October 13, 2020

Castleton, Derbyshire – St Edmund, King and Martyr

Tuesday 22 September 2020. We went on to Castleton, as I had arranged to meet Linda to look round St Edmund’s church. Pre-covid it was open all the time, now just twice a week. It is one of three churches with a house-for-duty Vicar, and at the moment has one service a month (and the fourth Sunday on zoom). Again, like Tideswell, no guidebook. I did wonder if their noticeboard is a symbol of 2020. The Chancel arch, which we’ll see in a minute, is Norman, but the rest of the church was restored in 1837. One authority describes...
Categories Derbyshire Comments: 3
October 12, 2020

Tideswell, Derbyshire – St John the Baptist

On Tuesday 22 September 2020 we started the day at High Peak Bookshop, then drove up to Tideswell, and parked right outside the church of St John the Baptist, SK153757. They advertise themselves as the Cathedral of the Peak, and are open despite being unstaffed. They have a one way system, in via the south door (which has flat access) out through the (inaccessible) north door. Although they must be one of the major church tourist hubs in the middle of a National Park, they had no guidebook on sale. Pevsner fills four pages with the church and the...
Categories Derbyshire Comments: 3
September 23, 2020

northernvicarwalks August 2020

I’ve already blogged the National Memorial Arboretum and my 5 mile walk there on the 1st of the month. We opened St Edmund’s in Allestree on 2 August – so both my churches were open within three weeks of it being possible. I commented it would have been so helpful if the Church of England had provided all the signage we needed – which they did, in the middle of September (8 weeks after I’d needed them). After the service we drove to the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway for tea in Queen Victoria’s carriage. Built in 1885 for...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/National Trust/Railway History/Staffordshire/Wales/Yorkshire Comments: 0
August 23, 2020

Lilleshall Abbey, Shropshire

After Blist’s Hill we drove out through Coalport and some interesting roads to Shifnal, which looks like a town worth exploring, and up to the A5. Then I saw a sign to English Heritage Lilleshall Abbey, so we followed it. SJ737142. A short walk from the road, and a rather peaceful spot. It was founded in about 1148 for a community of Augustinian canons – they originally came from Dorchester in Oxfordshire (a town I have never been to), there were probably about 13 canons originally. It was a powerful place by the C13, deriving its income from gifts...
Categories Shropshire Comments: 0
August 23, 2020

Blist’s Hill Victorian Town, Shropshire – St Chad

Last November we purchased an Annual Pass for the Ironbridge Museum in their Black Friday deals. Then came winter, then came Covid. We drove over a few weeks ago to collect it, but it was a wet, horrible day and after a couple of hours at Blist’s Hill we had had enough. On Friday 21 August we booked a 10 am admission, and were there exactly on time. The weather was rather better. We ambled across to the Canal, and admired Trevithick’s loco which was built here in 1802 (this replica dated 1990 – I would love to see...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Railway History/Shropshire Comments: 0
August 20, 2020

National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire – the Army

Let’s start this final section with one amazing memorial, then we’ll end our visit with another.  We should mention we enjoyed the gardens and the café – and look forward to coming back when the Remembrance section is open, an exhibition exploring how humanity remembers. There are also many memorials I didn’t photo, and others that I even failed to find (The Donor Family Network is an obvious one for me). We will be back. The Shot at Dawn memorial is one of those that makes you stand in silence. During WW1 309 British and Commonwealth soldiers were shot...
Categories Staffordshire/World War 1 Comments: 4
August 20, 2020

National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire – beside the river

Our next amble was from the Naval area up beside the River Tame to the railway, then back in the direction of the ‘Shot at Dawn’ memorial, which we’ll do in the next blog. Here are a selection of the memorials we passed. I ought to know more about the trees and the wildlife. ‘Every which way’ is the British Evacuees Association Memorial. It was unveiled in 2017 and the sculptor was Maurice Bilk. “Through the deliberate distortion of the figures; reversed hands and some torsos twisted 180 degrees, the memorial conveys some of the anxiety and confusion the...
Categories Railway History/Staffordshire/World War 1 Comments: 0
August 20, 2020

National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire – RAF, Far East, Land Girls and Navy

Having visited the Millennium Chapel, we started to explore the grounds. There is no way I will do all the memorials, so we will have a selection of them. The gardens are lovely, and there is a good variety of planting. I like the Alder Tree, although the Arboretum seems cut off from Alrewas by the A38. Access to the Arboretum by public transport is appalling. The RAF Halton Apprentices Memorial Garden has a centrepiece representing the wheel badge. The base in Buckinghamshire, was open in 1912 when forces from Aldershot needed somewhere to practice the defence of London...
Categories Personal/Staffordshire/World War 1 Comment: 1
August 20, 2020

National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire – Millennium Chapel

We haven’t be able to visit churches for the last few months, and I am aware that I have still not blogged my two or Derby Cathedral. On Saturday 1 August we went to the National Memorial Arboretum. Our friends Rob and Anne have sung its praises, but we were not convinced. We decided to pay a visit. We were very glad we did. We booked at 10, and the queue was well organised. The Arboretum was the brainchild of Commander David Childs CBE and planting began in 1997. The National Lottery paid 40%, and the public matched it....
Categories Staffordshire/World War 1 Comments: 0
August 19, 2020

northernvicarwalks July 2020

This cartoon was in Private Eye and it sums everything up better than I can. I should have been celebrating my 25th anniversary of Ordination, instead we are struggling to get churches reopened. We had our first Sunday service at St Matthew’s on 19 July – St Edmund’s has had the builders in, so that delayed things there. Some local walks to Quorn, Duffield and along the old railway to Breadsall. A very wet day at Blist’s Hill Museum at Ironbridge. Trips to Kedleston Hall, our nearest National Trust property. A new whill3 powerchair from TGA Mobility, named Morgan....
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Personal Comments: 0