes as “insane”. “It’s going to be really hard. At the same time it’s exciting because for me, doing stuff on camera you’re quite removed from the audience and you can get caught up telling the tale you want to tell rather than the one the audience wants to hear. “Having that immediacy of reaction that you get on a tour is so important to someone like me and you get so much back, particularly from the younger members of the audience. “Being able to see people who are already filled with passion about wildlife, about conservation is massive.” Steve is grateful that he is able to perform live as well as undertaking television work. “I wouldn’t just want to do touring – it’s very exhausting and you’re too exposed: just one person up on stage and there are so many things that can go wrong. “I enjoy television. It’s something I can really get energised by. There’s always something new every single day. You just don’t know what’s going to happen next and I find that absolutely thrilling.” Stephen James Backshall was born on 21 April 1973. His parents worked for British Airways and he was brought up on a smallholding in Bagshot, Surrey where he was surrounded by rescue animals. After reading English and theatre studies at the University of Exeter, Steve studied martial arts in Japan, earning a black belt. Then his life changed completely. He had an idea for a television series, bought a video camera and went off to film what was happening in the jungle in Colombia. “It seems crazy now,” says Steve, “but that’s exactly what I did. I was very lucky in that I made the right contacts at National Geographic and the video that I made ended up forming the basis of a series. It properly chucked me in at the deep end. “My early efforts (with a video camera) were I’m sure pretty rubbish but they were real. It probably captured the imagination because it was authentic.” It led to National Geographic taking Steve on as “adventurer in residence” and he worked for the channel for five years. “Basically they gave me the company credit card and said ‘go off and film what you do’. It was a baptism of fire to say the least.” He moved to the BBC’s The Really Wild Show in 2003 and then came the series Deadly 60. He searched for predators that were “not just deadly to me but deadly in their own world”. The programmes were sold to 157 countries. Deadly 60 won a BAFTA award for best factual series in 2011 and Steve picked up the BAFTA for best children’s television presenter. In 2018 he started a project called Expedition which involved his taking on extreme physical challenges and encountering extraordinary wildlife in pursuit of new discoveries and world firsts. So what is he most proud of? “That’s a tricky one. There’s been so many things. The Expedition films went to places that people had never been to before. We made the first ever ascent of arctic mountains, the first descent of Himalayan rivers, discovered old human art in forgotten caves in Borneo. “Those sorts of things are always massively high up the list of things that make me really proud.” Steve lives close to the river Thames on the border of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire with his wife, Olympic champion rower Helen Glover and their three children. During lockdown the Backshalls were able to take advantage of their surroundings: “We took a lot of time to find ways of giving our youngsters their first experiences of the outdoors right on our doorstep.” Steve who early in his career wrote for the Rough Guides publishers maintains that his first love is writing. He has put his name to a number of wildlife books, some of them linked to the Deadly 60 and Expedition series, and he has also written four novels which feature “action, adventure, predators and peril”. He is now working on a book with Helen

History of Endurance

In late 1914 the world was threatened by war. Shackleton volunteered to cancel his plans for an expedition and placed his ship at the disposal of the UK Government. The First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill, instructed him, however, to proceed. Shackleton accordingly headed south, but chose to avoid the Falkland Islands, which he reckoned might be attacked by the Imperial German Navy, and to approach Antarctica from the relative safety of South Georgia. And indeed, it was as Endurance entered the Weddell Sea that the British and German fleets engaged in the Battle of the Falklands. Shackleton’s aim for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (the “Endurance Expedition”) was to achieve the first crossing of the White Continent from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. While Shackleton would lead a party that would set off for the Pole from the Weddell Sea, a separate party was to be landed on the shores of the Ross Sea with the objective of placing supplies from the Pole to the Ross Sea that would support Shackleton’s party on the second part of their crossing of Antarctica. Despite many difficulties, the members of the Ross Sea party succeeded in placing the supplies as planned. Tragically three members of the expedition died before the party was picked up from their base on the Ross Sea. Endurance too encountered difficulties, becoming stuck in the dense pack ice in early 1915 and the crew had no choice but to abandon ship and set up a makeshift camp on the ice, as the sea ice overwhelmed the ship. On that day, 21st November 1915, Captain Frank Worsley wrote the coordinates of the location in which the ship sank in his diary: 68°39’ 30”S, 52°26’30”W. One of the objectives of the Endurance22 expedition is to use that information to help locate the lost vessel. The band of 28 crew would have had to draw upon every ounce of strength, tenacity and courage that they possessed in order to survive the failed expedition, which is now remembered in history as one of the most epic feats of endurance in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. They trekked to the edge of the sea ice, then sailed in the salvaged ship’s lifeboats to Elephant Island where there were seals and penguins to eat and a sheltered bay in which to camp under the upturned lifeboats. However, knowing that it was unlikely that anyone would come to Elephant Island to rescue them because it was so remote, Shackleton and Worsley led a small party in one of the open boats to South Georgia, where there was a whaling station. Worsley navigated with just a sextant over the wild seas of the Southern Ocean. Landing on the south side of the island, Sir Ernest then had to traverse the hitherto uncharted and uncrossed mountains and glaciers to reach the Norwegian whalers. Rescue missions to reach the stranded expedition members at Elephant island were thwarted by the thick sea ice. Finally, on 30 August 1916, the fourth attempt was a success, and the expedition party on Elephant Island was taken to safety in Punta Arenas by the Chilean tug ‘Yelcho’. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition  (1914 – 1915) Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was a polar explorer involved in several British expeditions to the Antarctic in the early 1900s. Shackleton was a member of Captain Scott’s Discovery Expedition (1901–1904), during which he, Scott and Edward Wilson set a new southern record by sledging to 82°S. During Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition (1907 – 1909) he and three companions achieved a new ‘farthest south’ record reaching 88°S; just 112 miles short of the south geographic pole. Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914 – 1917), was an attempt to make the first overland crossing of the Antarctic continent. The ship chosen for the expedition was the Endurance, built in Norway and launched on 17 December 1912. She was initially named Polaris and was specifically designed for operating in ice-covered waters. The expedition left the UK in August 1914, and departed from South Georgia for the Weddell Sea on 5 December. The expedition soon encountered significant sea ice cover and on 18 January 1915 at 76°34’S, Endurance became trapped in the ice. Several attempts were made to free Endurance from the ice, but to no avail and by the end of February, temperatures had fallen and the ship was frozen in for the winter. The expedition members remained living aboard the Endurance for several months until 27 October 1915 when Shackleton took the decision to abandon ship. Their position was 69°5’S, long. 51°30’W. The Endurance was under heavy pressure from the ice which tore away her rudder post and crushed in her stern. Shackleton wrote: “we have been compelled to abandon the ship, which is crushed beyond all hope of ever being righted, we are alive and well, and we have stores and equipment for the task that lies before us. The task is to reach land with all the members of the Expedition. It is hard to write what I feel”. The Endurance finally broke up and sank in the Weddell Sea on 21 November 1915. The 28 men of the expedition were isolated on the drifting pack ice hundreds of miles from land, with no ship, no means of communication with the outside world and with limited supplies. The story of their survival and eventual rescue is one of the greatest polar stories. Using three lifeboats from Endurance, the men travelled initially across the sea ice and then open water to reach Elephant Island. From there Shackleton and five others used one of the lifeboats, the James Caird, to sail to South Georgia to raise the alarm and seek rescue. The remaining expedition members were rescued from Elephant Island on 30 August 1916. In March 2022 the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust confirmed that the Endurance22 Expedition had located the wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship which has not

The Lost Houses of Derbyshire – Eastwood Hall, Ashover

Ashover is a most interesting, beautiful and large parish in central Derbyshire, situated just south east of the main road from Matlock to Chesterfield (A632). The parish is home to several minor country houses – Eddlestow, Goss, Marsh Green and Stubben Edge Halls, not to mention Eastwood Grange – but also includes a lost house, Eastwood Hall, albeit that its ruins are still a prominent feature of the landscape.  South of the village, there is a lane linking Hard Meadow Lane with Stubben Edge Lane called – you guessed it – Eastwood Lane. Although Google StreetView has never bothered to venture along it, it is a pleasant drive, and its main feature is a substantial agglomeration of farm buildings, rising up amongst which appears a tree seemingly of extraordinary and vast bulk. This is the remaining vestige of Eastwood Hall. When Mick Stanley and I first visited, in winter 1980/1981 whilst researching the first edition of The Derbyshire Country House, it was moderately visible, standing gaunt to a considerable height; when Carole and I revisited to make a more up-to-date photograph for my forthcoming book on lost Derbyshire houses (from Amberley, expected early next year, thanks to Covid delays) we found it utterly invisible, despite it being April 2021: it was completely swathed in greenery – a huge shapeless lump. As the ruin is a grade II listed building, this is not good news, for such a plenitude of growth will inevitably weaken an already damaged structure in ruins for 376 years: one can imagine it collapsing entirely in one of the sort of storm we enjoyed in February this year. This, of course, might not be particularly good news for the owner, as a later west wing, built out of the rescued fabric, is still inhabited and a collapse could quite easily flatten it! Fortunately, these storms tend to come from the west, so they may feel confident that any collapse will fall eastwards. So profuse is the growth, indeed, that it may be holding the poor old thing together. At the time of Domesday Book (1086) two manorial estates at Ashover, previously in the possession of a pair of Saxon thegns called Leofric and Leofnoth, had been bestowed upon one Serlo, who held it as the subtenant of the Norman grandee Ralph son of Hubert of Crich. Serlo’s great-grandson, Serlo of Pleasley, left two daughters and heiresses and, through marriages over the two following generations one daughter’s share had descended to Ralph de Willoughby and the other’s to Isidore de Reresby of Rearsby, Leicestershire and Thrybergh in Yorkshire.   Presumably, Serlo had lived on the estate, if only because by 1302, the Willoughbys had built a fresh house, and called it New Hall, presumably to differentiate it from its predecessor. Part of their estate eventually was acquired by the Reresbys, too. This was the house that later became Eastwood Hall. Sir George Sitwell claimed, to Derbyshire archaeologist S. O. Addy, that the ruins in his day included ; ‘The arch over the east doorway…a very fine and interesting specimen of Norman architecture at the early part of the 12th century, and the interior of the hall or vestibule also shows traces of the same style…the early English windows and masonry in the western tower probably date from about 1220’ Addy, however, could not verify any of this on the ground and, whatever had been built in the 13th and 14th centuries seems, in reality, to have been obliterated by a mid-to-late 15th century rebuild. This rebuild took the form of a five storey tower house which, after Prior Overton’s Tower at Repton (1437) and the High Tower of Wingfield Manor (1444) must have been the earliest residential tower house in the Midlands, a region which, in the Tudor age, became famousfor them. The house is constructed of Ashover Grit or Chatsworth Grit (types of millstone grit sandstone) roughly squared and brought to course, with dressings – quoins, fenestration and so on – of the same.  The initial build, which may have been intended as a hunting lodge for occasional use, was a free-standing tower of five storeys; the ‘battlements’ noted in the 18th century were probably decorative Tudor merlons put on later in the 16th century to add a bit of dash to the house’s appearance, for no licence from the Crown to crenellate the house has ever come to light. The east front had the highest part at its south end and a later, lower, three storey range was added, probably in the 16th century to form a five bay east front with miniscule two light mullioned windows below a thin string course lighting the upper floor, with some mullion and transom windows for the ground floor. This range probably included something of a great hall. The central bay was deeply recessed but later acquired a porch to infill the space. Sir Thomas Reresby married Mary Monson, who brought him a Lincolnshire estate and £2,000 which he spent turning this slightly adapted hunting lodge into a proper residence for a landed country gentleman. He added a new range to the south west and carried this round to form a west front, adding a short service wing to the north and a single storey parlour range to the east side of the high tower. The interior, it would appear, was enriched with ornamental plasterwork, but Sir Thomas eventually over-stretched himself financially, vesting the estate in trustees. In the end, he was obliged, in 1612, to mortgage it to Samuel Tryon, a London merchant who foreclosed in 1623. Tryon then split up the estate by sale, and sold the house to Revd. Immanuel Bourne (whose family came from Whirlow, near Sheffield) the vicar of Ashover, who adapted it as a very grand and eccentric vicarage. When the Civil War broke out, Bourne attempted to temporize and in so doing got the worst of both worlds. At first the Royalists held much of the County, and in 1643 he

Product Test – Green People

Feel The Sunshine With Green People Add a little sun kissed glow to your face and body with these luxury products by Green People Our Promise To You Natural & organic  •  Kind to sensitive skin Sustainably sourced ingredients  •  Cruelty-free & vegan Free from ethyl alcohol & gluten For more information and to buy online visit www.greenpeople.co.uk SELF TAN LOTION 150ML £23 Non-streaky self tan lotion for all skin types A revolutionary natural self tan – the first certified organic in the UK. Achieve a healthy, natural-looking tan without harmful sun exposure. DHA, derived from sugar, gives the appearance of a natural tan. Quick-drying and non-greasy, leaving skin soft and supple. Lightly scented with natural essential oils. Helps to conceal blue veins in legs. 89% certified organic ingredients GRADUAL TAN MOISTURISER 50ML £20 A daily moisturiser for a gentle build-up of colour Achieve a natural sun-kissed look all year. Use daily to gradually build up a natural tan on your face and neck. Ideal if you cannot tolerate sunlight or want to avoid the sun. Rich in prebiotics, antioxidants and Omega fatty acids to protect, balance and nourish. Natural scents of Mandarin, Orange and Ho Wood – no ‘fake tan’ smell. Suitable for all skin types – even sensitive and acne-prone skin. 89% certified organic ingredients. Concentrated formula: a little goes a long way. To achieve a beautiful natural colour, we use Dihydroxyacetone derived from sugars which work with amino acids in the outer layer of your skin to form an even brown colour. Age Defy+ Liquid GoldTanning Drops 30ml £35 Organic tanning drops for a perfect sun-kissed glow for face and body kin-tanning serum drops to customise tan intensity and achieve a natural golden glow. Simply use more drops for a deeper tan.  A non-streaky tan develops 12-24 hours after application and lasts up to 5 days. Nourishing, organic tanning drops for the face and body. Unscented and suitable for all skin types. Contains the skin-compatible tanning agents Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and Erythrulose. Seaweed and Green Tea promote younger skin and protect against free radical damage. Mix 1-5 drops with any facial moisturiser or 6-10 drops with any body lotion. 85% certified organic ingredients TRIED & TESTED :: TRIED & TESTED :: TRIED & TESTED Self Tan Lotion  Really easy to apply, is super moisturizing and goes on streak free. Gives a really natural looking tan and with no nasty smells!!! CB Gradual Tan Moisturiser  I was excited to try this as it contains green tea and prebiotics, unusual in a gradual tan moisturiser. Used daily it built a gentle, streak free subtle, summer colour at the same time as acting as a moisturiser. I was very impressed with this and happy to have an organic gentle tanning cream. JP Liquid Gold Drops  I love the packaging on this product. It applies well and when you add a little water you can make this into a milky texture which glides on really easily. Leaves skin feeling very clean and smooth. VP 00