People

  • Striding along …

    It’s hard to escape from Robin Hood in the north Midlands, with pubs bearing his name spread out over the region, from Macclesfield to Stoke and Sheffield to Nottingham. There are also Robin Hood wells, hamlets, fish and chip shops and the rock outcrop west of Winster, Robin Hood’s Stride. Clearly, the legendary figure has…

  • Searching for St Alkmund

    Few people outside the Midlands have heard of this Saxon saint, but in Derbyshire he is commemorated by two churches, a well and a street, besides being the patron saint of the city of Derby. As with many saints from the Saxon period it is hard to sort the legends from the facts, but apparently…

  • Hemlocked

    The Hemlock Stone on Stapleford Hill west of Nottingham is a sandstone pillar about five metres high, set in parkland. The name suggests that it may have acted as a boundary marker between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and it is found near the Portway’s crossing of the Erewash (the county boundary). It seems to have had…

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  • Completing fishermen

    Charles Cotton (1630-1687) was the owner of (the now demolished) Beresford Hall in Beresford Dale, on the upper reaches of the River Dove. As a Royalist sympathiser he found it prudent to live quietly in the country after the Parliamentary victory, but he was also a notable writer who wrote poetry in praise of the…

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  • Unwillingly to school …

    Today few young children walk to primary school alone, for a variety of reasons including parental perceptions of danger. In fact, the image of mum in a large Range Rover driving her offspring to the school gates has become a cliche. Yet 150 years ago children who were lucky enough to go to school often…

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