Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Derbyshire

  • Camping – Day 1 (Wardlow – Yondermann Cafe)

    Camping – Day 1 (Wardlow – Yondermann Cafe)

    So, Jonathan and Steve had their fancy porridge pots in the morning, whereas Richard and I didn’t have anything. Richard demanded breakfast, so off we shot at 07:50 to get to the Yondermann Cafe at 08:00 just as it opened. This was probably a good thing as not only were we the first people there, it also started to get busy and I was able to get the table nearest to the plug socket. Some things in life are the most important.

    The staff seemed pleased and welcoming to discover we were there just as they were opening up, just the kind of friendly first impression that’s so refreshing to see in the morning. And since I’d already been up hours, refreshing seemed sensible. Richard was very impressed with the selection, so what with him happy at the food choices and me happy at the power situation, life seemed complete. Oh, Jonathan and Steve were just happy that we were happy, it’s nice when people are like that, very selfless.

    The cake selection.

    I had the small Yondermann breakfast, which came with a filter coffee. Reasonably priced, and brought over promptly, it was cleanly presented. The quality of the ingredients was high and even the black pudding, something which I’m rather delicate over as blood is not one of my most favourite things, was pleasant tasting. The sausage was a little small, but had a richness of flavour, the bacon didn’t have much fat on and was nicely salted, the egg was cooked perfectly so I could dip the bread into it and the tomatoes were from a tin and just as I like them. I’m not sure about oatcakes as part of the breakfast, but this was as good tasting as I think they come and it soaked up some of the beans and tomato juices. All entirely satisfactory as far as I was concerned, a very useful way to start the day. The bread was unexciting and the spread seemed a bit margariney rather than buttery, but you can’t have everything.

    This photo was taken just as I sat down to plug my phone in, but it didn’t stay like this for long. Everything was clean and the whole social distancing situation was being well managed.

    I’m not entirely sure that this sign in their car park was as absolutely clear in its message as it could have been.

    Overall, this was all rather lovely and I was content with my choice. We always felt welcome, we were never rushed, the food and drink was all suitably hot and the environment was clean. There was a bit of a motor-biker feel to the cafe, so I assume that they get a passing trade from them, as well as from the nearby campsite (nor the one that we’re at). The cafe is well-reviewed and

  • Chesterfield – Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery

    Chesterfield – Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery

    This charming museum and art gallery in Chesterfield is free of charge and I was fortunate that I had time to visit as it’s opening hours are a little limited and they only just overlapped with when I was in the town.

    One of the main rooms of the museum, which was formerly the town’s library until a new building was constructed in the 1980s.

    There are some books for sale here, but what’s more exciting is that this is an original cart from when the building was used as a library. Yes, I found this exciting. Sorry.

    This is a longcase clock which was given to Chesterfield Council by Mrs A Hadfield, who slightly complexly was the mother of Councillor Hadfield and the donation was in honour of her late husband Walter. A member of the museum staff notes on their web-site that this is the loudest of all the exhibits they have, as well as being just a little erratic in terms of its time-keeping.

    Apparently this is a ground paddle and is a mechanism which is located next to the top gate of a lock. It is from Chesterfield Canal and it allowed boaters (or whatever they’re called) to fill the lock with water.

    Something quite unique, these are glass tubes owned by George Stephenson, the Father of the Railways. Their function was for cucumbers to grow straight, a simple little piece of technology.

    These are from the local packaging company, Robinsons, who are still trading today and who made all of the Smarties tubes, amongst many other things.

    This is the largest item in the museum’s collection and one which has some heritage. It’s from the Church of St Mary and All Saints over the road, which is also known as the Crooked Spire. It’s a windlass which was used during the church’s construction to lift heavy weights and people would have had to walk within in to get the wheel to turn. This was left in the church tower for many centuries and it was only removed in 1947 when they needed to make space to fit a new set of bells.

    I hadn’t realised this, but the information board by these coins mentions that in the late sixteenth century the country started to run out of currency. So, local traders produced their own coins, or trade tokens, including the town’s Angel Inn.

    All in all, a rather lovely museum and the staff there were welcoming and keen to engage. I also thought that it was a particularly well curated museum, as sometimes provincial museums can focus on a few topics which have no relation to each other, whereas here there was a complete history of the town with few obvious gaps other than perhaps their coverage of the World Wars. I fear that these sort of museums are very vulnerable to budget cuts, but hopefully it will continue for many more years to come.

  • Chesterfield – Church of St Mary and All Saints (The Crooked Spire)

    Chesterfield – Church of St Mary and All Saints (The Crooked Spire)

    For reasons I haven’t yet worked out, the cover image on these blog pages is automatically cropped, but I’m dealing with that.

    For this post, it kind of makes sense to have the whole photo, so here’s the church including its twisted spire. There’s a local poem about this church which is:

    “Whichever way you turn your eye,

    It always seems to be awry.

    Pray can you tell the reason why?

    The only reason known of weight,

    Is that the thing was never straight”.

    The church is also known as the Crooked Spire church, for reasons which are self-evident. The problem occurred when the spire was being built as there was a shortage of trained men due to the Black Death, and a mistake was made by using unseasoned wood and also too much lead. The spire twisted over the centuries, which isn’t entirely uncommon in churches from this period, and it was nearly taken down in the early nineteenth century. Wiser heads prevailed and the church is today one of the most infamous in the area because of its quirky spire.

    There also can’t be many football teams who have their nickname derived from the local church, but Chesterfield FC do, they are often called the Spireites. They were offering tours of the church tower until relatively recently, but it has been decided that it is currently unsafe to do so.

    I don’t like grave stones being reused in this manner, they’re losing their relevance like this and slowly being destroyed. This is inside the church’s porch.

    Looking towards the altar of the thirteenth century medieval church, which was comprehensively restored (or mauled about, depending on your view of Victorian architects) by George Gilbert Scott in 1843.

    Looking back towards the west end of the church which mostly dates to the period of Henry VII, they’ve built a shop area at the back (the shop is recent, that wasn’t a Tudor installation….).

    The intricately carved pulpit dates back to 1620. A large fire in the church started near to this pulpit in 1961, but although this fine wooden structure survived, the church’s grand old Snetzler organ was destroyed.

    The Foljambe family tombs in the Lady Chapel.

    The stained glass in St. Catherine’s Chapel.

  • Chesterfield – Ibis Chesterfield Centre

    Chesterfield – Ibis Chesterfield Centre

    Another one of my bookings from the Accor Black Friday sale in December, this was my stay in Chesterfield for three days in mid-March 2020.

    This is another Ibis which is struggling, indeed quite badly, on TripAdvisor and is rated as one of the worst hotels in the town. My room was sufficiently clean though, although the whole hotel is clearly in need of some modernisation and renovation.

    I had three days to enjoy this beautiful view. Being slightly abnormal, I do like the background noise of traffic though, so all is well. Although, on this point, some bloody idiot in the planning department has allowed this hotel to be built without a pedestrian crossing to the town centre, which is a three-minute walk away. This means that guests of the hotel have to try and cross a busy road and are reliant on cars slowing down to let them across. I can’t recall in all the hotels that I’ve visited in the UK such a dangerous situation and is perhaps a reminder to town planners that pedestrians do need to cross roads….

    A well stocked drinks tray, with the addition of chocolates being unusual.

    These were the sugars provided, note the Accor branding…..

    There was a welcome gift of bottled water, a nice little touch, a choice between still or sparkling.

    The drinks voucher for the welcome drink.

    The selection of drinks was, as usual, weak, although I can tolerate Boddingtons as a last resort and especially when it’s free. The pint was fuller than this when served, but I drank some so I didn’t spill it when walking to the table.

    The bar and restaurant area, which is also used for breakfast. I don’t like the pool table there, this seems to be a concept rolled out by Accor to make the public areas feel more accessible. In the case of this hotel, the brand needs to sort out the restaurant and bar options if they want this area to be better used. There was a menu of what sounded like uninspiring microwave based meals, it didn’t sound entirely appealing and I’m not sure why Accor persist with this. I noted the review:

    “When staff asked about my meal, I said it was awful. She apologised and wished me a good evening! Not sure why she bothered to ask.”

    Which amused me when picturing the scene in my mind. Perhaps I need to get out more. Another person seemed pleased with their experience:

    “The food in the “restaurant” was disgusting.the chicken fillet burger came with half cooked, greasy chips, over cooked chicken smothered in horrible greasy cheese, and a stale bun, no salad or garnish. probably the worst meal I have ever tried to eat in my entire life. I would rather kill myself than spend another night in this s******e”.

    The lift in the hotel also slightly scared me when I used it, which was rarely as I prefer to use the stairs. Guests excitedly get into the lift to go to their floor and press the button and are seamlessly taken up in an elegant and smooth journey. Well, that’s the theory. This lift clunks about, seems to think about what it’s going to do, then judders up, keeps the door shut, jolts sharply and then opens the door to disgorge the slightly confused occupants.

    I was again moderately amused at the review on TripAdvisor:

    “Partner got stuck in lift for over ten minutes, staff weren’t bothered.”

    I’ve been picturing this scene with some amusement, although I’m sure it wasn’t funny at the time. I also liked the review of the angry guest who was too hot, so the hotel gave him a fan and then one of the blades fell off.

    This review also moderately surprised me:

    “Stayed one night after a friends funeral in Chesterfield, the room at £69 was over priced plus there using duvets on the bed which the wife wasn’t happy with. And there wasn’t a spoon with the team making facilities which was probably down to the cleaning staff.”

    I suspect the hotel was equally surprised that someone left a 1/5 review because of a missing tea-spoon and that there was a duvet. They replied:

    “I apologise if the housekeeping staff accidentally failed to leave a teaspoon in your room, however, this could have been corrected immediately if reported. With regards to the room having a duvet on the bed, this is the generally the case in most modern hotels.”

    The cold options at breakfast.

    The hot options and I very much approve of the quality of the sausages and bacon, which I perhaps over-indulged in. There was the provision of disposable cups for those wanting to take their hot drinks away, with some interesting teas also available for guests. The quality of the breakfast was fine, the staff were also pro-active in ensuring that everything was kept topped up. I can’t say that a large number of guests opted for breakfast though, I suspect the nearby Wetherspoons and other outlets might have tempted some away.

    Overall, since this cost around £30 per night including breakfast, it’s hard to complain too much about the hotel. So I won’t, especially as the staff were all friendly and the house-keeping staff were efficient and restocked everything. It feels slightly dated, but I liked the hotel and I’d stay here again if I fancy coming back to Chesterfield to look at their wonky church.

  • Chesterfield – Chesterfield Library

    Chesterfield – Chesterfield Library

    The priority for me when visiting a new town or city is to visit their Good Beer Guide pubs, check the quality of the Greggs (which rarely disappoints) and then just have a little meander into their library. You can tell a lot about a town or city by the state of its library…..

    And this is a rather lovely library, above is the local history section which had what I’d consider to be an above average selection of books about the area. The library was also peaceful, which is what I think is essential, although many visitors don’t with their ringing phones, shouting and playing music. Chesterfield wasn’t too bad in this regard and the atmosphere was clean and comfortable.

    I visited the library twice, as once is never enough for buildings such as this, with the second visit having the additional excitement of six police officers rushing in to arrest someone. I initially hoped that they were arresting someone who had been excessively loud in a library, which I consider to be a capital crime, but I don’t think that was the purpose of the police’s visit on this occasion.

    The building is spacious and feels modern, although it dates back to the mid 1980s. Before then, the library was located in part of what is now Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery, with the museum keeping a book trolley as a little memento of that time.

  • Chesterfield – North Midland House

    Chesterfield – North Midland House

    This building, located just to the front of Chesterfield railway station, doesn’t look overly exciting in its slightly isolated landscape, but it’s noted as being the only surviving building from the town’s original 1840 station complex.

    Here’s the sign on the front of the building, designed by Francis Thompson. There’s just one little problem, although the building is of a similar design to the first railway station, it might not relate to the station complex itself according to some writers. Which does leave the question of why exactly it was built, something which I can’t work out the answer to and which, like many things, there appear to be numerous answers to.

    A side view of the building, which fronts onto Corporation Street, and once sat at the end of the freight lines which are no longer there having been replaced by the station’s car park. Looking at old maps, the building seemed to stretch for longer, so something to the side of the current structure has been demolished at some point.

  • Chesterfield – George Stephenson Statue

    Chesterfield – George Stephenson Statue

    This bronze statue of the father of the railways, who is buried at Holy Trinity Church in the town, was placed outside Chesterfield railway station in 2005. It was designed by Stephen Hicklin, a sculptor incidentally who had his studios in Saxmundham, Suffolk vandalised last year.

    The sculpture reads “Discovery, Vision and Invention” in the centre, and “George Stephenson 1781-1848. Locomotion, the conquest over space and time” around the outside.

  • Chesterfield – Greenery

    Chesterfield – Greenery

    I wasn’t entirely impressed at the green wall at the rear of McDonald’s in Chesterfield, it looks like my attempts at horticulture….

  • Chesterfield – Holy Trinity Church

    Chesterfield – Holy Trinity Church

    This church is a short walk from the centre of Chesterfield town centre and is nearly always shut, which is rather unfortunate. From reading reviews though, this appears to be for the security of the building than out of any desire to keep people out.

    The church was built between 1837 and 1838, being designed by Thomas Johnson and, to be honest, it’s not a particularly innovative building, especially how bits have been shoved onto it. But it still felt dignified in the afternoon sun, with the churchyard appearing well kept.

    There’s a memorial outside which is to the family of George Stevenson, not to be confused with George Stephenson, the father of the UK railway network who lived nearby at Tapton House.

    This is an unfortunate coincidence, as the great George Stephenson is buried inside the church, with a very simple tomb just with the initials GS. The confusion about his burial location isn’t recent, as in 1876 a reader wrote to the Derbyshire Courier questioning an article which had mentioned that he was laid to rest in the churchyard. The reader wrote:

    “For those who are interested in local worthies, I beg to state that I attended George Stephenson’s funeral and his remains are deposited on the right hand side of the communion table, inside the rails of Trinity Church”.

    Stephenson died in August 1848 and the relatively basic burial was deliberate, a newspaper at the time mentioned “it is in keeping with his life”. On the day of the burial the shops in the town were closed and the streets were busy with people, wanting to see the funeral cortege of the great man.

    The inside of the church would have had box pews when it opened, although these were removed during the late nineteenth century. There is stained glass in the east window which was placed there by his son, Robert Stephenson in his father’s memory. Much in the church is original, not that I got to see it, such as the 1838 font and pulpit. It’s a shame that there isn’t a way for the church to open a little more frequently though.

  • Chesterfield – Market Pub

    Chesterfield – Market Pub

    This pub near the market, hence the name, has won numerous awards in recent years for its food and real ale. I can’t find much history about the pub itself though, there’s nothing obvious on-line and the pub don’t have any information on their web-site.

    All clean and comfortable inside the pub, lots of wood to give a traditional feel. CAMRA note that this is a Greene King pub, something which if true they certainly keep hidden as there’s no branding or dull beer selection on offer. The service was prompt and efficient, with the prices marginally towards the higher end of the real ale scale.

    The Portland Black from Welbeck Abbey Brewery, a local brewery I hadn’t heard of until earlier today when I had another one of their beers in the nearby JD Wetherspoons. Not sure that I got the promised vanilla aroma, but the beer was served at the appropriate temperature and had a rich smoky coffee flavour.

    This is more of a food venue, but they didn’t seem to mind a few drinkers in the front area of the pub. The food also looked of a decent quality and it seemed to be a popular location given how busy it got, with the streetfood menu and selection of pies all looking rather on trend.