John's Postcards

Late May Landscapes

Published on May 28, 2023May 28, 2023 by John’s Postcards3 Comments

In previous years I have made posts about ‘mid-May landscapes’. Well, in modern parlance ‘I’m running late’, but I couldn’t let May slip by without posting some photographs taken at this wonderful time of year.

Here are some shots from a walk we did last week from Hartington to Beresford Dale. (As some of you know, Beresford is our surname so it’s always a special place to us!)

River Dove flowing through Beresford Dale

The ‘Beavers Ford’ which gave us our name!

The walk had given us a good appetite so a visit to the Beresford Tearooms was in order (it would be rude not to give them our custom). One of the specials of the day was this tasty roast vegetable and Hartington cheese flan. When it I was time to pay I was keen to point out my name on the bank card. Although this was met with interest and some good humoured banter, sadly it did not qualify us for a discount!

The tearoom is also the village post office.

Finally, no trip to Hartington is complete without visiting the cheese shop and what an interesting display of names of cheeses – Hartington Bomber, Honey Bee Goat, Barber’s Vintage, Grandma Singleton’s Mature Lancs, and Sticky Toffee Cheddar, to name but a few. We stuck to two firm favourites, Cheshire and Hartington Stilton. Many years ago, Hartington produced over a quarter of the world’s Stilton cheese including Stilton for King George V.

Hartington cheese shop, a cheese lovers dream!

Village Herb Box

Published on May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 by John’s Postcards8 Comments

When a recipe asks for fresh herbs we have no problem here in Newton Solney. Just a couple of minutes walk from home and we have the freshest herbs possible thanks to our enterprising Village in Bloom group. Help yourself, although the immediate neighbours never do.

Dovedale and the River Dove

Published on February 27, 2023February 28, 2023 by John’s PostcardsLeave a comment

A few days ago we drove to Dovedale to introduce our grand children to the delights of the stepping stones there. It was half term week so many other people had the same idea. Apparently Dovedale attracts around 1 million visitors each year.

The Dove was first made famous for its fishing by writers Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton in the 17th century. Only the fairly wealthy could visit Dovedale during the 18th and 19th centuries, but from 1899 the Ashbourne to Buxton railway line ran to Thorpe Cloud station above the village of Thorpe, making Dovedale more widely accessible to walkers and hikers of all social classes. Now days most people arrive by car.

“I can assure you there are things in Derbyshire as noble as Greece or Switzerland”. Lord Byron

The source of the river Dove is Axe Edge Moor, between Leek and Buxton from where it flows south for 45 miles to its confluence with the Trent here at Newton Solney. For much of the way the river forms the county boundary between Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

The final stretch of the Dove is through the softer and flatter landscape of south Derbyshire. An information post and bench have recently been installed on the village side of the Trent opposite the confluence of the Trent and Dove and close to where a ford provided a crossing point many years ago.

I turn to ducks

Published on February 24, 2023February 24, 2023 by John’s Postcards7 Comments

During a stroll around Belper River Gardens we found this small sculpture of three ducks near the cafe and children’s play area. It is one of twenty locations around Belper to display poems and artwork which form the Beth’s Poetry Trail – further details here…

http://bethspoetrytrail.co.uk/introduction/

The bronze cast sculpture is by a local artist and sculptor Fiona Fineran. The original clay version was modelled from on-the-spot drawings of the River Gardens ducks. (The following photographs include River Garden ducks, along with ducks from other locations).

The River Gardens are a real gem, much loved by locals and those who know about them, but the insignificant entrance and small car park can be easily missed by drivers travelling on the busy A6 road between Belper and Matlock.

“Sleeping or curled” in the February sunshine.

The plaque on the limestone plinth displays the opening lines of ‘Ducks’ by F W Harvey.

From troubles of the world

I turn to ducks,

Beautiful comical things

Sleeping or curled

Their heads beneath white wings…

Harvey wrote the poem in 1916 whilst a prisoner of war in the Holzminden camp in Germany. His inspiration for the poem was a picture of ducks in a pool of water at the camp, drawn by a fellow inmate.

Over 100 years later and the world is yet again a troubled place, so let’s be grateful that we can still turn to ducks; and nature, and parks and the countryside of this beautiful, and yes sometimes comical world in which we live.

The full poem and information about F W Harvey can be found here

https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/ducks/