Rural Voice - Darley Dale & Villages Edition - August 2021

AUG ‘21

BIRCHOVER • DARLEY BRIDGE • DARLEY DALE • DARLEY HILLSIDE • ELTON • FARLEY • HACKNEY • NORTHWOOD • ROWSLEY • STANTON IN PEAK • TWO DALES • UPPER HACKNEY • WENSLEY • WINSTER • YOULGRAVE.

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Competition Time! Y

IL WIN FAM TE 90 MINU EK TR ALPACA

6 See pageils for deta

Pets pg25 Home

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Garden pg35

Voice in the Community

ay D g o D l a n o i t a n r e Int gust 26th Au

Shouting about businesses in the heart of your community

www.VOICEMAGAZINES.co.uk

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Hi Readers, You all know by now that we’re animal mad at Voice Magazines! So with that in mind, I set our chief designer, Lisa, a bit of a challenge this month. As we now have 10 magazines in total and we have 10 dogs between us, it made sense that for International Dog Day on the 26th August, I thought it’d be nice for Lisa to draw and paint each of our dogs and then place them on a picture with a caption that suits their personalities.

agree though, what a truly fantastic job she has done!

I’m super proud of what she has created and now she’s back speaking to me again now, so all is good in the hood!

In other animal madness, if you’re on social media, you would have seen our Alpaca adoration day! We are so fortunate that Brackenfield Alpacas let us pop over and walk some of their beautiful boys. You can see all about it online and if you fancy it yourself, why not enter our competition?

It was awesome and it’s not just for the kids!!!

See you next month,

Emily x I know that really, really, really deep down, and wayyyy after the fact when the task has been achieved, she loves it when I come up with these challenges but I’m not going to lie, it has not been easy, even for a talented painter like Lisa. I think you’ll all

P.S. Don’t forget to mention the ‘Voice’ when you use any of the companies in this magazine

Upcoming Submission Deadline for Advertisers & Contributors September edition - 13th August, October edition - 11th September

To advertise email info@voicemagazines.co.uk or call us on 01773 549 035 Printed by Phase Marketing, Design & Print and distributed to 5,000 homes in the Darley Dale area. Disclaimer: No responsibility is accepted by Voice Magazines Limited for claims, errors or omissions made in advertisements appearing in this issue. All advertisers are accepted in good faith and we are not for views expressed by contributor other sources.

Reproduction of the contents of this magazine is not permitted without the prior Toresponsible advertise please call the orVoice Team on 01629 364 015 3 consent of the publisher. Voice Magazines Limited, 81 High Street, South Normanton, Derbyshire. DE55 2BP. Registered in England & Wales No: 10550557

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REVIEW • REVIEW • REVIEW • REVIEW • REVIEW

BRACKENFIELD ALPACAS

The Voice Magazine team were incredibly lucky to be invited for the unique experience of a 90-minute Alpaca trek which includes the opportunity to meet and feed all the lovely Alpacas.

of which had only been born a few hours before we arrived.

Everyone was amazed at how big she was and how steady she was on her feet. They were all so cute staying close by their mothers. Happiness is a baby Alpaca!

We all arrived at Mount Pleasant Farm and our friendly hosts gave us a very entertaining and informative introduction to the Alpacas, the different varieties, their uses and a little about their individual personalities.

Continuing our trek, we visited lots of different areas of the farm, with plenty of photo opportunities. The Alpacas do tend to stop quite a lot enabling us to enjoy lots of Alpaca stroking, petting, and cuddling along the way (they are so soft and cuddly).

The alpacas were harnessed ready to go. Each chose the Voice team member they wanted to walk with, and we were off. There was lots stops to nibble grass and bushes (the Alpacas had a bit to eat as well!).

First stop the area around the female Alpacas field enclosure where we all instantly fell in love with the baby Alpacas, one

We all had a fantastic time. I think each and every one of us would have happily taken at least one of the Alpacas home with us.

Thank you for having us Brackenfield Alpacas we had a wonderful time.

PRIZE - Name the baby Alpaca and bring the family for a meet and greet with new mother Miss Fay, her baby and all the other Alpacas.

Last month the beautiful Miss Fay gave birth to her daughter. (Date – 20/7/2021, Time - 2pm weight- 10kg) The tan-brown ball of fluff is ready to be named. So, get your thinking caps on!

We are running a competition to name the newborn baby Alpaca.

The prize includes not only a meet and greet of both mother and baby but also a family ticket to do an alpaca trek with a meet and feed all the lovely alpacas at Brackenfield.

To enter simply email your Alpaca baby names to the following email info@voicemagazines.co.uk with the title ‘Alpaca Baby Names Competition’, including your name and telephone number no later than 23rd August 2021 Brackenfield Alpacas gave us this information about Miss Fay:Miss Fay was born on the 2 July 2018 and weighed 11kgs, which is big for an Alpaca. As a result, she struggled to get underneath and to feed from Miss Lily (her mother) and very nearly died when she was a few days old. Our local vet, Fay, was able to save her and as a result we named her Miss Fay. Because she could not feed from her mother, we had to bottle feed her for the first 6 months. We trained her to run over to us when we whistled to get her bottle of milk. Since her rocky start she has flourished and grown into one of the biggest Alpacas on the farm. Despite this, we still call her ‘Little Miss Fay’, which is what we called her when she was a poorly baby. She was mated in 2020 with Arabian Night (a handsome chestnut brown Alpaca).

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FOOD & RETAIL

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FOOD & RETAIL

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FOOD & RETAIL

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Man’s best friend - that’s how we think of dogs these days. From tiny Yorkies and Pomeranians to ginormous Malamutes and Great Danes, dogs share our lives, our food (sometimes without invitation!) and often our beds.

Dogs - or rather their earlier incarnation… wolves - were the first animal to be domesticated by humans, archaeological evidence suggests this may have begun to happen at least 30,000 years ago. Like people, wolves are pack animals, they need other pack members to survive, and if a wolf puppy were accepted into a group of humans, it isn’t hard to see that his natural wolfish instincts would transfer to his ‘people pack’. Our early ancestors may have used their tamed wolves to help them hunt, and over time chose the traits they valued most to selectively breed animals - ultimately leading to the huge variety of dog breeds we know and love today.

A more recent theory about the domestication of wolves has suggested that wolves to some extent selfdomesticated. Most wolves would have been wary and aggressive around humans, in competition for food, but there may have been some friendlier animals who were able to ingratiate themselves in return for a steady supply of food. We all know just HOW wonderfully friendly and appealing modern day dogs can be when food is involved, it isn’t too big a stretch in imagination to see how a lovable wolf could have become part of a human tribe!

When researching this article I tried to establish how may different breeds of dogs there are, and the general consensus seems to be that no one really knows! The “Federation Cynologique International (FCI)” is the World Canine

association (99 members from around the globe) and it officially recognises 354 breeds, but there are probably many, many more.

Why do we love our canine friends so much? Could it be the absolutely unquestioning devotion they give us?

The companionship offered with no strings - other than providing food and fuss of course. And what makes dogs so loving and loyal towards their human families? The clue to these answers has already been mentioned - both humans and dogs (domesticated wolves!) are pack animals at heart. Humans have hierarchies, so do dogs, we understand each other at a very primal level, and remember the dogs we share our lives with today are descended from the original domesticated wolves who chose to live with their human neighbours (or were selected because they were friendly and loving).

When our canine friends pass away (step over the rainbow bridge as some say) we grieve in exactly the same way as we do for a human family member. And when a dog loses a beloved owner, it is obvious they grieve too. Humans and dogs have lived together for thousands of years and there’s no sign of this changing, and we at Voice Magazines wouldn’t have it any other way!

These articles are researched and written by Laura Billingham, a local content writer and author. Laura moved to the Peak District several years ago to pursue her passion for writing.

To find out more visit www.landgassociates. co.uk or contact Laura on 07736 351341

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FOOD & RETAIL

International Dog’s Day - 26 August

FOOD & RETAIL

Eclectic Delights of Serendipity Stockists of unique products

• Cheryl, Saffy & staff look forward to you visiting us and enjoying our lovely shops full of fabulous products in beautiful surroundings.

• We are proud stockists of many British Companies including Wot ma Like, Zatchels, Frenchic, Waggy Dogz, Emma Ball, The Curious Pancake & Lucy Loves this to name just a few.

• We open 7 days a week 11am until 5.30pm or later if the weather is good.

• My Memento print your own items in store in minutes starting at £2.99 for personalised cards, magnets & keyrings.

• Huge range of Helium balloons and cards for all occasions.

• Our range of Children’s products both educational & fun has grown massively with Clockwork Soldier, Apples to Pears activity tins, Recycle me kits from Inside out toys and the fabulous Djecko range.

• Leather handbags, wallets, purses from Ashwood Leather & Zatchels.

• Large Jewellery collections available in silver and precious stones including the famous ‘Blue John’ • Soft toys in all shapes & sizes from The Puppet Company, Wilberry, Suki plus Jomanda.

• Arts & Crafts from Sweet Poppy Stencils, Stencil Studio, Faber & Castell & Creativ and we are Frenchic Stockists keeping as large a range as possible of this award winning paint.

• Gifts from some quirky and original British companies including Wot Ma Like coasters and keyrings, Enamel Pins from Glitter Punk, The Curious Pancakes sweary pencils & pens through to the Beautiful Emma Ball ranges plus Waggy Dogz for all our Animal lovers.

• We now have a large and eclectic range of clothing available at both our stores.

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FOOD & RETAIL

Book Review

The transatlantic slave trade is a dark piece of British history. But just imagine if the story was reversed. If young people from the UK and Europe had been kidnapped from their homes and put on board slave ships for the New World.

Blonde Roots by Booker prize winning Bernadine Evaristo turns history on its head and asks “what if?”

It tells the story of Doris, a youngster with dreams of making something of her life.

As she says, well that didn’t turn out, did it? When she arrives on a tropical island, after a harrowing sea voyage, she becomes, in the eyes of her new African owners, ugly, stupid, a savage.

If this sounds a bit grim, then it is. But the author also uses humour, a sharp wit and human warmth to create a world which makes us look again at all the ways we think about “black” and “white”. It is, in places also really funny and forces us to wryly think about all the things we take for granted and the behaviour we think of as belonging to certain groups of people.

It’s different, but very well worth the read.

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CHESTERFIELD SHOP MOBILITY The only hire service in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas disability organisations in the Derbyshire area and was a real value add to the Charity. Both Colin and Christine can empathise with their customers as they have direct experience of the barriers people with a disability face as they both manage their own disabilities.

Chesterfield shop mobility offer workshop repairs, long term, and short-term hire of scooters, they carry out regular checks and services on all scooters. The long-term loans of scooters have no time limit in fact, the longest long-term loan a customer accessed so far is 25 years.

This week I went along to shop mobility to meet the fantastic team. After getting slightly lost, I finally arrived on the ground floor of the multi-story car park on New Beetwell Street where Chesterfield Shop Mobility is based. This base is in the town centre of the beautiful market town of Chesterfield. As you can see from the picture, Chesterfield Shop Mobility have many scooters on offer, which they have all set out for you to view.

35 years ago, 3 people with the same disabilities met with Chesterfield Borough Council as they noticed that there were people struggling to get around Chesterfield and surrounding areas (Derbyshire being a very hilly place to live). They wanted a service for people to be able to accesses scooters when purchasing was out of their reach. Christine, along with two others, decided to set up shop mobility to assist the locals and visitors of Chesterfield and surrounding areas in their endeavours to circumnavigate Derbyshire and its varied attractions.

Chesterfield & District Shop Mobility Charity started with 3 scooters opening 6 days a week. The services Shop Mobility provided become very popular very quickly. Shop Mobility worked together with Chesterfield community transport for many years, but separated into two Charities in 2005.

They also offer Tracks and trails, where they take special scooters for people to use on days out when the terrain is not suitable for none specialised scooters. They offer guided days out and a drop off / collection service. These services are currently used by Queens Park, Chesterfield Canal, Holmebrook Valley Country Park, and other venues.

To find out more please go to the Shop Mobility Facebook page or call Shop Mobility for more detail.

Christine, seen here on power chaired, says “this is far more comfortable than a manual wheelchair” for people who are in wheelchairs for most of the day this offers a more comfortable alternative. This power chaired even has a recline feature.

Colin is seen here on the tracks and trails scooter, just as its name says, it is a specialised scooter for use on track and trails where other scooters would struggle.

Shop Mobility Chesterfield can drop your scooter to you at the start of your trail and collect it when your all finished. Even if your finish line differs from your start line.

Anthony is seen here on the town centre service scooter, ideal to get in and out of the town centre the shops.

Elaine is seen here on the boot scooter; this scooter is ideal for holidays and days out. It folds to fit in most boot spaces and is the perfect addition to any day trip or holiday.

In 2010 Christine’s husband Colin joined the Charity, Colin has over 30 years of experience working within

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INTERVIEWS...

FOCUS ON LEARNING Voice Magazines recently had the pleasure of chatting to Sandra Smith, a secondary school maths teacher of 29 years standing. Sandra, who hails originally from Nottingham, has created a series of exercise books aimed primarily at 11 to 16 year olds but also suitable for a younger age range.

We asked her what had inspired her and how these books could help children succeed both at school and in life.

Talking to Sandra it is crystal clear that she is absolutely passionate about teaching and helping children to learn and grow…this is her WHY, her driving purpose and is what led to the creation of the books. The original idea of blank books with a contents page at the front, came to her back in November 2015 after she had asked the class she was teaching to locate a particular piece of work and saw how difficult that was for the children. Sandra jotted down that germ of an idea in a notebook, but it was November 2019 before she began to think about it again, and this time she realised that adding simple motivational quotes to each page would make the concept even stronger. In her own words, “it only takes one word or key phrase to inspire a child and sow the seeds for them to take charge of their own learning.”

Focus Learn Book Company was born out of Sandra’s desire to get the exercise books published, printed and out to the people who need them children.

So what exactly are these exercise books, and how can they help children towards success?

with your children at home could help them to stay on track, as Sandra’s experience has shown that children respond in an overwhelmingly positive way to the design, layout, and motivational quotes, and actually enjoy using the books which helps the learning process.

Currently available in Maths, Science and English, there are plans afoot to increase the range and Sandra’s dream is that one day every child will have access to the books, and they will be readily accessible in our high street bookshops.

COMPETITION TIME WIN a set of Focus on Better Learning exercise books (Maths, English & Science)

They are very different to the traditional plain exercise books children currently use to write up their work, being A4 in size with striking covers, a contents page to enable the pupils (and teachers) to keep track of their work, and lined pages to assist with handwriting. The pages feature inspirational and motivational quotes such as, “Simple little daily habits create big success.” and “It’s OK to make mistakes, you can learn from them.” Sandra has used the books within her own teaching and says they make the children want to learn.

To enter simply email the answer to the following question to info@voicemagazines.co.uk with the title ‘Focus Comp’, including your name and telephone number.

As we are all too aware, children have missed a lot of classroom time over the past year or so due to COVID-19, and many schools will probably be providing children with ‘catch up work’ to do over the summer holidays. Using these exercise books

Using code: Focusbooks21

What subject does Sandra Smith teach?

10% DISCOUNT for Voice Customers

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These articles are researched and written by Laura Billingham, a local content writer and author.

Laura moved to the Peak District several years ago to pursue her passion for writing.

To find out more visit www.landgassociates.co.uk or contact Laura on 07736 351 341

Love learning locally

Autumn 2021 Courses and Free Tasters

Get inspired and start a new journey of discovery!

We’re here to support you to learn with a wide range of online and centre-based courses.

Don’t miss out!

Try one of the FREE taster sessions we have put on in the weeks beginning Monday 16 and 23 August and the week beginning Monday 13 September.

You can book onto our August tasters from Monday 19 July. You can book onto our September tasters and the rest of our Autumn term leisure courses from Tuesday 31 August. All bookings are through our Eventbrite page derbyshireadulteducation.eventbrite.com

Look out for our Autumn Brochures!

Our qualifications brochure will be available from Monday 19 July and our leisure courses brochure will be available from Monday 16 August. To view the brochures, find out Find us on more about our courses and how to book visit: Eventbrite www.derbyshire.gov.uk/adulteducation /DerbyshireAdultEducation @DerbyshireACE Sign up to Adult Community Education News at www.derbyshire.gov.uk – “subscribe for updates”

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Take to the Skies, Life's too Short Pat and Ian Farr of Newton had a busy weekend flying. On Saturday 12th of June Ian undertook a Wing Walk to celebrate his 75th birthday in April and to ask sponsors to support local charities instead of buying birthday gifts. This was very successful.

Pat, a Battle of Britain baby, celebrated her 80th birthday last year. Amongst her gifts was a flight in a Spitfire which she willingly undertook on the 13th of June. Having flown over London, she also flew two victory rolls before being handed control of this short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft that came into its own during the Battle of Britain.

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NEW OFFER FOR 2021

DISCOVER THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD! For the first time ever, volunteers at two of the main attractions in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site are coming together in a new venture to share their astounding expertise with the public. Cromford Mills and Strutt’s North Mill in Belper are running a programme of escorted full day tours of the historic valley, taking in all the popular sites and some fascinating lesser-known ones.

Trevor Griffin, the volunteer team manager said, “The team must have over a century of experience between them in leading tours and each one has learnt a lot more about the valley in order to spread their professionalism wider. We know that people will enjoy spending their day being personally escorted and looked after by very knowledgeable and entertaining people.”

The tours are part of an experiment funded through Great Place, a joint National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England Scheme. The Chair of the Great Place Scheme Board, Professor Ian Whitehead, said “It’s important to look at new ideas which engage wider audiences with the World Heritage Site and its stories. The Experiment Fund has been a great opportunity for us to test out some of those ideas,

and we hope the tours will be a great success for the valley.”

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This initiative could generate further cooperation between the various attractions in the valley to make this part of Derbyshire take its well-deserved position as a major tourist destination. It also pioneers green tourism in that it allows people to visit and get around the area while leaving their cars behind, reducing congestion and pollution.

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Gardener’s Calendar

Watering can be a tricky thing, especially with a fruit as temperamental as the heavenly tomato. There are of course years when it’s too cold or wet for them to even make much effort. But even in a good year, they also have a tendency towards splitting or the dreaded blossom end rot – where they go black at the base.

A basic rule of thumb is to water deeply, from the base, but not to over-water. Push your finger about an inch into the soil or compost and if it feels dry, water, but don’t leave the plant sitting in water. Blossom end rot comes from irregular watering and lack of calcium; cracking from too much water which makes the pulp inside swell faster than the outside skin can stretch.

You can still eat split toms, just harvest them fairly quickly as they may start to rot if the flesh is exposed.

Tomatoes which have started to change colour will ripen on or off the vine. As the trusses grow – ideally about five or six per plant - remove the lower leaves of the plant to prevent disease. All a bit of a faff, but worth it when you taste them just-picked.

Cut back herbs now to get a fresh flush before the first frosts in autumn. Dry and freeze for winter food flavour.

If you deadhead your lilies you’ll get a better show of blooms next year.

Collect seeds if you want to grow more of your own plants next year. Pick dry (i.e. brown red or black) seed heads and put somewhere to dry before shaking or crushing. Discard chaff (anything that isn’t a seed.) Some seeds can be sown now and overwintered and others can be kept in labelled packets and either left somewhere dry or stored in a fridge at about 5 degrees.

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Top Tip Try to turn your compost about once a month at the moment, or at least give it a good poke. This helps aerate and speeds up decomposition.

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GARDENS

Peak Damsels on the rise

If the weather is good, then from springtime onwards local ponds and lakes become the haunt of a delightful group of insects called ‘damselflies’.

These delicate creatures are the smaller cousins of the much bigger and indeed more butch ‘dragonflies’. The two types of ‘odonata’ are in fact easy to tell apart. The damsels are much smaller and more delicate with thin pencil-like bodies and when at rest their wings lie lengthwise along the body. The dragons on the other hand have much bigger, heavier bodies and cannot close their wings; instead, these stick out sideways when resting. These insects spend most of their lives as aquatic nymphs and during that time they grow and periodically burst out of their old skin to expand into a new one.

Having gone through up to fifteen moults before the final event from which they subsequently hatch as adults, the process takes a variable amount of time. Depending on the species and the location, the aquatic phase of damsels and dragons can be from as little as two months to up to three years.

These water-dwelling larvae are voracious predators though the smaller damsel larvae with characteristic external gills at the end of their ‘tail’ or abdomen, take proportionately lesser prey such as mosquito larvae and other ‘minibeasts’ of the pond or stream. Interestingly, unlike other winged insects such as butterflies and moths, dragonflies and damselflies do not pupate to undergo a process called complete metamorphosis. Instead of this radical process they undergo ‘incomplete metamorphosis’ which means they transition directly from larva into adult.

This change is effectively the final larval moult and takes place out of water. Day length and ambient

temperature are the key triggers for metamorphosis, and for some species this is synchronised with many individuals emerging together. This can happen in garden ponds for instance with large red damselflies emerging en masse as adults. If you look carefully at emergent pond vegetation then you may see the abandoned dried out husklike skins of the larvae attached above the waterlevel.

Some species like common blue damselflies and large red damselflies for example, may be abundant in your garden pond but you can easily overlook them. There are different ‘blue’ damsels and the key to identification is in the patterning of blue and black down the ‘tail’ or abdomen. Of course, this may be hard to spot when they are in flight! Another group of damsels that is currently spreading across our region is the ‘demoiselles’ and these are absolutely stunning. There are two main species nationally, the ‘beautiful demoiselle’ and the ‘banded demoiselle’. It is the latter which we now see along riversides and streamsides in lowland areas. So watch out for these on riverside walks along the Derbyshire Wye or Derwent for example.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer, broadcaster on wildlife and environmental issues in the Peak District and elsewhere, is contactable on info@hallamec.plus.com. Follow his website www.ukeconet.org, blog 38 Don’t forget to mention Voice Magazines when responding to the Ads ianswalkonthewildside, & Twitter @IanThewildside

H O L I DAY L E T I N F I L E Y

Enjoy your next family holiday with a stay at the delightful Glenview House.

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