Derby Uncovered Issue 6

CARE & COMPASSION FOR YOUR FAMILY, AS IF IT'S OUR FAMILY

Ashmere is a family run business providing the very best care across Derbyshire. Our ethos is that we are here for everyone, from our residents right through to the families too. When the time comes to find a care provider we know that there are many questions that need to be answered and our personal approach ensures you get the opportunity to speak with our care team directly and addresses all the questions you may have.

Ashmere is a family run business providing the very best care across Derbyshire. Our ethos is that we are here for everyone, from our residents right through to the families, too.

When the time comes to find a care provider we know that there are many questions that need to be answered and our personal approach ensures you get the opportunity to speak with our care team directly and address all the questions.

Ashmere currently has seven fantastic care homes to choose from, specialising in the following areas; residential care, nursing, dementia and daycare.

All of our care homes have friendly, professional and dedicated teams that work tirelessly to make sure each one of our residents are provided only the best care possible.

COVERED

Derbyshire UN Derby CONTENTS

FEATURED ARTICLES

PAGE 24

NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME

Read about the local gardens open for charity in the upcoming weeks and months.

PAGES 26 & 27

LAYERS AND LAYERS OF HISTORY

His

KALWINDER SINGH DHINDSA

LOCAL STUDIES LIBRARY

Find

HANDS ON LOCAL HISTORY DERBY

Richard Felix tells us about his wonderful initiative that enables children of all ages to learn about the incredible history of Derby and Derbyshire.

PAGES 22 & 23

TRUE CRIME

Soon to be a business school for the University of Derby, we look at a part of Agard Street that played host to a brutal murder in 1862.

In our regular Layers and layers of history feature we examine the history of the Iron Gate, Queen Street and King Street area – once again with the help of W.W Winter.

PAGE 29

BRILL-ME

Take a hold of your emotional health and wellbeing with the help of Claire Austin and Brill-Me.

PAGE 30

HADDON HALL

Keep yourself up to date with the very latest from Haddon Hall - 'the most perfect house to survive from the middle ages’.

PAGE 34

LOUISE

WEST

Derby lacemaker and author Louise West creates gold lace for Kedleston Hall’s State Bed.

PAGES 36 & 37

CLIPPINGS FROM THE PAST

We go back to 1870 and look through the editions of the Derby Mercury that year, examining how the world was reported on in a bygone era.

PAGE 38

PRIVATE JACOB RIVERS

We examine the life of one of Derby’s true heroes who was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross – Private Jacob Rivers.

PAGES 40 & 41

DERBY IN PICTURES

Mark Miley from derbyinpictures.com returns with another fantastic article in his series that investigates the history of various Derby locations.

PAGE 42

NUTRITION AND RETREAT

Time to reflect, re-energise and be inspired. Reflect on Nature. Re-energise from Nutrition. Be inspired by us.

PAGE 43

FISH IN WATER

Sarah Roach – our resident wellbeing and change coach - offers us more invaluable advice on how we can improve our mental and physical self.

PAGES 46 & 47

STAR MUSIC HALL

In the first of two parts, Ted Bottle and Elaine Pritchard tell us the storied history of the Star Music Hall in Derby.

PAGES 48 & 49

JOAN WASTE

Would you be prepared to die for something you believed in? Joan Waste – a young, blind woman from Derby – was.

PAGES 50 & 51

HERITAGE WOOD

Learn all about Heritage Wood – a beautiful woodland near Ednaston in Derbyshire – where you can reflect, relax, and honour a loved one.

PAGES 54 & 55

ERNEST TOWNSEND

Part Three of our look at the life of one of Derby’s greatest artists - Ernest Townsend - is brought to us by one of his grandsons – Jim Townsend.

PAGES 58 & 59

GOING UNDERGROUND

Richard Felix tells us all about an incredible labyrinth of tunnels under the Guildhall, and how they could be turned into the best tourist attraction in Derby.

PAGE 60

HEAGE WINDMILL

Alan Gifford – Trustee of the Heage Windmill Society, and member of the Derby Heritage Society, brings us the history of a must-see Derbyshire attraction.

PAGES 64 & 65

FAMOUS FOOTPRINTS

We examine the life of Michael Thomas Bass – a man whose generosity to Derby can still be seen to this day.

PAGES 68 & 69

SHARDLOW INLAND PORT

Read all about the unique history of a port that has been included in the first national group of heritage harbours.

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO PATRICK GRIFFIN WHO HAS OVERSEEN ALL THE EDITORIAL WORK WITHIN THIS ISSUE. HIS HELP, AS EVER, HAS BEEN INVALUABLE.

Derby charity tackling food insecurity launches appeal for businesses to join its 100 Club to support local children and families

The Derby Food 4 Thought (DF4T) Alliance, based in Charnwood Street, needs £10,000 a month to purchase food for its vital food support service – and funds are low.

To meet this challenge and raise some muchneeded funds, a new campaign called the 100 Club is launching on Tuesday, September 19, at a Marketing Derby Bondholder breakfast event at Pride Park Stadium.

DF4T is seeking 100 business to sign up and commit to supporting the charity by giving £100 a month – for the next 12 months.

Paul Brookhouse, manager of the Derby charity, said: “This new campaign, gives local businesses as members of our 100 Club the chance to get involved and sponsor us – and we could really do with the support.

“Your £100 a month will feed 20 children for three days a month, or 240 children for a year.

“Without more local help we won’t be able to provide the invaluable support to families and children across Derby.

“We are looking for businesses to join others who have already pledged to become a partner.”

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that Derby had 23,000 children living in poverty last year. In 2022, the charity gave out 20,314 food parcels to support families. With the cost-of-living crisis continuing for many, fears are growing that this winter could be tough.

Paul said: “Thousands of people in Derby are now relying on foodbank support and numbers just keep going up and we really need everyone’s help. Did you know there is an 11-year difference in life expectancy for residents of Derby between deprived and more affluent areas.”

The Derby Food 4 Thought (DF4T) Alliance was set up in March 2020, to respond to the needs of people at start of the Covid pandemic. Since then, it has become the main distributor of food to 13 food banks across the city. The charity also works with Derby City Council’s housing arm, Derby Homes, and has supplied vulnerable people with air fryers, heated blankets and slow cookers.

Paul said: “The 100 Club is such an important campaign. If we can rely on some support from local businesses, we know this will help us get through the next 12 months.

“It’s our job to make sure that the most vulnerable in the city do not go hungry and that’s why we are asking for help.”

Lindsey Hatfield, Commercial Development Manager at Marketing Derby, said: “The Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance does an amazing job to help families across Derby and the 100 Club is a perfect opportunity for businesses to get involved with the local charity.

“So many people now rely on foodbank support, and we are aware that these numbers are going up. Let’s get behind Paul and the charity and do what we can to help.”

Businesses interested in supporting the DF4TA 100 Club campaign can sign up at the Marketing Derby event or get in touch with Paul at Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance on Derby (01332) 227730 or emailing info@df4ta.com

A Derby charity which has supported 40,000 people in the city during the cost-of-living crisis is launching an urgent appeal for help.

William Hutton

Regular readers of Derby

Uncovered will have seen from time to time in our publication, mentions of William Hutton, the Derby-born historian whose book - ‘The History of Derby

From The Remote Ages of Antiquity to 1791’ – is still used to this day by countless fellow historians, both professional and amateur.

For those who haven’t read the book, and those who may not have heard of him, you will have walked past his statue countless times –perhaps without realising it – because it is one of the four statues on the side of the old Boots Building at the junction of East Street and St. Peter’s Street.

But just who was William Hutton? It’s easy to assume that he came from a background of noble scholars due to his literary feats, but if you made that assumption, you’d be wrong.

Very wrong indeed.

William was born into poverty in Full Street, Derby, on September 30, 1723. His father was a woolcomber by trade, though often he was without work. A regular of the ale-house, his father had squandered a successful start in life with his hard-earned apprenticeship and exhibited a lack of application and effort once married. As a result of this, the level of poverty that William experienced as a child – a level which got worse upon the death of his mother in 1733 – was something that he never, ever forgot.

In his autobiography, William mentions that there were many occasions that he, alongside his mother and his siblings, ate nothing at all. "At one time", says Hutton, "I fasted from breakfast one day to noon the next" before he

ate a hastily-made pudding of flour and water. Though his school life was short and inadequate, he was at least taught to read by his father but with a father who also believed in physical punishments, Hutton’s early years were not just full of poverty but were also an extremely harsh environment.

Full Street in 1769 by Peter Perez Burdett - William was born here in 1723.

The journey of one man from abject poverty to well-earned success

William Hutton.

From the age of seven he began to work at the Silk Mill in Derby from 5am in the morning till 7pm in the evening and for his first year there he was too small to even reach the machines and had to wear a pair of pattens – overshoes that are somewhat similar to clogs – to enable him to do so.

Working at the mill was, in itself, a brutal experience for him. In later life he often referred to the ‘ignorance and vulgarity’ of the mill-hands and the slightest mistake from any of the children working there could result in

a physical beating. Hutton himself was beat so hard with a cane on one occasion that the scar it left remained with him, both physically and mentally, for the rest of his life. He was to spend seven years at the mill before he left and moved to Nottingham where he spent another seven years as an apprentice to a stocking maker. During this period, he would often visit Derby for a few days and after one visit, at Christmas 1745, he began to bind and repair old books. In 1749, when he had decided to adopt this trade full-time, he walked from Nottingham to London and back again to purchase the tools required. He performed both legs of the journey within nine days – it seems long walks were a forte for Hutton as he is also regarded to be the first person in modern times to walk the entire length of Hadrian's Wall - and in 1750 he settled in Birmingham where he established himself as a bookbinder and bookseller.

In 1755, Hutton married Sarah Cock from Aston-on-Trent and they had three sons and a daughter. In 1756 Hutton opened a paper warehouse – the first in Birmingham – which became profitable. Now freed from his childhood poverty, he built a country

house on Bennetts Hill in Washwood Heath and bought a house in High Street.

Amongst the various book he wrote, Hutton published his History of Birmingham in 1782 and his History of Derby in 1791 and during his later life visited Derby on occasional intervals. During one of these visits in 1803, he found out that every person he had known at the Silk Mill had now passed away.

Hutton died in 1815 and at the time was perhaps never truly valued by the town of his birth – his legacy, however, remains with us to this day. This author still uses his book regularly whilst writing for Derby Uncovered. If you remember the story of the daredevil, the tight rope, the Cathedral tower and the donkey or indeed the gruesome tale of John Crossland executing his own father and brother to avoid the hangman himself, you can thank William Hutton for both of them – that was the original source material I used.

It’s not just his writing though, that I believe we should thank William Hutton for. It’s the inspiration he gives us when we learn how he overcame an incredibly poor and harsh start in life to become one of the greatest historians this city has ever had.

A blue plaque in Birmingham - William settled here and is honoured as their first historian.

The statue of William Hutton on the side of the 'Boots Building' in Derby.

The Silk Mill where William worked - painted in 1776 by Moses Griffiths.

Hanging in chains The story of the gibbet and two macabre cases of its use in Derby and Derbyshire

You’d think – if you looked back through the sands of time – that even in an era where people’s lives were a hard and harsh struggle, being sentenced to death by hanging would be pretty much the worst thing that could happen to you.

You’d be wrong to think this as it turns out – if you were particularly unlucky, things could get even worse than this. You could, after all, be executed in an era where post-mortem punishment was the norm under the Murder Act of 1752. The Murder Act of 1752, in an attempt to be ‘better preventing the horrid crime of murder’ included a provision that ‘in no case whatsoever shall the body of any murderer be suffered to be buried’ and mandated either dissection or the ‘hanging in chains' of the cadaver as the alternatives. Looking through the eyes of the people of that era, being denied a ‘decent burial’ was seen as much worse than simply being executed. The Murder Act, however, showed no mercy in these regards, explicitly stating that this was in order to add ‘some further terror and peculiar mark of infamy' to the death sentence and to ‘impress a just horror in the mind of the offender, and on the minds of such as shall be present, of the heinous crime of murder’.

Full Street in c.1760 by S. H. Parkins - fourteen years before the murder of Mary Vickers.

A mocked-up modern day example of the gibbet.

Photo by: Achliver (CC-by-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons).

The masthead from the broadside produced for the execution

The hanging of the cadaver in chains –or gibbetting – had existed before the 1752 Murder Act, but the Act regularised the practice and in the history of our county there are two notable stories connected to this.

The first story dates back to the murder of Mary Vickers in 1774 in Full Street, Derby. The murder occurred during a burglary committed by Matthew Cocklayne and George Foster. Though both men fled to Ireland and carried on with their criminal ways, Foster was ultimately shot in the head during a robbery and Cocklayne was captured. Upon his capture it was found out that he was wanted in Derby and he was returned there to stand trial where he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. His execution took place on March 21st, 1776.

After he had been hanged, his body was firstly taken down and coated in a preserving tar which would enable the corpse to remain intact for longer. His body was then placed in a gibbet, and it was hung on Bradshaw Hay – near to the present-day Bradshaw Way.

Corpses displayed like this were often left there for many years. Cocklayne’s corpse had already been there for fifteen years when a young man casually wandered into the town centre of Derby brandishing his skull with The Derby Mercury reporting that:

“A lad was met coming into this town, having in his hand the skull of Matthew Cocklane, who was executed on the 21st of March, 1776, for the murder of Mrs. Vickars, and afterwards hung in chains: It seems that the wind had blown him from his exalted situation the preceding night.”

Though it would be nice to think that older and wiser heads had corrected him on his behaviour, it transpired that others then headed off to get a piece of the corpse with the report stating:

His hair, skin, and most of his bones were in high preservation; numbers – who had often stood in melancholy gaze, repaired to the gibbet, and returned with various parts of his remains."

Between 1752 and 1832, 134 men were gibbetted in England. It was formally abolished in 1834.

Of course, as much as it may be hard to believe, there was something even worse than being executed and then gibbetted and this was to be gibbetted alive – a fate which, it is alleged, befell a beggar in the 17th century in Baslow, near Chatsworth Park.

As the story goes, he’d been going from house to house begging and had arrived at the house of a lady after smelling bacon cooking. He asked for some – only to be told it was all gone. When he asked for any other food and was again declined, he forced his way into the property in anger and forced the boiling bacon fat down her throat, killing her.

This all obviously caused a commotion, and he was arrested immediately for his crime and put in the gibbet alive and left to die. Now as he was alive, he wouldn’t have been tarred so he would have slowly starved to death before the birds came to peck at his flesh.

Legends say that it was the sounds of the man’s begging, screaming, and pleading – heard by the Duke of Devonshire – that caused the Duke to use his influence to put an end to live gibbetting in England and the location of the gibbet is still to this day known as Gibbet Moor.

Gibbet Moor - the location of a beggars gruesome live-gibbeting.

Bradshaw Way - the gibbet for Matthew Cocklayne stood near here.

of Matthew Cocklayne.

As porcelain manufacturing grew in England and demand grew for gilded items, every factory strove to find the best ways to gild items. The aim was to create a strong and resilient gold decoration that was bright and eye catching.

You cannot simply melt the gold for the process of gilding by hand as the melting temperature of gold is over 1,000 degrees Celsius, and though temperatures like that could be achieved in a kiln, no human could hand paint with such a hot liquid in such a hot environment. So, the earliest method of gilding was known as honey gilding and involved grinding up gold leaf into honey.

There was no significance to the honey except it was sticky and did not allow the grains of gold to clot together. This mixture could then be dried, and the honey washed off. The ground gold was then mixed with a suitable flux and applied to the item to be decorated. This worked fairly well except that the resultant gilding was not very robust and was easily rubbed off items with heavy use.

It was not until a method of making a more robust gold gilding was found that more extensive gilding was commonly seen on items. Many factories were experimenting with various methods – some of them rather explosive and involving very acidic formulas. By the time the factory was on King Street (after 1848), the team had several recipes for dissolving gold. This was known as ‘Hancock’s gold’ after Sampson Hancock who was a proprietor of the factory. This recipe used mercury which dissolves gold like water dissolves salt or sugar.

This produced a workable mixture which was durable after firing.

BUT this mixture was also (though they did not know it at the time) highly poisonous. Although the mercury burns off during firing, so the finished plates were safe, the mixture used by the gilders was very toxic. Sadly at least one staff member was probably suffering from mercury poisoning. His symptoms, as recalled by his colleagues, were paranoia and anti-social behaviour, which tallies

with recognised symptoms of mercury poisoning. This unfortunate man was called William Watson and he decorated this beautiful little miniature set. Today we use chemically dissolved gold, which is not explosive and, happily for our talented team of hand gilders, not poisonous at all!

To visit our museum to find out more you can book online at www.royalcrownderbymuseum.com

Royal Crown Derby is justly famous for its beautiful, gilded items many of which I have written about in past issues. But this is the story of gilding, how they experimented and learned about best practice and some of the rather dangerous mistakes they made along the way.

An example of some gilding work done at the King Street Factory.

William Watson decorated this beautiful little miniature set.

Gilders at work.

The earliest methods of gilding led to a finished product where the gilding itself was not very robust.

DERBY’S VERY OWN ALADDIN’S CAVE HAS MOVED TO PARK FARM SHOPPING CENTRE, ALLESTREE.

■ Vacuum cleaner spares and repairs including Dyson, Numatic Henrys, Hettys, Gtech and Shark

■ Domestic appliance spares and repairs for washers, cookers & dryers

■ Lighting specialist & lamp repairs

■ General electrical accessories

With over 50 years’ experience we pride ourselves on being No.1 for all your spares and accessories. Be it a fuse or paper dust bags to full carpet extraction machines, here at Anderson Electrical our aim is to provide the best service available to all our customers

We stock spare parts for many appliances including washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, cookers, vacuum cleaners, fridges, freezers, twin tubs, drills, strimmers, mowers, kettles, shavers etc.

We have part breakdowns of many appliances so if you are having difficulty locating a part, call our sales team or visit our shop and we shall help find what you are looking for.

Allow me to introduce myself…

My name is Kalwinder Singh Dhindsa. I am a writer, author, poet and creator. A proud Derby man. Born and raised in Pear Tree, Normanton.

I will be using my allocated space in the Derby Uncovered Newspaper to share my Derby related poetry and stories.

Every article will begin with a poem from my book Derby.

The Baseball Ground.

Home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 to 98.

Three times British Champions. The Baseball diamond. Originate. Baseball. Introduced by 1st Baronet, Sir Francis Ley. Founder of Malleable Castings. The Vulcan Ironworks — Derby. Following a visit to the USA in 1889.

Ley built a ground for the use of his workers to shine.

A young boy born in Cradley a 'striker' at the iron foundry. A legend that grew to become the destroying angel of Pear Tree.

Playing Baseball and Cricket with bats he would wield. Steve Bloomer a superstar in every sporting field. These days more synonymous as a football goalscoring great.

The final two poems in this issue are about two racing pigeons. The second poem is a reworking of the first poem, which was initially published in my Pear Tree Rambler collection.

Honour Thy Pigeon.

Rats with wings not pretty little things. Disgusting and diseased nothing but mings. Feral and free they have no respect.

Eyes on your food or maybe your neck?

Related to doves and racing royalty.

32 Dickin Medals for war time gallantry.

I am from Derby just like the blue cock. A legend of flight that we should not mock.

Blue Cork of West Derby you must come and see'em. Rests with Wrights in Derby Museum.

The King of Rome; glass box on a wall. The pride of Derby; loved by all.

I am from Derby just like the blue cock. A legend of flight that we should not mock.

Blue Cork of West Derby you must come and see'em. Rests with Wrights in Derby Museum. The King of Rome; glass box on a wall. The pride of Derby; loved by all.

Honour Thy Pigeon II / WOR Pigeon

Rats with wings not pretty little things. Disgusting and diseased nothing but mings. Feral and free they have no respect.

Eyes on your food or maybe your neck?

Related to doves and racing royalty.

32 Dickin Medals for war time gallantry. Haddaway man — blue chequer pacer. Gannin yem, wor Tudhoe racer.

Ah me lads, ye must gan doon see 'em. Rests wi' KOR in Derby Museum.

In this collection of poems each letter of the alphabet is dedicated to an iconic figure in the history of Derby.

In addition to this I will also include further poetry and information in relation to the iconic figure being shared.

In this issue I will share some of my poems that relate to sport in Derby and those who achieved great sporting glory.

The sinewed steel striker left his mark on home plate.

The poem above is from my collection of poetry called Pear Tree Rampart, a rambling love letter of sorts and thoughts to the city of Derby and it’s wonderful folk. It is my third collection of poetry and prose, which follows the life of a Derby boy. Touching upon identity, community, culture and many other things that define and strengthen the man that he has become.

From the Edinburgh pluton. Arise Dave Mackay. In molten magma. Solidify.

A Jambo in his heart of Hearts.

To London, Spurs his love departs. A Derby Ram. In statue. Recognised. Edinburgh granite. Immortalised.

The poem above is from my collection of poetry called Pear Tree Rampage collection, a rambling love letter of sorts and thoughts to the city of Derby and it's wonderful folk.

A second collection of poetry and prose, which follows the life of a Derby boy. Touching upon identity, community, culture and many other things that define and strengthen the man that he has become.

The Prince of Rome; canny pet standing tall. The bonny pride of Durham; loved by all.

“At 4.15am, on 29th June, 1913, 1,653 birds (including 106 English) set off from Rome however they flew into a snowstorm over the Alps and only two English birds returned home. The first bird returned to Derby after 31 days, he flew 1,002 miles and won £12 for his owner (Charles Hudson) and was named the King of Rome. Then, on 18th August, the pigeon owned by Henry Vester (1869-1927), William Hugh Scurr (1890-1974) and Richard Scurr (1843-1916) arrived home in Tudhoe Colliery. He holds the record for the longest distance ever flown by an English racing pigeon, 1,093 miles and 1,186 yards in 51 days. He won £8 for his owners and was hailed as The Prince of Rome”

The taxidermied skins of both pigeons are now preserved in Derby Museum. However, only one is on permanent display whilst the other rarely sees the light of day. It is my hope that one day the Prince of Rome can return again to its people in the North East.

In the last year, I was able to erect a commemorative plaque for each pigeon and their owners.

If you’d like to see more about the books mentioned they can be found at Amazon - and don’t forget to check out the following:

www.khalsir.com

www.twitter.com/KhalSir

www.facebook.com/PearTreeAuthor www.instagram.com/khalsir/

DISCOVER YOUR HISTORY

Come and explore fabulous archival collections housed in one of Derby’s finest heritage buildings. Whatever your topic and level of interest, enjoy free access to a huge wealth of resources for the local or family historian!

Dig into old newspapers, books, and documents. Study maps, plans, and photographs. Our helpful and knowledgeable team are on hand to help you uncover the history of our city!

www.inderby.org.uk/libraries

Life can be stressful for all of us. It often seems that there’s not quite enough hours in the day to get things done and if, like many are, you’re balancing the pressures of home life alongside the pressures of being a business owner or executive, these problems only intensify. Even if you do manage to keep on top of the myriad of everyday tasks which must be done, it’s often at the expense of your happiness and stress levels.

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Derby

Hands on Local History Derby

By Richard Felix

Over the past 35 years of trying to promote the city of Derby through its rich history and heritage, I have frequently been accused of “gilding the lily”.

When conducting tours around the city folk often shout, “Rubbish!! Don’t believe a word, he makes it up as he goes along.”

If referring to Derby Silk Mill as the Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, talking about the decision for Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army retreating back to Scotland changing the course of world history, stating the fact that the Earl of Derby was one of Richard the Lionheart’s crusaders and a Knight Templar, that if Sir Henry Royce had not created the Merlin engine we would have lost the Battle of Britain, that the Battle of Derby took place in 917, or that a Derbyshire man was responsible for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots is gilding the lily - then I plead guilty. But I need a lily in the first place, and I have a tin of gold paint. All these facts are true - but so few folks know about them because we do not teach local history in school.

I envisage an educational program as a five-part study project based on Derby/Derbyshire's history, which allows students to explore our local history and the famous people that have lived and visited Derby and Derbyshire. This project brings to life some of the most iconic moments of the area's local history, for example Romans, Saxons, Vikings, the Battle of Derby in 917, Derby Silk Mill, the world’s first public park, Rolls Royce, the railways, the age of enlightenment, scientific discovery, first and lasts in crime and punishment as well as many famous residents and visitors including Jedediah Strutt, Joseph Wright, Herbert Spencer, Henry Royce, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Dickens, Mary Queen of Scots, Dr Samuel Johnson, Daniel Defoe, Charles Darwin and many others.

Our local history encompasses most aspects of British History.

Ask most Derbyshire folk if they studied local history at school and you will receive a negative answer. This has to start in the classroom and when our children grow up with that knowledge, they may well do a better job of preserving our historic buildings and promoting our heritage and telling the story of “Derby The Crossroads of History” and Derbyshire, “Land of the Ram”. This interactive-based project entails three classroom study sessions with two field trips, which provide the learning opportunities for children right across the educational

spectrum from primary school to university.

■ The first project covers Romans, Saxons & Vikings, the Roman settlement at Chester Green, Saxon Derby, Viking Derby as the strategic headquarters of the Danelaw and the Battle of Derby in 917.

■ The second project covers Mediaeval, Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian times as well as Derbyshire connections with famous battles such as Hastings, Agincourt, and Culloden and also The Derby Ram, the wool trade, Bess of Hardwick, Monastery’s, Mary Queen of Scots, the Babington Plot, religious persecution, King Charles I, the Civil War, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Industrial Revolution, Mills, Mining and scientific discovery.

■ The third project covers the Victorian, Edwardian & Modern eras, crime and punishment, Railways, Queen Victoria, the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale, Rolls Royce, the First World War, and the Battle of Britain.

Field Trips

1. The first field trip will include a visit to the Roman settlement at Little Chester. The children will dress up in replica Roman costumes interacting with an authentic Roman Soldier and learn Roman battle tactics including creating a Tortoise. They will then follow the River Derwent into Saxon and then Viking Derby where they will be greeted by a Saxon farmer and a Viking warrior. They will also re-enact the Battle of Derby on Derby Market Place and learn how to make a shield wall with replica Saxon and Viking helmets, shields and swords and finish with a visit to Derby Museum.

2. To save on travel and buses this could be en-acted in the school playground or playing field and the museum visit could tag onto the Day at Derby.

3. The second field trip - A DAY AT DERBYincludes visits to Derby Silk Mill, Derby Cathedral, Lock-Up yard, the air raid shelters in the Guildhall Tunnels, Derby Gaol and Derby Museum. The culmination of this programme will be a university-style award ceremony with the children wearing mortar boards and gowns to receive a Diploma in Local History and a copy of my book - SUPERSTARS OF DERBY THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY - with the students name and school badge on the front cover. Any part of this project can be a standalone lesson, e.g., Victorian Derby, Roman Derby, Crime and punishment, etc.

Derby and Derbyshire have been the poor relations for too long and it is time that the world knows of our existence. This can best be achieved by informing and educating the younger generation of our incredible City and County.

What of Derby? What can we say? We haven’t actually got one single person or event that can stand alone as a slogan or logo. Our location is our main strength, everyone passed through, some stayed, some went on to greater things, some were dispatched back from whence they came. This place is truly a crossing of the ways. The signs on all roads bringing visitors into our City say, “Welcome to the City of Derby”. Pretty uninspiring stuff, really.

What

the sign should say is, “Welcome to Derby, THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY”

If you would like more information on this exciting project: Phone 01335 360882 or Email me at richardfelix@gmx.com or visit www.richardfelix.co.uk

Regards Richard Felix

Richard Felix

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“ I’ve done itI can’t help it now.”

The true story of a murder that led to Derby’s last ever public execution.

Now as much as I appreciate that it’s not very often that a true crime article starts with a football reference, here at Derby Uncovered we have a habit of doing things differently and this article is no exception.

I’m sure amongst our readers we have a fair few people in Derby that followed The Rams in their heyday in the Brian Clough and Dave Mackay eras. Among those, we will probably have some who watched them at the Baseball Ground against Tottenham Hotspur in 1969. If you did, you were part of a crowd that totalled 41,826 people and it’s in the history books as Derby’s record attendance. Now picture that many people, and sometimes more, watching a different form of ‘entertainment’

further back in Derby’s history – an execution. Though it’s hard to believe that huge crowds often turned up to watch executions it is without dispute that they most certainly did.

When Samuel Bonsall, William Bland and John Hulme were hanged for murder in 1843, the Derby Mercury estimated that around 35,000 to 40,000 people were in attendance. In fact, so many people wanted to attend that special trains had to be laid on to accommodate the crowds arriving from

places such as Belper and Chesterfield. The execution of George Smith – who had murdered his own father in 1861 - is thought to have attracted an even larger crowd.

The crowd of 20,000 people who watched the execution of Richard Thorley in 1862 was therefore not considered to have been that large of a crowd. There was, however, something ultimately significant about this execution – it was Derby’s last ever public execution.

Twenty-six-year-old Thorley had been born in Leather Bottle Yard off Osmaston Street – now Osmaston Road. Receiving very little education and put to work from an early age, Thorley found labouring work in the foundries. The work helped

The murderer and his victim in contemporary literature.

The surviving facade of Vernon Street GaolRichard Thorley was executed outside of here.

Photo by: Jamie Turner.

An excerpt from the Derby Mercury April 14, 1858 detailing a disturbance that Thorley was involved in.

him develop a good physique which, in turn, led to him trying his hand at boxing and prize fighting.

His fighting earned him something of a notorious reputation – whether he was in the actual fight or not. In 1858, when constables tried to break up a prize fight between William Tarr and Henry Smith, they found themselves assailed by part of the watching crowd. The crowd included Thorley who was arrested and given the choice of being fined 10s plus costs or facing a month’s imprisonment. The Sergeant of the constables very presciently described Thorley as the ‘most violent man of the lot.’

Though Thorley eventually married –a marriage that seems to have had a positive effect on him – his wife died early, and this preceded a spiralling demise full of public houses and heavy drinking.

The other player in this tragic tale was Eliza Morrow – a young mill worker. Eliza had known Thorley and his wife for quite some time. She had often visited them and continued to visit Thorley after the death of his wife. Ultimately, they ended up in a ‘relationship’.

It was a volatile relationship at best and a relationship that Thorley thought was more serious than Eliza did. A friend of Eliza’s – Ann Webster –would later describe her as a ‘single woman’. Thorley, however, was a very jealous man and often argued with Eliza if her saw her talking to other men – oblivious to the fact that she had every right to do so. In particular, he was angered by an Irish soldier that Eliza had regularly been seen speaking to on Ford Street. At one point, he even challenged to him a fight but given Thorley’s reputation the soldier wisely declined.

By the time February 13, 1862 came around, Thorley had been on a drinking spree that had lasted for several days. With what would turn out to be a lethal combination of alcohol and jealousy inside him, he made a decision that would ultimately end up with him on the gallows – to go and see Eliza.

Standing outside her window shouting, he demanded to know whether she had the soldier in bed with her, but receiving no satisfactory reply, he stormed home. At home he collected a razor and then returned once more.

Upon his return, multiple witnesses observed him to be talking with Eliza. One of the witnesses –ten-year-old Charles Wibberly – described how he firstly saw them talking but then observed Thorley with his arms around Eliza’s neck. Charles – along with his ‘playfellows’ - was asked by Thorley what they wanted and had run away thinking he would come after them.

They’d returned very shortly after to see Thorley banging Eliza hard against the shutters of a house and recalled hearing her screams. Wibberly went

on to describe that he saw Eliza stagger across the yard and fall to the ground with Thorley falling on top of her before he immediately got up and ran away. When Charles glanced at the shutters he saw that they were covered in blood. As Eliza was taken into the house by some neighbours, he heard her say: “Lord have mercy upon my soul” shortly before she died.

Charles himself had bravely run after Thorley whilst shouting for the police, but Thorley escaped and ran all the way to the Old Spa Inn on Abbey Street – a regular drinking haunt of his.

Thomas Chapman – the landlord – observed that he was ‘very much agitated’ and his face was 'all over blood’. When he asked Thorley what was wrong with him, Thorley replied that he’d been in “an Irish row” at The Abbey Public House. Noticing Thorley’s hand was bound with a handkerchief he’d enquired about that and was told by Thorley that he’d ‘cut it with a glass.’ Thorley stayed less than half an hour before leaving and when he did leave, he said a very solemn goodbye to everyone in the pub and Chapman described how that ‘from his manner we thought that there was something the matter.’

Thorley was ultimately apprehended in the Canal Street area by Detective Sergeant Vessey. When Vessey approached him and spoke to Thorley, telling him that Eliza was dead and he was to be charged with her murder,

he immediately confessed to the crime saying: “I’ve done it –I can’t help it now, I am sorry.”

The now-arrested Thorley was then taken to the Lock-Up off the Corn Market before being transferred to the gaol in Vernon Street.

There was no dispute at the trial that Thorley had murdered Eliza though his defence did try to argue that the offence should be manslaughter contending that ‘the number of wounds showed that the perpetrator was not acting coolly and deliberately’ and was, in effect, in a fervour and frenzy. However, the judge – Mr Justice Williams – advised the jury that this was not a crime of passion but a simple coldblooded murder.

With this advice, Thorley’s fate was sealed and he was duly found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on April 11, 1862. In the time in between sentencing and the execution itself Thorley was described as being ‘prepared to meet his ignominious fate, and is understood to be perfectly satisfied with the justice of his sentence’.

On Thorley’s last day, he rose early and, alongside the Rev. R. Robinson, prayed earnestly before attending the condemned service in the prison chapel at half past nine. Immediately after twelve noon, he walked onto the scaffold. Standing to the left of the beam, he raised his eyes to heaven and offered earnest prayers that begged for forgiveness before walking up two steps under the beam. With the rope placed around his neck, the bolt was withdrawn and Thorley was launched into eternity as the last person ever to be publicly executed in Derby.

The location of the murder.

Ye Olde Spa Inne on Abbey Street - Thorley ran to here after committing the murder.

National Garden Scheme Derbyshire Gardens Open for Group Visits

Hopefully during the summer months you’ve had chance to visit some of our lovely Derbyshire gardens, but did you know that many of our gardens open ‘by arrangement’ for group visits?

with a long season of interest and groups of between 5 and 25 can visit from February to October. This is a self-confessed plantaholic’s garden with a wide variety of plants. This garden has recently been shortlisted in the ‘Nations Favourite Garden’ competition in association with ‘The English Garden’ magazine. You’ll find the garden owner is very knowledgeable and will be able to give you lots of advice about plants in the garden.

These openings are popular with interest groups such as Gardening Clubs, W.I. and photography, but they are open to all, and would make a great venue for a special get together with friends or family.

Here are a few suggestions to whet your appetite, details of all gardens open in Derbyshire can be found at ngs.org.uk/derbyshire-by-arrangement

334 Belper Road, Stanley Common is a beautiful country garden open for groups from February to July for groups of 5 to 40 people. A large garden with lots of attractive features it has snowdrops

and hellebores feature in February, cowslips in April, and wild orchids and rose meadow in June. It’s rightly a very popular garden to visit for groups and you will receive a warm welcome from the hosts.

The Dower House, Melbourne was a very popular choice for our Snowdrop Festival this year and is a garden with year-round interest with many interesting plants. You can book mid-week visits for 10 or more people from January to November, so there is still time to visit this year. The garden owner is the author of ‘The Apprehensive Gardener’ and has a wealth of gardening knowledge.

Coming up in future articles we will be exploring the real ‘secret gardens’ that open for the National Garden Scheme and private gardens which are only open to the public on a handful of occasions each year – including picture postcard cottages, allotments, grand houses and inspirational suburban spaces.

Coxbench Hall, Coxbench is the ancestral home of the Meynell Family. This garden has fantastic wheelchair access so is particularly suitable for groups visiting with mobility issues. The garden includes a tropical style garden, ponds, and vegetable growing.

10 Chestnut Way, Repton.

The Dower House, Melbourne.

Coxbench Hall, Coxbench.

334 Belper Road, Stanley Common.

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For this issue’s Layers and layers of history feature we look into an area in Derby absolutely steeped in history – the Iron Gate, Queen Street and King Street area. Once more we’ve been provided with some absolutely stunning pictures from W. W. Winter to accompany the feature.

As we’ve discovered in previous features in this series, two pages in a newspaper is only ever going to be enough space to give an overview of some of the history contained in certain areas of Derby, and this is indisputably true in the case of this issues area.

Iron Gate itself was probably first laid out when the Market Place first appeared c.1100 but its present English name dates from 1483 with its name meaning the ‘the street of the ironworkers’. Described in the 1700s as ‘consisting of inns and shopkeepers’, it was formerly much narrower until a process of widening occurred between 1866 and 1871 which demolished the existing shops and inns on the eastern side, with the new plots on the now widened street sold for new developments.

Iron Gate houses in its history strong connections with various figures of substantial note from

Derby’s past. Joseph Wright – the world-renowned artist – was born at 28 Iron Gate. Though the house has now been demolished, it stood where No’s 33-34 stand now and is commemorated by an obelisk on the pavement.

John Whitehurst – the founder of modern geology and a founding member of the Lunar Society - lived at No. 24 Irongate from 1736 to 1764, and Richard Keene – a pioneer of early photography in Victorian times –had his studio in Iron Gate.

Jorrocks on Iron Gate can trace its

history all the way back to 1648 when it was The George Inn - one of the most famous and busiest coaching inns in Derby. Previously with a wider frontage, The George Inn was where Bonnie Prince

Iron Gate c.1921 with a tram heading down to the Market Place.

A view from the top of Iron Gate looking towards Queen Street c.1926.

Iron Gate, Queen Street and King Street Layers and layers of history

Undoubtedly the jewel in the crown of Iron Gate though, is the place of worship that resides at the top of it – Derby Cathedral. With a history that dates back to 943AD, there have been various rebuilds over the centuries and the tower is now the oldest surviving part of the building and was built between 1510 and 1530. The tower itself is 212 feet high with 82 steps leading up to the ringing chamber and 189 steps to the top.

been owned by William Strutt, the eldest son of Jedediah Strutt (a pioneer in the cotton and hosier industry), served as the premises of Derby School and was used during the Second World War as a location where the Ordnance Survey organisation undertook the creation of maps used by Allied Forces.

King Street also hosts another of Derby’s oldest pubs – the Seven Stars.

Charlie demanded billets for 9,000 men in his ill-fated attempt to seize the throne in 1745. During Elizabethan times The George Inn also had a balcony at its rear which was used to watch theatrical performances and cockfighting.

As we move past the Cathedral, we first reach Queen Street and then King Street. The name Queen Street first appears on a map in 1767 though the Dolphin Inn which resides on the street dates to 1530. It also contains a building in need of urgent repairs and full of history in its own right – the former Smith’s Clock Works. Build around c.1670 for Stephen Flamsteed, this is a building that was inherited by his son John Flamsteed FRS – the first Astronomer Royal and was also home at various times to Joseph Wright, the world-renowned artist and John Whitehurst – a co-founder of the Lunar Society. Benjamin Franklin is said to have been entertained here.

The building dates from 1680 although it wasn’t renamed the Seven Stars until 1749. Although not a coaching inn it did have its own stables for many years and an annual Gooseberry Show was held there until 1825.

Though over the centuries many shops have based their premises on Iron Gate – with Foulds and Clulow’s Book Store amongst those that many readers will remember – surely Bennetts of Derby must be the most wellknown? Established on Iron Gate in 1734, they were able to stake a claim to being the world’s oldest department store and survived on Iron Gate until they went into administration in 2019. The brand now survives online after being saved by Derby businessman Paul Hurst - a man who has also worked wonders as the owner of The Old Bell Hotel, in nearby Sadler Gate and still, to this day, people talk about the Christmas tree display in Bennetts.

King Street – much changed over the course of the last 100 years –was first named c.1250. Though it has seen many changes over recent history it still hosts one very notable grand building – St. Helen’s House.

Described by the historian Maxwell Craven as “the largest and most important surviving domestic building in Derby”, the Grade I listed Palladian style house was built by architect Joseph Pickford in 1766-1767 for the Derby Alderman John Gisborne (1716-1779), and originally stood in 80 acres (320,000 m2) of parkland.

Over the years the house has

As in previous features, we’ve only just scratched the surface of this area’s history but it’s an area of Derby I’d urge you to pay a visit to. As part of Derby’s Cathedral Quarter there’s a myriad of both history and stunning architecture as well as it being home to some fantastic shops, cafes, bars, restaurants and more.

As ever, a big thanks goes out to W. W Winter for the images that accompany this article. As well as being the owners of one of the greatest single photographic records of bygone Derby, they also offer many modern-day services including portraiture; the copy and restoration of old negatives, slides and prints; picture framing and passport, visa and ID headshots. Check them out at wwwinter.co.uk

PHOTOGRAPHERS

The Cathedral viewed from Queen Street c.1940.

Kenning's on the corner of Queen Street and Cathedral Road in 1962.

King Street in the 1950s.

James D Preston

Andrew Allanson

John Connolly

Peter Barker R.S.M.A

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Mercatum Christmas Artisan Markets at Haddon Hall

Enjoy a wonderfully festive day out in a unique, historic and beautifully decorated setting

This winter, Haddon Hall will host its renowned Mercatum Christmas Artisan Markets over four long weekends, bringing together some of the finest artisans in the country in a beautifully curated event like no other.

One of the biggest events on the East Midlands calendar, Mercatum will feature over 90 artisans set in the magnificent grounds of the Haddon estate. With the hall beautifully decorated, each room will be designed to come to life, with community choirs, winter scents and twinkling lights creating a sense of the unusual, combined with a grandeur befitting of this historic fortified manor.

Visitors are invited to weave their way round the grounds, starting in front of the Stables, where a host of delicious food

and drink stalls will be in situ. Each room will feature a selection of makers and producers, with visitors also able to wander out into the Elizabethan gardens, where there will be more stalls on two of the terraces, lit by fairy lights. Enjoy a luxury hot chocolate or a mulled wine while browsing a variety of stalls and taking in the magnificence of the hall, before sitting down with something delicious to eat from an array of street food traders. This year sees a host of new artisans joining the line-up, with ceramicists, silk artists, jewellers, candle makers, chocolatiers, woodwork, stationery and more, offering plenty of inspiration for Christmas gifts.

For those who want to make

the most of the occasion, book a stay at Derbyshire’s most iconic hotel, The Peacock at Rowsley, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. Located a short distance from Haddon, any guests at The Peacock will receive complimentary tickets to Mercatum, as well as transport to and from the hotel.

Mercatum Christmas Artisan Market

Thursday 16th – Sunday 19th November, Thursday 23rd – Sunday 26th November, Thursday 30th November – Sunday 3rd December and Thursday 7th – 10th December

From 9.00am - 4.30pm (last entry at 3.30pm) | Tickets £9.50 per adult.

www.haddonhall.co.uk/events/event/mercatum-winter-artisan-market

Louise West was commissioned by the National Trust to make 30 metres of lace and it took her more than 1000 hours to complete!

She worked on three designs of 18th century gold lace and now it is displayed on the mahogany and giltwood carved bedstead – which was completed by James Gravenor in 1768.

Louise said: “It was wonderful to work for the National Trust. I really liked the fact that my lace would be displayed in Kedleston Hall, which is just down the road from my studio in Derby’s Cathedral Quarter. “It took me 56 hours to make one metre of lace. It was a huge job, but I really enjoyed it and seeing it at Kedleston Hall is wonderful.”

Louise loves winning local commissions for work, but she’s equally busy teaching people around the world how to make lace. She has also written books and produced digital patterns so she can pass on her skills to others.

The artist runs workshops from her base in Friar Gate Studios, situated within Derby’s Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District (BID), and regularly travels to America to demonstrate the art of bobbin lacemaking.

Louise said: “Whether you’re a beginner or have been making lace for a while, I run classes for every level. What’s important is to show people how to do it and pass on the skills I have learned.

DERBY LACEMAKER AND AUTHOR LOUISE WEST CREATES GOLD LACE FOR KEDLESTON HALL’S STATE BED

“I enjoy teaching people the intricacies of lacemaking. I always receive a warm welcome and my students are eager to learn.”

Louise, who lives in Heanor, started bobbin lacemaking more than 30 years ago after suffering a spinal injury and waiting for surgery. While she was at home, she became interested in Bedfordshire lace making and decided to have a go. She said: “I was hooked. I went to workshops to learn how to do it and I ploughed through quite a few books. Before I knew it, I discovered I was quite good and could make some pretty pieces of contemporary lace.”

Louise has exhibited her lace across the UK, and her books are published internationally, but it is her work on designing and creating ready-to-work digital lace patterns which had attracted worldwide attention. After launching a crowdfunding campaign to buy a high-tech laser cutter, Louise has been printing digital patterns – and they’re in huge demand. This innovation also secured Louise three high profile business awards. She said: “The idea to create a laser cutter and digital patterns came to me while I was studying on my BA Textile Design course at the University of Derby.

“I had been using a laser cutter in university and I realised how useful it would be if I could create digital lace patterns.

“When students are learning lacemaking, pricking patterns with a pin is a time-consuming process and it can put people off. They rush the process, and an inaccurate pricking can result in their lace being not as good as it could be.

“My 3D patterns save people a huge amount of time and gives a more accurate template to work with. This process really helps to improve lacemaking.”

In the next few months, Louise has two more trips to America in the diary and a busy schedule of online lessons. When she’s not creating her unique bobbin lace, she’s swimming

hundreds of lengths in the pool for charity or enjoying the countryside on her trike motorcycle.

Brad Worley, BID Manager for Cathedral Quarter Derby, said: “Louise is a jewel in Derby’s crown.

“We are very lucky to have such a talented creative right here at Friar Gate Studio, which sits within Derby’s Cathedral Quarter.

“It is so vital to shine a spotlight on our fantastic independent businesses across the city and their commitment to what they do.

“They put Derby on the map, including the Cathedral Quarter, and it’s great to celebrate their work.”

An award-winning Derby lacemaker has created intricate gold lace for the restoration of the State Bed at Kedleston Hall.

In Issue 5 we introduced a new regular feature where we examined various clippings from a long-gone Derby newspaper – the Derby Mercury. For this edition we focus on a particular year – 1870 –and see the world through the eyes of a local newspaper over 150 years ago.

The Derby Mercury had been established in 1732 and was in existence all the way until 1900. In 1864, Mitchell's Directory wrote of the Derby Mercury that: “Great attention is paid to all local proceedings, of which some space is weekly devoted to the reviews of new books and music. It is the oldest established paper in the county, and is principally supported by the nobility, clergy, gentry, agriculturists and tradesmen in the neighbourhood.”

We start with the very first issue of 1870 –January 5, edition –and while it might have been the festive period, the courts were still busy,

as we can see from this extract taken from a court report where it seems that at least one of the men charged was undeterred by the thought of going to prison. The newspaper didn’t just focus on Derby and Derbyshire news. In the same issue we found this report about a disturbing case of abuse in Ancoats, Manchester. What is notable is that one of the

words used to describe the victim is extremely offensive. Though the newspaper is rightfully offended at what occurred, it’s headline shows just how the use of language such as this has thankfully changed over time.

World news was something that the Derby Mercury also brought to its readers. Newspapers in this era would have been the only source that most people had to find out news from around the globe and this clipping - from the April 20, 1870 edition – tells of murder and cannibalism in France.

It is to be supposed that many people found some of these articles – and the revelations in them – quite stressful. With stress being a known contributor towards acid reflux and indigestion, it’s good to know that later in the April 20, 1870 edition, Norton’s were advertising just the thing to fix that. They were, according to the literature of the time,

prepared ‘by a peculiar process by which all the medicinal properties or rather more than one ounce of the flowers are concentrated into four moderate-sized pills.’

We jump forward now to the August 31, 1870 edition of the Derby Mercury and look at the information provided by the Derby Post Office regarding the dispatch of mails. Interestingly enough we can see that the office was open from 7am to 9pm. Just under a month later – in the September 21, 1870 edition – tenders were being invited to provide food and various other items to the gaol on Vernon Street. With a steady supply of people being incarcerated for various crimes, some of these tenders may have proved quite profitable. Ourfinalclippinginthisissue might,atfirst,seemlikean

JohnHolmes Barlow and EdwardTaylor were initially assistants at Beswick and Smith before - in February 1876 - becoming partners.The name of the company was changed at this point to Beswick Smith and Co before, in January 1884, that partnership was dissolved and they took sole ownership with the business being

advert for an innocuous draper fromalongtimeagoinDerby. It does, however, have a connection to another shop that many people stillfondlyremember.

For most conspicuous bravery

The story of a young Derby man and his selfless sacrifice in World War One.

When the overwhelming majority of Bridge Gate in Derby was swept away in the 1960s to make way for the building of the inner ring road the bulldozers, as they have a habit of doing, swept away not just the bricks and mortar of the buildings but also certain locations that are tied to historically important figures from Derby’s past. Nothing was truer than this when – during the ring road development – they demolished No 4, Court 12, Wide Yard which lay just off Bridge Gate itself.

the financial burden on their mother.

Jacob joined the Royal Scottish Fusiliers in 1899 and saw seven years of military service in India and Burma. He was discharged in 1907 and was placed on the military reserve and on his return to Derby he found work as a labourer with the Midland Railway.

Jacob was one of the first men to volunteer when World War One began in 1914 and this time joined the Sherwood Foresters. With prior and extensive

day, however, they found themselves under considerable pressure on their right flank. To relieve the pressure Jacob cautiously approached the German position and threw several bombs on them causing them to retire and helping relieve the pressure on his battalion.

Incredibly Jacob didn’t just do this once. He repeated the act later the same day again causing the Germans to retire. This time he was killed doing it.

For his actions, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). The VC is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the British honours system and is awarded for valour in the presence of the enemy. The citation for this award – published in the London Gazette on April 28, 1915 read:

For most conspicuous bravery at Neuve-Chapelle on 12th March, 1915, when he, on his own initiative, crept to within a few yards of a very large number of the enemy who were massed on the flank of an advanced company of his battalion, and hurled bombs on them. His action caused the enemy to retire, and so relieved the situation. Pte. Rivers performed a second act of great bravery on the same day, similar to the first mentioned, again causing the enemy to retire. He was killed on this occasion.

No 4 was a property that had seen the birth of not just a historical figure from Derby’s past, but a true and selfless hero – the person in question was Private Jacob Rivers.

Jacob was born at No 4 on November 17, 1881 to George and Adeline Rivers. Jacob was one of seven children and when Jacob’s father died aged of forty-one, he and his brothers – when they were old enough to find work – all sought it out to ease

military experience, Jacob was one of the first draft of men to be sent to France in 1915 and it was here – in March 1915 – that Jacob was involved in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. It was a battle that would result in more than 11,000 Allied soldiers being killed, wounded or missing.

The offensive began on March 10 with Rivers’ battalion held in reserve, but it was brought into action the following day when it was ordered to the village of Pietre.

Jacob’s battalion soon found their advance halted by machine gun posts and had to dig in. The next

With the fighting so fierce it was impossible to retrieve Jacob’s body and so one of Derby’s greatest heroes has no known grave, though his name is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial.

Jacob’s mother received the VC on her son’s behalf in October 1915. In a letter signed by the King it read:

“It is with much satisfaction that I convey to you the Victoria Cross awarded to the late Private Jacob Rivers.

“I deeply regret that his death deprived me of the pride of personally conferring upon him this, the greatest of all military distinctions.”

Jacob was born and raised on Bridge Gate in Derby.

Jacob's name is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in Richebourg, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Private Jacob Rivers VC.

’’ My mum passed away suddenly so we needed to sort out care for my dad urgently as he has dementia. The ladies at Spectrum were amazing. They made suggestions about visits and a routine for Dad, which wasn’t about making money but what was best for Dad. They go above and beyond, keep us updated, review care plans, bring Dad treats, take him out and coaxing him to do what is needed whilst always being respectful and kind. It’s only a small team, the staff are consistent so, Dad has been able to build a rapport with them, and so have we. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and frequently do to anyone I can. The role they have is invaluable to us, and they really supported us while we dealt with Mum’s death. If you’re looking for carers who treat your loved ones as if they were part of their own family, are experienced and competent and speak to you like human beings, this is the company for your care needs - and no, I’m not related to any of them, and they didn’t pay me!

’’ After a 4-month stay in the hospital, I was discharged home. I am still very weak and unsteady on my feet, so my family and myself decided to find carers to help me wash and dress in the morning and get me into bed at night. My daughter spoke to Spectrum, and straight away, she loved their happy, friendly and helpful demeanour. After a meeting with them, I decided to try them out. I am absolutely thrilled to bits with the service that I’m receiving. The girls who visit me are always on time and always have a happy smile on their faces; they treat me with dignity and compassion. Nothing is too much trouble for them. If I want anything done, I only have to ask. The girl's attention to detail is fantastic; they are trustworthy and thorough and are becoming good friends.

Friar Gate Friar Gate

Goods Depot

In the latest instalment of wonderful articles from Mark Miley, owner of Derby in Pictures - Mark looks into the fascinating history of the Friar Gate Goods Depot. Mark is also launching a newer and updated websiteif you want to take a look then go to www.derbyinpictures.net

The main entrance and reception of the hospital.

The curved facade of the offices and accommodation.

On the edge of the city stands a huge brick building that, although derelict and roofless, remains majestic, patiently awaiting a bright new future. This is the Friargate Goods Depot, and it was once part of a major railway complex which included a station, sidings, and a goods yard.

In 1872 an Act of Parliament enabled the Great Northern Railway (GNR) company to begin the construction of a new line going through the town of Derby. They sought to provide a link between the industrial Midlands, the North and the parts of the North-West. The line was to run from Nottingham to Burton through the centre of Derby, with links to all the major coalfields within the region. The Friar Gate Goods Yard was intended as the main goods depot for the GNR line. It's location was also well chosen due to the great many mills and foundries in this part of the town.

Opening in 1878 to the designs of Kirk & Randall of Sleaford, and built of red brick and Welsh slate, the building would seem to have an unusual shape. The triangular portion at the Stafford Street end of the building contained not only offices but also living accommodation on the third floor for the Goods Manager and his family. Although now derelict a glimpse through the upper windows reveals the remains of fireplaces and cornicing. After nationalisation in 1948 this upper floor was used by the British Rail Chief of

Supplies and Contracts Officer and his staff to print railway timetables.

horse drawn drays coming and going all day long. Each side of the building had sidings into which, day and night, wagons were being shunted”.

In 1928 the accommodation was lived in by a young girl called Sybil Ride and her family. In the book Memories of Friargate Station she described vividly what it was like to live there. She states that “the Goods Depot was a very busy place, with wagons being shunted in and out and

The main part of the warehouse was built over three floors. The basement level was used for storing bonded goods of all types. The next floor provided more storage whilst the top floor served as a grain store and featured two grain chutes and ten hydraulic cranes. The Goods Yard handled a whole range of produce including coal, steel, timber, tin and livestock and also, during World War II it was used to house ammunition and supplies for the US army. Despite all this activity, by the 1960s the building's time was up. The railway closed to the public in 1964 and then 4 years later, it closed to freight as well, another victim of the Beeching Cuts. Since that time this beautiful building has slipped further into decay, the victim of neglect, vandalism, and numerous fires. In 2017 the Victorian Society included it in its list of the top 10 endangered buildings. Over the years many ideas have been put forward for possible uses, but all have failed to get off the ground. In recent weeks, however, a new development plan has been submitted by long time owners Clowes which will see the building restored as part of the redevelopment of the whole Friar Gate site. Fingers crossed that after almost sixty years the Goods Depot will finally have a bright new role in the city.

The interior of the main structure.

The interior of the offices and accommodation.

Nutrition And Retreat

Time to reflect, re-energise and be inspired…

Putting it all together

Over the course of the last few issues, I covered a concept of three Ts: Time, Type and Total. When and how quickly do we eat? Is our diet diverse and of the best quality within our budget? Are we buying and eating too much? Are we planning our meals? These questions can help us to be mindful and gain an understanding of our own relationship with food. It all sounds simple and logical, but how do we put it into practice. As an example, I will guide you through a day in my life to show how it works personally for me. Everyone is different, and it may take a while to find your own balance. It certainly took me a number of years with trial and error, to incorporate it into my daily life. However, here, I can share my personal experience which will hopefully inspire and encourage you to start to explore your own.

To set the scene, I will explain what I do in my day-to-day life. Four days a week, I work as a Programme Manager for a big corporate company, mainly working at home. During the rest of the week, I work as a Registered Nutritionist. This involves writing articles, running workshops for businesses, coaching clients and working on my research project. My husband and I also run a B&B at the weekends. There is a lot involved in running these businesses and so I have to plan and prioritise activities carefully to make sure they don’t take up all of my time. There are a few non-negotiables for me, my

sleep, my time for exercise and nutrition. How do I fit it all in then?

I wake up early to do some exercise first thing in the morning. This exercise can be anything from 15 min to 1 hour. The key is to never skip a day. No matter how short the session is, it is part of my routine, so I aim not to break the habit. Then I have a shower and eat breakfast. Timing will again depend on what the day has in store. However, even if I only have a

short time for breakfast, I ensure this is my full focus with no distractions, and I do not rush eating. It is important for digestion and mindfulness to savour my food to make sure I am set up for the day. What I have for breakfast can be as simple as poached eggs on toast or as complex as a vegetable salad or an omelette. After a busy morning of meetings, I always have a late morning / midday coffee break. I do like my coffee so I will have it away from the laptop and phone. I like to share it with my husband as it is our time to discuss anything needed for our businesses and plan the rest of our day. We usually share a little bit of dark chocolate and / or some fruit. If we are a little hungrier, we will have a bigger fruit salad with some yoghurt to keep us going.

Our main meal will then be between 3pm and 6pm. I try to allocate an hour to this, which includes food preparation, and provides at least 30 minutes to enjoy a dinner in a relaxed and steady manner. If it is a particularly busy week, I make sure I have some pre-made meals frozen, which I can take out the night before to defrost and then reheat. I have these pre-prepared meals on hand, as I often make bigger batches of dinners at times when I am cooking, and I simply put some aside to be frozen. At other times when I have run out of stock, I usually prepare a very quick and simple pasta dish such as the courgette pasta recipe shared here. Vegetables are swapped for whichever ones are in season or whatever is in my cupboard. If we do get peckish at other times

by Marta Zaremba-Marsden ANutr

during the day or evening, we snack on fruit, nuts, seeds or hummus. Throughout the day, I also drink plenty of water and herbal teas to stay hydrated. A highlight of my day is an evening walk after dinner. It can be as short as 30 minutes, but it helps to clear the body (and stomach) and mind. If work pushes us to do some late emailing, the walk provides me with the energy and headspace to continue.

To achieve this level of flow and routine, I have some tricks. Always, before bed, I prepare the breakfast. This includes, setting the table (putting out the mugs and tea), chopping some vegetables for a salad, soaking porridge or preparing eggs for poaching. These small tasks save me precious minutes in the morning. The very action of deciding what to have for breakfast before going to sleep, sets us up for an easier start to the day. My evening walk is mainly in nature and through the woods. However, when I am running low on fruit and vegetables, and other staples at home, I take a backpack, and walk to my local supermarket which is at the bottom of a very steep hill. This allows me to replenish my food stocks, hunt for evening bargains (look for those yellow stickers), and also means my walk doubles as strength exercise while carrying my shopping back up the hill. Finally, it is all about planning. My Sunday evening activity, often with a glass of wine or a cuppa, is to sit down with my husband, and choose what to eat for the week ahead. We write down our choices, pick recipes and write a shopping list. Doing it in this relaxed way means that we are more imaginative, and don’t have to make decisions during the week. We sometimes get a shopping delivery sorted at that point or just agree who will do the shopping. A daily structure may seem mundane, rigid and boring. However, creating a process for these basic tasks in our life really frees up some brain capacity. This helps with reducing stress levels, boosts creativity and allows extra time for family and hobbies. Importantly, overall, it improves our relationship with food enabling a healthier lifestyle.

Did you make the most of holiday season?

Hello - Happy September! Now you might be one of the lucky ones who still have their annual holiday ahead of them – or one of the even luckier groups who don’t limit yourself to one holiday each year.

I came back from my divine 11 nights in Kefalonia right in the middle of that hot spell we had early September –very odd getting off the plane at East Midlands and it was hotter than it was when we left Greece!

And then it was the return to “normality”, which was the M1 to start with, then Aldi and then the post mountain, collecting the pugs, and the washing……

Whilst on holiday I managed to do some study for my upcoming Hypnotherapy assessment and for a business set up course I am doing; and one of my pieces of homework for my business course was to come up with my Dream Board. The course is run by Chanel Morales, and I found out she doesn’t believe in SMART goals (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, timebound) – well she only has an issue with the realistic bit – she wants all her graduates to have CRAZY goals and taking her advice I found it very liberating.

All that dream work and the slump you feel as you return to normality reminded

me of a quote I’d noted down sometime in the past (source unknown): So, how often do you sit down and dream big and challenge your ‘goals’ – I would love to know that your goals are your ultimate dream; but have you ever asked yourself if you are planning “within the box” that the world, society, or even yourself have created for you? Why can’t these amazing achievements be yours too? I don’t want to hear, “Well things like that don’t happen to people like me”! Those people are like you. I think one of the biggest mistakes we all make is comparing our insides with other people’s outsides. Mostly because even though we should know ourselves better than anyone else, we do tend to beat ourselves up and underestimate ourselves.

I’m sharing my Dream Board with you today; watch this space, as I launch my hypnotherapy practice later in the year. But in the meantime, reach out if you think you’d like some support to work out what that dream board needs to look like for you and would like me as your coach.

“So in here you’ll find trips to New York and Buenos Aires; a wonderful Greek home; a home by the sea somewhere in the UK with a wonderful light filled office with all my books, a gorgeous art studio space and a kitchen garden; A LOT more pugs, spare time spent doing ‘am dram’; meditation and yoga retreats in Bali – attending and running them; a book deal; my podcast and believe it or not a nice new Kia Sorento – yes, I thought about other luxury brands – there are other brands available but you know I do love a nice Kia and some help around the house, with the dogs, housework, and a chauffeur when I need them.”

Find me here: www.fishinwater.org

www.instagram.com/change_can_be_brilliant

A little about me

www.linkedin.com/in/changecatalystatfishinwater

I call myself a change coach and consultant – and any kind of change, personal or work related. I’ve worked across the public and private sectors, in various roles, but most recently worked in big change projects, often where IT systems are being changed, supporting programme directors keep everything on track. And over that time, I saw that people beats process every single time. But quite often people are an afterthought. I work hard to remind people involved in and leading big change projects that if you don’t involve and take people with you, your project won’t achieve the benefits you need it to. On an individual basis, change can often be hard – get yourself change fit with me. I work with individuals and organisations to make sure change is prepared, planned, and managed to ensure the right outcomes for all.

One of my offerings is one to one coaching and I now have space for 2 new coaching clients. I’m also on the look-out for hypnotherapy case studies to support my hypnotherapy qualification which I aim to achieve in October – reach out!

E: sarahroach@fishinwater.org | m: 07894 961095

Residential Care Home for the elderly

A hidden gem in the heart of Littleover

Established in 1984, Linden House Residential Care Home have almost forty years’ experience in caring for persons over 65 who are frail or have physical

disabilities and also specialise in caring for patients with dementia, which is assessed prior to admission.

Located in a quiet cul-de-sac and overlooking glorious and luscious gardens, Linden House has 15 cosy and comfortable bedrooms, of which 3 have en-suite facilities.

Residents are encouraged to make their rooms their own and add their own personal touches with photographs, ornaments, and furniture to make them feel at home. Pets may also

be accommodated – based on an assessment prior to admission.

Located in Littleover and within walking distance of the local shops, post office, banks, pubs and church, the home is also easily accessible by local buses and for your piece of mind is also registered with the Care Quality Commission.

There are weekly visits from a hairdresser and visits every six weeks or so from a chiropodist at an extra optional cost, and entertainment is catered for with a weekly singer/entertainer as well as daily quizzes, board games, art, bingo, sing-a-long's and more. In addition, there's a regular library visit to the home to bring books, mostly in large print.

To find out more about the home, then please get in touch with the friendly and experienced team who will be more than happy to help you.

Your Premier Events & Attractions

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DERBY & DERBYSHIRE

New concert series launched in Derby

Sinfonia Viva, the Orchestra of the East Midlands, has launched a new series of five concerts between October 2023 and March 2024 at Derby Cathedral and the Museum of Making.

The season features unforgettable musical experiences, family concerts and Friday afternoon music to help you unwind at the end of the week. The orchestra will perform music by Mozart, Beethoven, Holst and many more famous composers, and will be accompanied by guest artists with international reputations, including soprano Nadine Benjamin and conductor Natalie Murray Beale.

Lucy Galliard, Sinfonia Viva’s Chief Executive, explains: “We have taken our inspiration for the music included within these concerts from Derby, and the incredible buildings, heritage, art and industry of the city. Our musicians will be joined by a host of world class artists for these concerts, as well as featuring a world premiere performance.”

The season starts with Holst’s iconic The Planets performed underneath Luke Jerram’s scale replica of the moon in Derby Cathedral (Oct 18, 7pm). In October half term, Sinfonia Viva partners with the Museum of Making to bring the family show ‘Wait….What?!’ back to Derby (Oct 22, 2.30pm). Designed for children aged 7 & under and their families, it is a specially written show which answers some of the many questions asked by curious children.

In November, Sinfonia Viva returns to the Museum of Making in a new afternoon slot. To celebrate, they have commissioned oboist Maddy Aldis-Evans to write a new work inspired by the historic loom within the museum’s collection (Nov 17, 2pm). Lucy Galliard adds, “From the familiar to the brand new, this is a concert series with something for everyone, and I very much hope you will join Sinfonia Viva on our voyage of musical discovery over the coming months, and I look forward to meeting you at one of our performances soon.”

For full details on all the performances visit www.sinfoniaviva.co.uk Tickets are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/sinfoniaviva

Shine A Light transforms the historic Cromford Mills with a brand-new audio-visual display reflecting on the Mill’s transformation and rebirth since Arkwright’s time. This illuminating show is not to be missed! Tickets from £6. Oct 26th, 6pm, Cromford Mills.

Maze52 re-opens this autumn with another exciting opportunity to conquer Ednaston’s Maize Maze adventure! Visit maze52.com for the latest information.

Legendary broadcaster Bob Harris & Beatles expert Colin Hall present “The Songs The Beatles Gave Away”. This fascinating talk includes unseen Beatles footage from Bob’s personal Lennon and McCartney archive, and a Q & A session. Tickets £22. Oct 24th, 7.30pm, St. Peter’s Church, Belper.

The Derby Music Hall and the Demon Drink

The Star Music Hall opened in Derby town centre in 1869, prompting an unusual alliance of teetotallers, local publicans, and church people to do all they could to prevent it obtaining a licence to sell alcohol. But it was a hasty choice of building materials that sparked its dramatic demise in 1873.

Entrepreneurs Neils Harris and George Favell Cant were running a concert hall they had built in Worcester when they set their sights on creating a new entertainment venue in Derby.

They chose a plot of land on what was then Prince’s Street (sometimes called Princess Street) and is now called Exchange Street. It was opposite the Corn Exchange which still stands today with its distinctive green dome.

The land was owned by Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper (1801-1880). At first, he seemed content with the business arrangement and work began on a brick building. However, Lord Belper was unfamiliar with the concept of music halls and ordered that work was stopped while he investigated whether this was a suitable project. The brick-built foundations were already in place and by the time Lord Belper decided he was happy, the rest of the hall was quickly fashioned from wood to avoid delaying the scheduled opening night of November 15, 1869.

As the building neared completion at the end of September 1869, magistrates rejected an application from Harris and Cant to sell beer and wine. They said they would see how the hall did in its first 12 months.

According to The Era newspaper, the building was not quite completed on the opening night, but it still wowed the crowds. The Era said the building could hold between 2,000 and 3,000 people and was 120ft long by 66 and a half feet wide. Its height was between 50 and 60ft. The stage was 46ft wide by 32 feet deep.

Performers on the opening night included a trick cyclist (known as a velocipedian) called Ducrow; an operatic singer called Mademoiselle du Maurier; a Swedish gymnast called Carlo Erato; a seriocomic called Miss Lizzie; Mr Henri Clarke, billed as ‘the people’s comic’ and the Lupino family.

The Star had a three-sided balcony and a galvanised iron roof supported on timbers. There were six dressing rooms, tables and chairs on the ground floor in front of the stage and probably benches for seating on the balcony. It would have been larger than any other Derby venue at that time and was heated by gas stoves in the winter. After a few weeks of running the Star, Harris and Cant re-applied for a drinks licence in December 1869. Mr Leech, representing them, referred sarcastically to the joint opposition from teetotallers and publicans as a union between ‘the lion and the lamb’.

The publicans did not want people to drink in the music hall instead of in their establishments and the teetotallers’ objected to another venue selling the demon drink in an area where there were already eight licensed premises.

The magistrates denied the application again, but a Derby Mercury reporter had sympathy for the entrepreneurs. He said that although some London music halls were ‘dens of infamy’, in Derby, where the magistrates would have had full control over the establishment, this was not a risk. The report ended by praising the ‘perfect propriety’ of the entertainments so far provided by Harris and Cant.

Prince's Street - the location of the Star Music Hallas it appears on an old Map of Derby.

In the first of a two-part article Ted Bottle and Elaine Pritchard investigate the history of the Star Music Hall in Derby from its opening to its demise.

Without a licence to sell alcohol, audience members had to go to nearby pubs for a drink. Harris and Cant did at one stage form an arrangement with the landlord of the New Market Hall pub in nearby Bag Lane (now East Street). Waiters would take drink orders from music hall customers and go and buy them from the pub. In February 1870 an excise officer visited the Star and bought drinks. He claimed the music hall was charging an extra penny on top of the pub prices so Harris and Cant were taken to court and fined.

In May 1870, Harris and Cant applied successfully for a dramatic licence and the Star was re-branded as The Star Theatre of Varieties.

Cant responded with his own petition signed by 50 respectable local people, including seven town councillors, who regularly attended performances and vouched that they were perfectly proper and that good order was always maintained. Mr Cant said the police would agree that there had been no problems in the first year of operation when 180,000 people had been through the doors. There had not been one incident of drunkenness.

Local licensees argued that the construction of the Star did not meet the standards for licensed premises which should have brick walls and a tank of water in the roof in case of fire. Magistrates turned down the licence – again.

In August 1870 the annual Brewster Sessions were attended by a deputation of clergymen and Sunday School teachers who produced two petitions of 500 and 340 names respectively against the Star’s application to sell alcohol. The key objections were:

1. The place did not supply “wholesome or elevating recreation but gathers together many young persons of both sexes, by attractions which are often questionable in character and which being prolonged to a late hour make them unfit for work on a weekday morning and for the Sunday School on the Lord’s Day”.

2. Allowing them to buy drink would be “certain to promote disorderly conduct and the use of bad language” and to increase the licentious behaviour encouraged by the entertainment on stage.

3. There is a strong temptation for boys and girls to steal from their parents and employers in order to visit the music hall and selling drink would increase this temptation.

4. Music halls in London and other large towns are “polluting and demoralising” and their chief supporters are “those who prove the bane and curse of society”. Disorderly behaviour in nearby Albert Street and St Peter’s Street, caused by drinkers from existing licensed premises, would only get worse if the Star obtained a drinks licence.

A report in the Derby Mercury on 8th December, 1869 detailing one of the attempts made by the Star Music Hall to get a license.

An early - and positive - mention of the Star Music Hall in the 24th November, 1869 edition of the Derby Mercury.

The 28th December, 1870 edition of the Derby Mercury referring to the Star under its new monicker - The Star Theatre of Varieties.

We’ll bring you Part Two of this article in Issue 7 where we look at the venue’s continuing battle to secure a licence, some of the star acts that appeared, and a disaster that brought the short but storied history of the Star Music Hall to an end.

Are you prepared to die for your doctrine?

The tragic story and brutal end of Joan Waste

Queen Mary I - also known as Bloody Mary - was vigorous in her attempts to reverse the Reformation and in January 1555 it was made illegal by Parliament to hold Protestant views.

I’m sure amongst you – our readers – there will be people who either have a disability or know someone who has. In my case my fiancée is what we now term as severely sight impaired. That’s not to say she has no vision at all, but the vision she does have is bad – very bad. She – as she does with everything – shows immense bravery with the everyday struggles she faces and the support she’s received from both the council and the health service has been invaluable. It has, however, often made me wonder how people coped with such disabilities in the days before such support was available, and the further we go back in time the more pertinent the question gets.

If we go back to the 1500s in Derby, we find a young woman who coped admirably with her blindness – Joan Waste. She was also, by all accounts, a very kind and caring individual but neither her kindness nor bravery would save her from a brutal and unfair death when she was burned at the stake in 1556.

Joan Waste had been born blind in 1534 to William Waste and his wife Joan. Though blind, Joan seemed to be a determined person and by the age of twelve she had learned to knit as well as make ropes alongside her rope-maker father.

Joan was also a devout and practising Christian and was herself a Protestant - a form of Christianity that originated with the 16th-century Reformation, a movement against what its followers perceived to be errors in the Catholic Church. She attended mass at St. Peter’s Church in Derby. The fact she was a Protestant was initially of no concern whatsoever until Queen Mary I came to the throne in 1553. Mary was vigorous in her attempts to reverse the Reformation and in January 1555 it was made illegal by Parliament to hold Protestant views.

Joan’s Protestant views were well known in the town. She had worked hard and saved to buy her own copy of the bible. Needing someone to read it regularly to her, she finally found a man called John Hurt who happily agreed to help.

Hurt was in the Derby Gaol at the time for failure to pay his debts. Described as a ‘sober, grave man’ it seems that Hurt was one of many people imprisoned at the time for their ‘failure’ to get out of poverty. Joan had taken it upon herself from an early age to visit the prisoners in the gaol and Hurt was happy to make her acquaintance and to read to her until illness made him unable to do it anymore. Determined as ever, she asked friends to read to her for a penny a time.

By the time of her last year on earth – 1556 – mass was now being read in Latin as per the instructions of Queen Mary I and Joan objected to this. She also refused to accept the doctrine of transubstantiation - the belief in the conversion of the communion bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ at consecrationmaintaining they were still bread and wine and merely symbolic.

With Joan steadfast in her Protestant beliefs, it was inevitable that a clash would occur with the authorities and in June 1556 she was called in front of the Diocesan Bishop, Ralph Baine and his Chancellor, Dr Anthony Draycott to defend her views. Her trial took place at what was then All Saints Parish Church – now Derby Cathedral. At her trial Joan, whilst answering her charges, made it clear that she was aware of several people who had been imprisoned, tortured and killed for their beliefs. She said: "Are you prepared to die for your doctrine? If not, then for God's sake trouble me no more. I am but a poor, blind, uneducated woman, but with God's help I am ready to yield up my life in this faith."

With the Bishop and the Chancellor growing increasingly angry, they tried to persuade her to agree with the doctrine of transubstantiation and threatened her with imprisonment, torture and death if she refused to do so. In response, Joan asked the Bishop if he really believed in his heart that his doctrine was true, and if he was, therefore, willing to answer for her on the Day of Judgement.

The Bishop replied that he did and he would, only to back down when the Chancellor said: "My Lord, you do not know what you are doingyou may, under no circumstances, answer to God for a heretic."

Telling Joan she needed to acquiesce and that she would need to answer to God on her own account, she replied:

"If you refuse to take on your conscience as true what you wish me to believe, I will answer you no more; do your pleasure."

Joan was remanded to the bailiffs in Derby and placed in gaol where around five weeks later she received the news that she would be burnt as a heretic.

On the day of her execution – August 1 – she was taken first to All Saints Church where the Chancellor himself preached the sermon. He began by telling the congregation:

“This woman is condemned for denying the Sacrament of the Altar to be the very body and blood of Christ, really and substantially and is, for this reason, cut off from the body of the Catholic Church.” He went on to say that:

"She is not only blind in her bodily eyes, but also blind in the eyes of her soul. And as her body will soon be consumed with material fire, so her soul will be burned in Hell with everlasting fire, as soon as it is separated from the body. There it will remain, world without end."

After he had forbidden anyone to pray for her, Joan was taken to her place of execution holding her brother’s hand all the way there.

Joan was burned at the stake at Windmill Hill Pit which lay where Lime Avenue – off Burton Road – is now. Whilst the flame consumed her, the Chancellor –who hadn’t attended the execution – returned to his inn, ate and then slept.

The handwritten record of Joan's death in the All Saints Parish register.

Windmill Hill Pit - the site of Joan's executionpictured here in the 19th century.

Joan and her family attended services at St Peter's in Derby.

Derby Cathedral - All Saints Church at the time of Joan Waste - hosted the trial of Joan.

A wonderful mix of nature, celebration and reflection.

Living as I do in Derby, I’m always aware of how lucky I am to live on the doorstep to so many beautiful locations in the Peak District. With that being said though, and even after living here for half a century, there are still locations left which grab my undivided attention and stand out from the crowd, and as soon as I found out about Heritage Wood, this was one of those occasions.

Heritage Wood can trace its origins back to 1988 when a local farming family were looking for a special place to plant and dedicate trees. Nature lovers themselves, they decided to plant a large number of trees on the outskirts of Ednaston in Derbyshire, and today those nowgrown trees have grown into the woodland that is Heritage Wood. To this day, the woodland is still owned and cared for by the family in the form of their son and daughter-inlaw, Tim and Jill. In fact, it was an Aunt of Tim’s who proposed the idea after seeing the immense

amount of trees damaged and uprooted in the Great Storm of 1987. Free to access with no gates and open 365 days of the year, the woodland is a wonderful mixture of nature, celebration and reflection and a positive oasis of tranquility in the bustling modern-day world. The positive affect it has on mental health is also complemented by the incredible contribution it makes to the environment - one acre of trees annually consumes the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to that produced by driving an average car for 26,000 miles. That same acre of

trees also produces enough oxygen for 18 people to breathe for a year and at Heritage Wood, the trees are incredibly diverse and include Bird Cherry trees, Field Maples, Horse Chestnuts, Hornbeams, Lime Trees, English Oaks, Silver Birch Trees and Whitebeams.

Importantly too, it’s also a place where you can both remember, and celebrate, loved ones who are no longer with us or alternatively celebrate something such as a birth or wedding. You can also sponsor a tree simply to help the environment or just for the wonderful joy of

watching it grow. The bespoke planting programme at Heritage Wood allows them to have a selection of trees available for sponsorship all year round. Sponsoring a tree in memory of a loved one allows you to have both a plaque by the tree, and also a small, personalised garden around it, enabling you to create something truly beautiful and unique in memory of a loved one, and in a place where you can visit and remember them in an incredibly peaceful setting.

Heritage Wood also hosts events throughout the year –they recently hosted a Celebration of Life on September 10 – but

surely the highlight of the year must be their Illuminated Walk. Though there is an admission charge for this, it’s more than certainly worth the money - £9 per adults, £6 per child and under 5s free – as it allows you to follow a trail through the woodland guided by a succession of beautiful lights. Hosted in November and December – see www. heritagewood.co.uk for more details - the vibrant lights and illuminated trees light up and contrast with the dark winter evenings and at the end of the walk there are hot drinks and food available to buy, as well as a series of stalls offering various treats that might prove perfect for a Christmas gift.

Whatever the time of year though, Heritage Wood is very much worth a visit. Spring brings the annual feeling of fresh beginnings, summer there is a slice a quintessentially English countryside, autumn brings an aura of annual change and winter a biting freshness that makes you feel alive.

Life these days can be busy and hectic but if you want somewhere away from the hubbub of modern life – and perhaps somewhere that you can remember someone who meant the world to you – I’d pay Heritage Wood a visit. You won’t regret it if you do.

Illuminated Walk Opening Hours

17th, 18th & 19th November

1st ticket 17.00, last ticket 19.45

24th, 25th & 26th November

1st ticket 16.30, last ticket 19.15

1st, 2nd & 3rd December

1st ticket 16.30, last ticket 19.15

ERNEST TOWNSEND THE DERBY ARTIST

1880-1944

PART 3

In Issue 5 of our newspaper we looked at Ernest the Olympian, his relationship with Winston S. Churchill and heard the recollections and memories of David Townsend – one of Ernest’s sons. In this issue we look at a family relocation and Ernest’s immeasurable contribution to the war effort during World War Two.

ALLESTREE AND COXBENCH

The Townsend’s relocated to Fields Farm in Allestree in 1925, David having caught tuberculosis from milk from a local dairy and his recovery was hampered by the pollution of amongst others, the nearby Derby Power Station also located on Full Street. Ernest

kept on the studio in Full Street, later sharing this with Derby Sketching Club. Within a few years, the family moved again, this time to Birchwood Farm at Coxbench, a few miles north of Derby. Ernest would travel from Coxbench sometimes by rail, but usually by bus to his Derby studio where he would continue about his daily business.

SCHOOLBOYS HOLIDAY

Schoolboys Holiday was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Paris Salon, 1932. This painting shows Townsend's portrayal of his son,

David whittling a stick in the fields near Coxbench. The sensitive painting shows a very different side to Townsend's work, much removed from the sometimes-austere portraits of civil dignitaries

During World War 2, Geoffrey Wilde, the RollsRoyce engineer who played a key role in the development and later designs of the Merlin lodged with the Townsends at Birchwood Farm, becoming a life-long family friend. Wilde was later attributed as one of the principal architects of the RB211 three-shaft engine. Both of Ernest and Doris’ sons, David and Bruce were career-long Rolls-Royce employees.

Schoolboys Holiday.

Hospital Carnival Day, Derby - 1935.

A self-portrait of Ernest Townsend, 1929.

WORLD WAR 2

Ernest was deeply patriotic and was keen to contribute to the war effort. He was concerned that little had been completed to disguise strategic targets from the threat of Nazi air raids. The RollsRoyce site in Derby he felt would be a certain target.

Bruce - Ernest’s son - recalled that the RollsRoyce works – whilst a certain target – was also surrounded by a modern housing estate and the use of conventional camouflage, with light and dark areas, was very unsuitable for the site. He remembers though that Ernest had another plan entirely.

Ernest had noted that the glass roofs on various workshops contrasted sharply with the red roofed houses of the estate. This in turn marked them quite easily as an industrial building – especially when you considered that most of them were much larger than any house.

Ernest pondered heavily over whether it would be feasible to paint over the glass as a form of disguise. Another consideration was what could be done about the other features, like the large water tower and glass-fronted building near the Addison Road entrance?

As part of his theory Ernest paid to have a largescale cardboard model of the works buildings produced by a professional model maker. He then used the model to perform a series of trials – trials that in an age of computer graphics and modelling might now seem unwieldy.

Ernest’s studio at 31 Full Street was on the second floor of the building. Whilst the living quarters were on the floor above this the room, over the studio was empty. Here part of the floor had been removed and glass roof lights opened in its ceiling. This effectively gave Ernest a “North Light” – somewhere that admitted daylight without any sunshine or moving shadows – enabling him to find out the true colours needed for the paintings he produced in the studio below.

By placing the model on the floor of the studio and going upstairs to look over the cut-away floor, Ernest had a scaled-down pilot’s view of the model. Using canvas he had to hand, Ernest cut strips of it that he then applied oil paints to in order to help him establish which camouflaging technique would prove most effective. With the canvas being flexible it allowed Ernest to manipulate it into the shapes of the multiple pitches of the large glass roofs and the vertical walls of the buildings on the model.

Using painting effects – such as creating the impression of vertical walls – Ernest made the large workshops appear from the air to be several semi-detached houses and even added additional painted tarmac roads to ones that existed, which in turn further created the impression of an “estate”.

Clock dials were painted on the water tower, and paint effects were used on the glass-fronted building on Addison Road, to disguise them as a church with a clock tower.

For many years after Rolls-Royce workers knew it as “the Chapel”. With further effects used, the German pilots were deceived and struggled to find a factory vital to the British war effort. Only once were the Nightingale Road works found by the enemy and though it was with tragic results it did not significantly affect the production of aero engines.

As Bruce Townsend noted, RollsRoyce took three years to pay the invoice for the work.

As the Derbyshire Times reported in September 1939:

‘A recent article on the art of camouflaging public buildings and works as defence against enemy aircraft, which appeared in the Gas Journal is a reminder that this well-known Derby artist has been engaged on work of this character for some months past. Airmen who have inspected the camouflage done by Mr. Townsend declare it to be very effective. and the works are not discernible from

a distance of about a mile. It is then too late for a bomber in the sky to do anything to them, as he must release his bombs at least five or six miles away to drop them anywhere near his objective. An artist’s knowledge of colour value is important, if a view of the premises treated is to be merged into the surrounding scenery. And, says Mr. Townsend, the paint must dry with dull finish if it is not to reflect the sky and glisten under the rays of the sun and moon. One result of Mr. Townsend’s activities as a camouflage artist has been to interrupt his ordinary work a portrait painter. He manages, however, to execute commissions in between,’ and one of these was portrait of the late Capt. Godfrey Meynell. V.C., ordered by his fellow officers in the Corps of Guides to hang in their mess. Mr. Townsend sent this off to India last week.”

Ernest completed camouflage schemes for various facilities across England. Additionally, he recorded the efforts of the Luftwaffe over Derby in 1940 in a small number of paintings. Given the subject and timing, these pictures did not sell, but now remain as a reminder of those events.

In the next and final part of this wonderful series, we look at just what life was like for an artist in Derby at that time. It would be great to hear any stories you have regarding Ernest Townsend and his family, or if you have one of his paintings. Contact us at info@derbyuncovered.com

We’d also like to make a small correction to the two previous articles – due to a small typing error we have presented the birthdate of Ernest Townsend as 1890. It is, of course 1880. Our apologies for that.

Searchlights and Shellfire, Derby - 1941.

Derby Cathedral during an air raid in 1940.

Charity Background

The charity was established in 1974 by local Derby resident Milly Wigley after reading about the death of a neglected child. Originally called “Concern Association Derby”, it acted as a meeting place for parents to attend and discuss any issues they may have been facing.

The charity opened its Family Support Centre at 13 Leopold Street, Derby, in 1987. The centre provided the charity with offices, a day nursery for children, and facilities for parents.

The charity continues to operate from its premises on Leopold Street, and currently provides three bespoke services; Supervised Contact, Family Support and Mentoring services.

Our Mission

Our founding aim is to relieve the distress and suffering experienced by families and children. Our charity works to benefit vulnerable children, young people and families, making life improvements by:

■ Responding to the needs of children where stress within the home may adversely affect their welfare or development

■ Providing support for children who are regarded as vulnerable and who may be at risk of social exclusion

■ Delivering community services designed to foster the general wellbeing of families with children

■ Providing services for parents which will enable them to better respond to the personal needs and financial support of their children

13 Leopold Street, Derby DE1 2HE

Tel: 01332 341516

Email: enquiries@childrenfirstderby.co.uk

How you can help

£20 £5 £10

A donation of £20 would cover the average cost of one for one of the positive activities that a Children First Derby mentor might engage in with their mentee. This could include a visit to a climbing wall, a museum, the cinema, a sporting event or taking part in an arts activity.

To donate visit

A donation of £10 would cover the average weekly travel costs for one of our family support volunteers to visit and support their family at the family’s home.

We provide our family support, mentoring and supervised contact coordinators with dedicated mobile phones so that our service users and volunteers can contact them easily. A donation of £5 would cover the monthly charge to Children First Derby for one of these essential phones.

www.childrenfirstderby.co.uk

Support your local creators, makers and artists

Derby and Derbyshire both have a wonderful and eclectic mix of creators, makers and artists and Derby Uncovered are proud to work alongside them.

Supporting your local creators, makers and artists is incredibly important for various reasons. It is of course of benefit to the local economy and also the environment, but it means that you –the customers – get a higher quality of both products and customer service. By shopping local with these wonderful artisanal businesses, you are not only getting a lovingly crafted product, but also helping to ensure that local businesses – such as the ones that you see on this page – not only survive, but also thrive.

Each and every one of the businesses advertising below offer a high-quality product and an exceptional level of customer service and Derby Uncovered are very happy to personally recommend them all.

GOING UNDERGROUND

By Richard Felix

Many years ago, I used to write articles for a magazine produced by Lionel Pickering called Derby Now. It was going great guns when he then decided to change it to Derbyshire Now. I remember very well debating with Lionel about the fact that there already was a magazine dealing with Derbyshire, and Derby was quite capable and interesting enough to stand on its own two feet.

When David Turner invited me to contribute to Derby Uncovered, I was therefore elated to say the least. At last, a paper for Derby folk about Derby. Derby has 2000 years of local history which encompasses all aspects of British History. Boston, Massachusetts was founded by a man from Derby, Lowell, Massachusetts was founded by a man from Derby, Masterton, New Zealand was founded by a man from Derby. There’s twenty-three Derby’s in America, three in Australia, one in Tasmania, one in South Africa - thus making our local history of international importance. Derby is a city of invention, and a city of innovation. We are the only city in Great Britain that builds trains and the third largest aerospace city in the world. Lying where highland meets lowland at the lowest crossing point of the Trent, and it’s tributary the Derwent, we have always been a crossing of the ways. We are the most central city in England, and we are truly “The Crossroads of History” I am truly excited about the prospects of this paper, and I hope you enjoy its contents as much as I will enjoy contributing to it.

Underneath Derby Guildhall lies a labyrinth of tunnels dating back to 1828 that were originally built as cellars for the Tiger Coaching Inn and the Guildhall itself. Throughout the years they have also been used to transport prisoners from Derby's first Police Station - located in Lock-Up Yard - to their court cases in Derby Magistrate's Court which was housed in the Guildhall.

When Derby established a police force in 1836 the very first police office was established in the Guildhall and part of the tunnels were used as

holding cells until the Lock-Up was built.

In the 1870s a tunnel was dug from Lock-Up Yard linking with the Guildhall tunnels. This was used to transport prisoners from the Lock-Up to the Magistrates Court in the Guildhall, rather than walking them from Lock-Up Yard through the Market Place, or through the Market Hall.

In 1879 Gerald Mainwairing murdered PC Moss in the Lock-Up and walked that tunnel to be tried in the Magistrates Courts.

A plan of the tunnels as air raid shelters - plans of Derby's public air raid shelters can be found online at www.derby.gov.uk/ derbyshistory - or visit Derby Local Studies and Family History Library to view the original documents. An atmospheric view looking down the tunnels.

One family in particular –who had family members that walked the tunnels - would have made Derby internationally notorious if they had succeeded with their alleged plot to murder David Lloyd George - the Prime Minister. The alleged plot was hatched in Derby by Alice Wheeldon, the ‘Peartree Poisoner’ at her second-hand clothes shop in Normanton. On January 29th, 1917, the police acting on information, arrested her, her two daughters and her son-in-law. They were imprisoned in the Lock-Up and then taken via the tunnel to the Magistrates Court where they were remanded for trial at the Old Bailey for treason. In the court Alice said “I hope we are not going back to the place where we were imprisoned last night. My feet have never been warm since I went there. The disgraceful state of the place and its coldness are a disgrace to civilisation”.

In 1931 a Derby Telegraph reporter wrote, “I explored the old tunnel where the prisoners used to walk from the cells underground into the Police Court. First, I went down a circular staircase into the “Inky” blackness of the tunnel and shuddered as a cobweb stuck my face. I had to creep and groped my way along by the wall. At the end of the tunnel, I reached a short flight of stairs and there saw daylight once more in the present room for the magistrates.”

During the Second World War the Guildhall Tunnels were used as the main air raid shelters in the centre of the town, with some of the rooms being used to store flat packed cardboard coffins in readiness for a major blitz on Derby, which never happened. There are huge oak timbers inside the tunnels which reinforce the barrel-vaulted ceilings and Ladies and Gents’ toilets are still in place. Also, on the main entrance between the Guildhall and

Market Hall there is, still to this day, a painted sign on the door saying, “Keys to air raid shelters available from Mr Rose and Mr Gibbs in Derby Market Hall.” I always thought what if Mr Gibbs and Mr Rose couldn’t be found and the Luftwaffe was on its way to bomb Rolls Royce and Derby. It’s a little bit Dad’s Army Style!

Their most current use was on the Derby Ghost Walk, and it was considered as an integral part of this walk. Only a third of the tunnels were accessible to the public on these walks, which incorporates four rooms out of fourteen that still exist down there. The condition of the tunnels is structurally sound.

For the past 35 years, I’ve had “Tunnel Vision” and been trying to open the tunnels as a major tourist attraction for the city. The response I’ve had from the thousands of people who have experienced the tunnels has been nothing but positive. The extra footfall from visitors to the Cathedral Quarter would be of great benefit to the area as Heritage Tourism is now one of the largest industries in the World. York has seven million visitors a year and they all spend in the city, yet we are in the centre of the country and visitors pass us by.

Approximately twenty years ago Interactive TV, who created the First and Second World War galleries at The Imperial War Museum, visited the tunnels and were extremely enthusiastic about creating an underground experience in these tunnels.

The advantages of turning Derby's Guildhall Tunnels into a tourist attraction are endless - Derby needs a major tourist attraction. It would

educate the public as to what a rich history and heritage the city has to offer, and visitors and locals love to climb towers and explore underground tunnels, vaults, cellars, and catacombs. Unlike other attractions around the country, these tunnels have a pedigree second to none. They are authentic, atmospheric, and genuine, dating back nearly 200 years. It would fit into many schools’ work programmes that now include Crime & Punishment, Local History, and the Second World war. Derby Police Museum is looking for a new home and with the police connections to the tunnels they would make an ideal venue. It would greatly increase footfall in the area, both during the day and in the evening, and therefore generate revenue for many other businesses - especially since the Derbion opened and the 'Heritage end of Derby' has become a lot quieter. It would attract a new kind of visitor into the city, as this would be like no other tourist attraction in the area. The theme would include a background to the history of Derby from start to finish, incorporating everything from Roman, Saxon and Viking times, famous events and people associated with the City and County, alongside all the important things that have happened to Derby and Derbyshire over its rich 2000year history. Derby's Guildhall has been at the hub of Derby's history for nearly 1000 years and the tunnels are extensive enough to tell the whole of Derby's fascinating history. With Derby being declared the Most Haunted City in Great Britain; it would also bring the paranormal element. The theme of the tunnels would be “The Derby Story”. Firstly, there would be a section at the beginning of the tour that explains the background and origins of the tunnels - starting with Derby's unique location as England's most central city. There are bricked up areas that need opening and accessing, including the tunnel that leads from Derby Lock-Up, under the corner of the Market Hall and linking with the Magistrates Court in the Guildhall - for all we know the cells under the Lock-Up may well still be preserved. There are three entrances/exits to facilitate the flow of people through the Tunnels - the Market Place, The Tiger Bar, and the area between The Guildhall and The Market Hall, which could become the main entrance.

In 1973, the ghost of a little boy was seen wandering the tunnels. Perhaps like so many Derby people he is waiting for the Guildhall Tunnels to be brought back to life and play a major role in telling the world of Derby's amazing story, situated as it is at, The Crossroads of History!

One of the entrances to the tunnels in The Tiger Bar.

A crowd of enthusiastic people on one of the famous Derby Ghost Walks.

An illustration of the murder of PC Joseph Moss.

HEAGE WINDMILL A dramatic sight!

She has been described as ‘One of the nine ‘must see attractions in Derbyshire’ and Heage Windmill has a history going back to the 18th Century to back this up.

Standing on the brow of a hill overlooking Nether Heage, but only visible from a few surrounding roads, the Grade 2* Heage windmill is well worth seeking out. Over 220-years-old, the stone tower mill was built in 1797 and originally had four sails until a huge gale in 1897 ripped away the cap (the rotating top to the mill) and the sails – a major disaster! Business however must have been good at that time because within eighteen months the cap and sails were replaced by the owners, the Shore Brothers. The four sails were replaced by six sails making available some 20% more power. The mills internal mechanisms were also replaced with the then ‘state of the art’ windmill technology.

However, the market changed and coupled with the 1914 war, when the mill was struck by lightning in 1919, she (all windmills are female) was abandoned and left to rot. And rot she did for by the early 1960s some of the machinery had been taken away and the wooden ribs of the cap were exposed for all to see.

Fortunately, the importance of the mill was recognised and in 1961 she was given a high-level Grade 2* listing and bought (for £350!) by Derbyshire County Council (DCC) who are still her owners. In about 1970, they carried out sufficient work to make her watertight again and restore her external appearance, fitting six new sails, although the cap could not rotate, or the sails turn to face into the wind. But windmills, exposed as they are to the elements, soon deteriorate and by the early 1980s decay had again set in and she was no longer watertight.

In the early 1990s a group of mill enthusiasts got together and formed The Heage Windmill Society, a Charitable Trust, who sought to restore the mill to working order and make her able to produce flour. Working with the owners, DCC, this was achieved in 2002. The work was largely financed by some big grants, at that time available from major external organisations, including The Heritage Lottery fund.

The working windmill is now open every weekend plus Bank Holiday Mondays, from the beginning of April to the end of October. Operated and maintained solely by a team of volunteers, she is one of only three windmills in England having six sails and able to mill flour in the traditional manner.

There is adequate parking and visitors, for a small fee, are taken on guided tours, the guides normally

worked commercially- 1919! A Virtual Reality (VR) presentation enables those visitors not able to climb steep steps to closely see the mill machinery, including the part of the mill for which, for safety reasons, there is restricted access. The welcoming Visitor Centre provides simple refreshments and sells the very popular stone-ground flour, made on the spot!

But even with all the care and attention lavished on her, wet rot has again struck and two of the major structural members of the cap which were not replaced by the Trust in 2000 must be replaced now. These two beams, known as the sheers, are 8 metres long and 30cm square and need to be replaced - however to do this the sails have to be taken off and the cap lowered to the ground. This will be done during the summer of 2023. The mill will assume an unfamiliar appearance on the skyline whilst the work, costing over £150k, is carried out, and this time large grants to carry out repairs are now not available - and a big fund-raising task in under way.

Alan Gifford Founder Trustee - Heage Windmill Society Member Derby Heritage Forum

Heage Windmill as a wreck in 1967 - by Barry Radford.

The mill from aboveby Azimouth Images.

The Hairy Bikers at Heage Windmill.

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Cadley Hill View Weekly Events 2023

Knit and

TUESDAYS

Tea at 3

WEDNESDAYS : 3.00pm – 4.30pm

We are welcoming our local community to join us for a cuppa, a slice of cake and a natter.

Gardeners Club

THURSDAYS : 1.30pm – 3.30pm Calling

Cinema Club*

SATURDAYS : 10.30am – 2.00pm

Each week we show a children’s movie in our lavish cinema room. Popcorn and treats are provided for the little ones.

Michael Thomas Bass

Born: January 27, 1866.

Died: April 29, 1884.

Famous

For our Famous Footprints in this issue, we look at a man who was neither born in Derbyshire nor lived in the county yet left indelible footprints here that are still present today - Michael Thomas Bass. His generosity was such that many people today still benefit from it and the people of his time turned out in their thousands to commemorate him.

Michael Thomas Bass was born into the Bass Brewery family in 1799 at Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Grandson to William Bass who had founded the brewery in 1777, Michael was educated in what was then known as The Grammar School in Burton before he finished his schooling in Nottingham.

He joined the family businessnow ran by his father Michaelat the age of 18 as an apprentice. At the time of his arrival business was not going well because the Napoleonic Wars had disrupted trade with Russia. However, as the 1820s arrived the sales of India Pale Ale in India and Southeast Asia began to expand substantially and he took over the running of the business from his father in 1827.

Under his leadership, the brewery continued to focus on their exports to Asia and by 1832-1833 the company was exporting 5,000 barrels of beer per year there – 40% of its output.

With the arrival of the railway to Burton in 1839, transport costs were reduced and the brewery continued to expand its production, until by 1860 it was producing 340,000 barrels of ale a year, rising to almost a million barrels in the late 1870s. By 1881, the company had three breweries and 26 malthouses covering 145 acres in Burton-on-Trent and was now Britain's biggest brewery and was also one of its most well-known companies.

Bass married Eliza Jane Arden in 1835 - together they had two sons and two daughters - and in 1848 he was elected the Liberal Member of Parliament for Derby. A supporter of low taxes

and improving living standards for the working class, he served in this position until 1883. He was also an incredibly generous philanthropist.

At a personal cost of £25,000£2.5 million in today’s money – Michael funded the opening of the Derby Free Library and Museum. It was opened on June 28, 1879 with special trains laid on from places such as Burton, Mansfield and Leicester for those who

wished to visit. His generosity didn’t end there, however.

He provided Bass’s Recreation Ground – which opened on June 22, 1887 - to the town and in 1873 funded two open-air swimming baths that were added to the Recreation Grounds. When the grounds were opened, Bass remarked that “I have been young but now am old, but I never can forget the days of my youth, and I very frequently reflect on the advantages of play and recreation.”

In addition to Derby Free Library and Museum and Bass’s Recreation Ground, he supported both the School of Art and Derby Infirmary and gave £1,000 towards the creation of the Derbyshire Children’s Hospital. In fact, it was said that every deserving charity in the town was at some time helped on its way by the benevolence of Bass.

When Bass passed away in 1884 at his home of Rangemore Hall near Burton, it was very swiftly approved that a public subscription would be raised for the erection of a statue in his honour. The required amount of £2,000 was soon gathered and the statue was unveiled in the Market Place on October 17, 1885. Thousands upon thousands of people packed out not just the Market

The announcement regards the opening of Bass's Recreation Ground in the Derby Mercury.

The announcement in the Derby Mercury on 14th October 1885 regarding the unveiling of the Bass statue.

Footprints

£27. It was only when a passer-by saw the head of the statue over a fence that this came to light. After a public outcry the statue was reinstated.

In 1964, a new extension was opened to the Derby Library and Museum complex and the Bass statue was relocated to Museum Square. Since that date it has only moved a few yards to the space it resides in now. Bass, when once asked about his generosity, was typically modest saying that, “Giving money for public purposes is a small thing for a man who has got it to give.”

Derby was very lucky indeed that he thought that way.

The Bass statue now resides in Museum Square in Derby.

Place but also Sadler Gate and Iron Gate when the statue was unveiled. The statue depicted Bass looking down at a scroll beneath his left hand, with the scroll being the plan and Deed of Gift of the Free Library he gave to Derby. The statue remained in the Market Place until 1926 when increased traffic and the road improvement associated with it, necessitated his removal. The removal of the statue - and the location of where it would be moved too –wasn’t without controversy and the pages of the Derby Daily Telegraph at that time reflect this. However, it was moved and took up its new place in the Strand entrance lobby of the Museum and Art Gallery.

The statue was almost lost to the Second World War when – without consultation – the then curator of the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, in response to a call for scrap metal, sold the statue to a scrap metal dealer for

A view of the immense crowds that turned up to see the unveiling of the Bass statue.

The Bass Statue being taken into the Museum and Art Gallery in 1926.

Meet Benjamin Ross Carey-Cope a new target member –

This is what he has to say!

I started my slimming world journey in March 2023, after getting into unhealthy habits with food and the weight piling on!

When starting Slimming World, I was a little apprehensive as to what it was going to involve! Once I had joined, I could not believe how much food it involved, what food there was on offer,

THIS WEEK’S RAFFLE PRIZE squash &

and what I was allowed to eat!

I have never felt like I was on a diet, and I have never been hungry which is really important to me.

INGREDIENTS

• low-calorie cooking spray

• 4 smoked bacon medallions, visible fat removed and roughly chopped (leave this out to make it vegan)

• ½ butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into small chunks

• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

• 1 litre boiling vegetable stock

• 300g dried pasta shells

• 200g spring greens, thinly sliced

crispy bacon, 4

chilli pasta

METHOD

Spray a large, lidded, non-stick frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium-high heat. Stir-fry the bacon for 5-6 minutes until crispy. Add the squash and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until lightly golden.

Stir in the red chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Tip in the dried pasta shells. Re-cover and cook for 12 minutes, or until the stock is almost absorbed and the pasta is just cooked. Stir through the spring greens and cook for another minute until wilted. Divide between 4 plates, season to taste and enjoy!

Chef’s tip Not sure what to do with the rest of your squash? Cut into cubes and roast using a little low-calorie cooking spray. Lovely in salads, to top a risotto or whizzed into soup.

enjoy!

It has been so easy to follow, I have been able to include all the foods I love, within my healthy extras and using my syns.

Four months after joining, I got my target losing 3st 4.5lb but have gone on to now get my 3 and a half stone award!

I could not have done this without the amazing support of my slimming world group!

who has lost a stonking 3st 7lb all in just under 6 months!

SHARDLOW INLAND PORT INCLUDED IN FIRST NATIONAL GROUP OF HERITAGE HARBOURS

Shardlow in Derbyshire is one of 10 Heritage Harbours (including Heritage Inland Ports) recently announced in a new initiative to help safeguard the harbourside, buildings, facilities and businesses that are vital to support our working maritime heritage vessels.

Supported by Maritime Heritage Trust,

National Historic

Ships

UK and Historic England, in each location local communities are developing outline plans to maintain and enhance the historic port area, its environmental features and the facilities such as shipyards and drydocks which vessels need to operate.

Shardlow Inland Port has a unique place in the history of the country. Originally a river port, Shardlow greatly developed with the opening of the Trent & Mersey Canal in 1777. Goods were transferred from wide boats to narrow boats and stored during this operation or while awaiting redistribution by road, in a growing range of warehouses. Along with this development came all sorts of other businesses and buildings to support the carriers, boat builders, rope walks, workshops, stores, stables, offices, workers’ cottages and owners’ houses. The decline of the canal business brought different uses for the warehouses, but the area remains remarkably unchanged.

The wonderful history and heritage of the port, and Derbyshire’s canal life and heritage, was

recently celebrated at the Shardlow Inland Port Festival. The community led weekend of events raised awareness of the historical importance of Shardlow in relation to 18th century trade and its historical roots and featured a floating market and a display of Historic & Working Narrowboats gathered around the picturesque London Wharf. Alongside the programme of live music, Morris dancing, children’s entertainment, stalls and food and drink throughout the village it created a wonderful event that will – you’ll be glad to hear – be returning.

Photo by: Samantha Fortey

The Shardlow Inland Port Festival floating market.

Photo by: Kevin Maslin.

The Shardlow Heritage Centre provides a fascinating insight into this 18th Century canal transshipment port with all its associated wharves and warehouses which can be explored by visitors throughout the year.

Sue Hampson, Chair of Shardlow Inland Port Festival Steering Group said “We are grateful for the support of Maritime Heritage Trust, National Historic Ships UK and Historic England for their recognition of Shardlow as an important Heritage Inland Port and inclusion within the National Group of Heritage Harbours. Shardlow could not be furthest from the sea, but we are thrilled to be recognised alongside the other locations.

The residents of Shardlow are proud of our achievements thus far and we all recognise there is still a lot of work to be done in restoring and repurposing some of the most important Merchant Houses and warehouses from the 18th Century in the village. Unfortunately, these Grade ll listed buildings remain in private ownership, and we can only do so much to bring awareness to this issue. We hope that this recognition will prompt the local county and city council’s, to give some thought as to how to preserve this historical treasure on their doorstep and that investment will be forthcoming from private owners to help restore this important corner of our heritage.”

The Heritage Harbour concept started in northern Europe as a way of providing free or low-cost mooring to historic vessels in exchange for public display. In the UK the idea has evolved to include a wider range of local community links such as encouraging heritage skills e.g., wooden boatbuilding and cultural heritage activities as well as maritime festivals and events which benefit traders and visitors.

However, there is an increasing threat across the UK maritime heritage sector through the loss of waterside buildings, businesses and facilities to unsympathetic new development which removes the water access and can destroy the historic character of a small port. Existing businesses often operate on low margins and are increasingly vulnerable to redevelopment. The aim of Heritage Harbours is to achieve a balance, retaining the key features, improving public access, creating wider cultural and arts opportunities linked to maritime heritage and benefiting the local community.

Heritage Harbours are not a legal designation but the National Working Group of Heritage Harbours, supported by Maritime Heritage Trust, National Historic Ships UK and Historic England, has adopted criteria for schemes that are proposed, and it is hoped that other locations will join the network.

A bygone image of the Shardlow Yacht Chandlery.

A view from bygone days.

The old Navigation Wharf in Shardlow.

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John Fogarty - Owner/Trainer at JPF First Aid.