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  • Matlock – St. Giles’s Church (Mary Crossley)

    Matlock – St. Giles’s Church (Mary Crossley)

    This is the grave of Mary Crossley (nee Lovatt), the wife of Thomas Crossley and the couple married on 11 November 1804 in Mickleover, Derbyshire. Mary died on 24 September 1816, aged just 36 and she was buried on 27 September 1816. The other sad story is that Elizabeth, “the daughter of the aforesaid Thomas and Mary” died on 7 November 1816 when just an infant and she was buried on 10 November.

    Thomas Crossley went on to marry Harriet Caithness in Crich, on 9 March 1825. He’s listed on the 1840 census, being 60 years old, whilst Harriet was just 40 years old, so I wonder if that was a controversial marriage. They had several children, including Elisa, John, Edwin, Josiah, Emma, Hannah and Elizabeth. That must have also been an emotional time for Thomas, having another girl named Elizabeth, 25 years after the first died.

    There are so many stories to be told here, but they’re likely lost to time. It’s not clear why Mary died, perhaps complications from childbirth and that might explain the death of the child a few weeks later. Then for the husband to find a young bride and start what turned out to be a large family, it can only be left to the imagination to know how much he missed Mary and what impact her death had on his life.

    But, this gravestone is neatly carved and over 200 years on it remains readable and standing proud in the churchyard.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 142

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 142

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…. And I’ve now caught up after getting behind last weekend when on a camping expedition.

    Gog and Magog

    The dictionary defines this as “two giants, whose effigies stand on each side of the clock on Guildhall, London; of whom there is a tradition, that, when they hear the clock strike one, on the first of April, they will walk down from their places”. I’m relying on Wikipedia to tell me that “in Ezekiel 38, Gog is an individual and Magog is his land; in Genesis 10 Magog is a man, but no Gog is mentioned; and centuries later Jewish tradition changed Ezekiel’s ‘Gog from Magog’ into ‘Gog and Magog’”.

    There were carved depictions of Gog and Magog at London’s Guildhall from the medieval period, with the legend saying that they were originally giants who were chained by Brutus to the gates of the building. The carvings were unfortunately destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666, but replacements were installed in 1708, designed by Captain Richard Saunders. It is these that Grose refers to in his dictionary, but, sadly, these too were destroyed when fire damaged the building in the 1940s during the Blitz. New replacements were installed in 1953, carved by David Evans and these remain there today, but have yet to walk down from their places.

  • Camping – Day 3 (Matlock – Footstool Shortage)

    Camping – Day 3 (Matlock – Footstool Shortage)

    I liked this advertisement from a shop on Dale Road in Matlock. Worth a try!

  • Camping – Day 2 (Kinder and Jacob’s Ladder)

    Camping – Day 2 (Kinder and Jacob’s Ladder)

    This post is just photos, and quite a lot of them, of our circular walk starting and ending in Edale. It was a relatively short walk, just seven miles, of moderate difficulty although there was some minor scrambling involved. We started the walk at the official beginning of the Pennine Way and then up via Jacob’s Ladder, then going around near to Kinder Scout before dropping back down to Edale. The GPX of the route we took is at https://www.thinkadventure.co.uk/a-guide-to-climbing-kinder-scout-via-jacobs-ladder/.

    Anyway, the photos…

     

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 141

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 141

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Gluepot

    This is quite a charming word, defined by the dictionary as “a parson: from joining men and women together in matrimony”. The word wasn’t in usage much, from the late eighteenth-century into the mid-nineteenth century. What I prefer though is that in the United States, and some other countries, this same word evolved in the twentieth-century to mean a pub. The logic here was that it’s a place that people would want to get stuck in. Now, I very much like that and I will do what I can to use this in reference to my favourite pubs…..

  • Camping – Day 3 (Alfreton – 0 Miles Milepost)

    Camping – Day 3 (Alfreton – 0 Miles Milepost)

    In the late eighteenth-century and the early nineteenth-century, Alfreton became an important stop-over for stagecoaches and numerous coaching inns were set-up to supply food, drink and accommodation to travellers. Turnpikes were opening up at a pace, with Alfreton seeing the quality of its roads improving in the late eighteenth-century, which also gave an obligation to the trustees of these operations to install milestones.

    This cast-iron milestone is listed as being from the early nineteenth century, although might perhaps be just a little older, and it has a rather unusual format. Usually, the top of the milestone would have the name of the current city or town, which it does have, but on the sides would be the distances to the nearest settlements. Obviously the local residents didn’t feel the need to advertise the next town on the route, instead just adding that Alfreton was 0 miles away. Very helpful to travellers, although I suppose if they had too much ale, it might be useful the next morning.

    Alfreton did well out of all the turnpikes, it connected the town to Derby, High Peak, Nottingham and Mansfield amongst others. This milestone was originally placed outside of the Old George Hotel, which was where the Turnpike Trust held their official meetings.

  • Camping – Day 2 (Castleton – Swiss Tap Free House)

    Camping – Day 2 (Castleton – Swiss Tap Free House)

    Our initial plan after walking Kinder was to pop into a Good Beer Guide listed pub in Castleton, but unfortunately, the centre of the town was so busy that we couldn’t park and there were queues coming out of the pubs. So, we thought we’d move on until Steve handily noted this little outlet as were driving out of the town, it’s an extension of the Swiss House B&B. All that I can say about this is that the bar opened in late 2019 and if this doesn’t appear in the next issue of the Good Beer Guide, then something has gone wrong.

    Most of the real ale range is from Jolly Boys’ Brewery, but this pleased me as it meant that there was a porter available. Refreshing and well-kept, this was a credit to the brewery which is based in Barnsley. Also pleasing was that the owners have thought about the beer selection and have a range of different styles, rather than that damn habit some places have of offering four IPAs.

    I have a habit of not holding back from effusive praise when I find a pub where customer service just flows. It would be unfair to expect every pub to manage to match the Hop & Vine in Hull, but just getting close excites me. And the service here was excellent, absolutely faultless. They had the disadvantage that we were in a group of four and went into a separate room, so perhaps they would have engaged even more if I was on my own, but the welcome seemed genuine and authentic. There was also a relaxed atmosphere in the pub, I like that element of calmness.

    We weren’t quite ready for food, as I hadn’t long forced my way through a family-sized pork-pie, but this looked like a very moderately priced menu for hot food. I suspect they’re doing the thing of offering food at low prices to encourage people to visit for drinks, or at least to stay longer for another drink. Also, there was an attempt to offer some different bar snacks, and Richard took quite a fancy to the Snyder’s Pretzel Pieces. So much so that about an hour later he ordered a large boxful of the things to arrive with him when he got home.

    Whatpub aren’t over-selling the location at the moment, the description of “a family run B&B with a bar open to non-residents offering a range of four real ales” doesn’t really inspire and delight. This place is much better than this text suggests, but perhaps it’ll get lengthened in time. I might be entirely wrong about this, but I got the impression that the B&B set up this bar because someone there likes beer, they didn’t just do it to try and be on-trend. The reviews for the B&B are also high, I got the impression that the owners want to do things properly, that was certainly evident with their bar.

    So, along with Hoppiness in Warsaw, Pułapka in Gdansk and the George & Dragon in Acton, I now have my fourth entrant into my entirely pointless and self-serving pub of the year award for 2020…. Very lovely.

  • Camping – Day 1 (Over Haddon – Lathkil Hotel)

    Camping – Day 1 (Over Haddon – Lathkil Hotel)

    This was one of the nearest Good Beer Guide pubs to Bakewell, so that in its own right justified a visit here in my eyes. I’m on the hunt for a pub that’s as good as the Hop & Vine in Hull, although I suspect that it might take me some time to find it.

    The pub certainly has an excellent view over the Derbyshire hills and it’s no doubt a real treat for walkers plodding up the hill in the rain or cold, a little bastion of heat, alcohol and comfort. Not that there was any need of that comfort when we were there, as it was too hot…. There were some tables and chairs on the road, but it was a quiet area and nearly all the traffic here was likely coming to the pub, so it was a more peaceful setting that might appear in the photo. I can think of many worse spots for a drink as well than here, what a lovely place to enjoy a stout whilst peering over the fence at the hills.

    The eclectic range of food was more orientated to pub meals, which was fine, but it didn’t quite seem to fit the surroundings. We stayed outside and so I didn’t really see inside, but it seemed clean although in need of a refurbishment.

    There was a table available for us outside and the pub was a little quieter than I expected given its location and that it was a warm Saturday evening.

    There were only two beer options, which was a moderate disappointment from a Good Beer Guide pub. Although what was more of a disappointment, without sounding just a little snobbish, was the big sign for a 4-pint jug of Carling for £15. It does show the priorities of the pub and might explain the complete absence of most style of beers, so my hope for a decent stout was out of the window. Anyway, the real ale choices were the Infinity IPA from Blue Monkey brewery and the Brainstorm from Storm Brewing, the latter of which was poorly reviewed on Untappd. The IPA was fine and at the appropriate temperature, but that’s about as far as I would go. I liked the nod towards local ales though, at least they didn’t have a Greene King IPA as one of their two beers.

    I opted for the curry, which wasn’t particularly well presented and was overflowing. The portion of naan bread was pointlessly small, they might as well have left that off. The curry tasted fine, nothing exceptional, but it was hot in terms of the temperature and the chicken was tender. As a comparison, it was perhaps on the wrong side of the quality of a JD Wetherspoon curry, so I was expecting more from this venue. But, these are challenging times, perhaps the kitchen was struggling for whatever reason as the reviews are normally better.

    The service wasn’t quite there either, the request to split the bill was met with horror and I overheard the staff member talking to a colleague about what she thought of the request. She was perhaps more irritated that she had to go back to the main part of the pub for each transaction due to the limitations of the card machine, but I’m not entirely sure that this was our fault. The pub doesn’t respond to on-line reviews, so it’s hard to get a measure of what things are meant to be like or how seriously the owners take feedback. It was the sort of pub where the staff were polite, but they weren’t going to offer farewells or go beyond the minimum. But, I accept these are challenging times.

    All told, there was nothing particularly wrong with the pub, but there was nothing particularly inspirational either. I can’t really compare it to a craft beer bar or many independent pubs in the Good Beer Guide, as it was nowhere near the quality of experience, it was more like a visit to a Marston’s pub. Not a disaster by any means, but I don’t feel the need to hurry back. Based just on this experience, I’m not entirely sure why they’re in the Good Beer Guide, but perhaps our visit was a slight aberration.

  • Camping – Day 1 (Bakewell – Original Bakewell Pudding Shop)

    Camping – Day 1 (Bakewell – Original Bakewell Pudding Shop)

    There seemed little point visiting Bakewell and not partaking in a Bakewell pudding, which is seen as rather more authentic than a Bakewell tart. One of the traditional places to buy them is the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop and there was a relatively long queue on arrival, which was solely for takeaway as the restaurant area was just closing.

    The queueing situation was all well managed by the staff, who were remaining friendly even though they were near to the end of their working day. It must be hard to maintain customer service in what is a bit of a production line selling primarily just one or two different products, but everything seemed well managed.

    The quaint exterior of the shop, which was quite hard to photograph without people getting in the way.

    The other side, which is where the takeaway counter section is located. I managed to take a photo without people in the shot, although their shadows remain.

    Below is how the shop looked in the 1950s.


    The former baking area has been turned into a shop, although there’s still a bakery operation on site.

    The shop element, there’s a dining area behind it, one of three separate areas for those who want to eat-in.

    Some delicacies such as chocolate brownie slices, a Mars Bar slice, a chocolate Toblerone tiffin and white chocolate caramel slice amongst others. I’m more savoury than sweet, although I’m sure I can manage any of these.

    The cake selection on the lower shelf, with the Bakewell tarts and Bakewell puddings on the top shelf. The Bakewell tarts are iced with a cherry shoved on the top, but it was the pudding that we were here for. There are three sizes of the pudding, large (£6.60), medium (£5.95) and small (£3.15), with quite a hefty uplift for those wanting to eat-in. The tart is a more recent innovation, driven by companies such as Mr. Kipling, one of those fake branding exercises as there was no such person…. The pudding is more traditional and probably dates to around the beginning of the nineteenth century, but there are many stories and legends and no-one is sure which is right.

    And here it is, the result of thirty minutes of queueing, my first Bakewell pudding. I only went for the small one as I’m not made of money. The flaky pastry was slightly greasier than I had expected, which was evident from the state of the bag, but the sweet topping had a suitable jam and almond taste. Jonathan had acquired some cheap bread from the Co-op, but Richard and Steve I understand enjoyed their pudding moment…. All rather lovely.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 140

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 140

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Gilly Gaupus

    This phrase is defined by the dictionary as “a Scotch term for a tall awkward fellow” and it’s also spelled as one word, so gillygaupus. As Grose notes, this was mostly a Scottish term of insult, with the Gilly just emphasising the ‘gaupus’ or ‘gawpus’ section, which in itself means someone vacant or not quite with it. I can’t unfortunately add much to this definition, the phrase was so rarely used it doesn’t come up on Google Ngram, but it has a certain ring to it…