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September 2006 Newsletter

Annual General Meeting
Meetings
Planning
Forthcoming Events
Review of Past Activities

Annual General Meeting

Chair – Mrs. Ann Brown
Secretary – Mrs. Margaret Mace
Treasurer – Mr. David Axe
Membership – Mrs. Jean Kendal

At the Annual General Meeting held on 27 April, the committee was re-elected en bloc for a further year in office. Officers are those shown above with Mrs. Barbara Jones, Miss Cathy Kearns, Mrs. Esme Salt and Miss Judith Vernier making up the committee. They would still welcome any offers of help from other members as the Society is pretty active these days.

We hope the membership enjoy the programme of meetings on offer and appreciate the committee's efforts in putting on an annual exhibition, attending the Local History Fair, producing the Dronfield Miscellany twice a year, monitoring planning applications as well as responding to a growing number of enquiries, particularly from those undertaking family history researches. Our collection of photographs continues to grow apace and sorting, recording and filing these needs to be done regularly. A working party is currently spending Monday mornings re-organising the archive held in the Slinn Gallery which also continues to expand with donations of memorabilia from local organisations and individuals. The next project to be undertaken is a re-vamp and update of the town trail to be produced in a more 'user-friendly' format.

So, please, if you feel you have some time and would like to be more involved in the running of the Society, do speak to one of the committee. No special knowledge or skills are required - everyone has something to offer, (though you may not recognise it till you join in!) and we would welcome some assistance to share the load carried by current members.

Meetings

The first meeting of the winter season welcomes back local archaeologist, Clive Hart, who has returned to the area after several years working in the North East. He offers A New Overview of Derbyshire, a Much Visited Landscape on Thursday 28 September. David Templeman is the speaker on 23 November when he tells us of the History of Sheffield Manor Lodge, Past and Present, a site which perhaps has a rosier future than was thought a few years ago. Our Christmas meeting on 7 December, with suitable seasonal refreshments, will be enlivened by a talk by the Society's President, Mrs. Kay Battye, with the cryptic title of Scottish Connections.

All meetings take place at 7.30 p.m. in the Edward Lucas Hall of the Peel Centre which is now accessible by stair lift via the fire escape stairs to the left of the main entrance. Please ask a committee member for access either before or at the meeting. If you require transport to attend the meetings, please contact a committee member too.

Planning

The Committee is disappointed that the plans for the proposed new medical centre to replace the existing one at the Civic Centre were passed with no notice taken of objections to its design. Little or no attention seems to have been paid to the prominence that this building inevitably holds at the very centre of the conservation area, adjacent to the Manor House, the only concession being that it should be clad in stone/artificial stone of a similar colour. What is proposed is a striking modern design with an almost flat roof and large areas of plate glass that would not be out of place in almost any other setting but which does not fit well with even the simpler, more traditional appearance of the adjacent Civic Hall. Whilst recognising the urgent need to get on with providing modern, up-to-date facilities and removing the dilapidated 1960s building, it is a pity that it will be replaced by one that is as incongruous in its setting.

Sadly, the barn in the High Street was not selected for the current series of Restoration programmes but the Peel Centre trustees continue with plans for its development and community use.

Forthcoming Events

Philip Riden, who led the walk round Chesterfield in June, is to give a lecture on his new research on Bess of Hardwick and her family at Chesterfield Library on Monday 18 September at 7.30 p.m. Our September speaker, Clive Hart, is giving an illustrated talk on Romans in the North, with particular reference to Chesterfield on Friday 27 October at 7.30 p.m. also at the Library. Tickets for both are available in advance from the Library at £3.00, £2.00 concessions or at the door.

The Society will be manning a stand at the Scarsdale Local History Fair to be held at the Winding Wheel, Chesterfield on Sunday 29 October from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.. The fair is being held in conjunction with Chesterfield Borough Council as part of the autumn 'Chesterfield Festival' held to promote the town and its market. Town centre parking is free on Sundays. Last year's event, sponsored by Radio Sheffield, was very well attended and although we were slightly put out on arrival to find that we had been allocated a space upstairs, this did not deter a flow of visitors and, as usual, we gleaned as much useful information as we gave out. Do come along to visit us and the other interesting exhibitors.

Review of Past Activities

The business of the AGM was followed by an entertaining talk by Reg Hobson, scourge of the Brontë Society which wishes the world to connect the famous family only with Haworth whereas Reg recounted how Charlotte's close association with Hathersage and her visits there to her friend, Elaine Nussey, the vicar's daughter, enabled her to get to know the surrounding countryside and use it in her best known work, Jane Eyre. Not only does the name of a well established local family with a history dating back to the Battle of Hastings give the work its title but she incorporated aspects of the local landscape and, in particular, of North Lees Hall, which can provide proof that she was well acquainted with this corner of Derbyshire and held it close to her heart.

May's meeting featured a very impressive and professional presentation by Colin Briggs of his researches into his childhood home in Mill Lane, Dronfield. Taking his audience on a journey through time and place, he showed us this forgotten corner of the town yet one which played an important part in Dronfield's social and industrial past. As usual Colin's enthusiasm swept us along with him and prompted at least one member of the society to take a walk along the lane, with his Miscellany articles as guide, to really examine all the features he reveals. Equally Colin was delighted to have feedback from some of those present and a lively discussion completed the evening.

This year's exhibition in the Peel Centre over the weekend of 10/11 June, was held in co-operation with ODS member, George Platts, as a fundraiser for the Ashgate Croft School for children with special needs. As well as ODS pictures and documents, including some recently kindly donated to the Society by Bill Skevington relating to Dronfield station, George mounted and put on display a selection from his very fine collection of photographs and there was much interest and delight as visitors identified themselves - and friends and family - in many of the groups. It is very satisfying when there is a cheerful buzz of chat and laughter, and much useful information is supplied and exchanged. Colin Briggs also put in an appearance on Sunday and was delighted to receive further nuggets of information about Mill Lane residents. Unfortunately on Saturday afternoon there was a World Cup match and very few people showed up. Having predicted that we would only see football hating wives coming in to escape the telly, our only visitors were three men which quite confounded us and it's just as well we hadn't had taken bets on the issue! The outcome of the exhibition was a donation of £210 for the Ashgate Croft School.

The World Cup also had its effect on the evening walk round Chesterfield on 20 June, beneficial insofar as there was less traffic and fewer pedestrians around the town as Philip Riden led a group from the historic Parish Church, built on a small corner of the site previously occupied by the Roman fort and with a market place on its north side (as is the norm). As the town prospered and the market needed to expand, it was restricted on this site and therefore it was decided in medieval times to lay out a new market place which is that still in use today. This created a situation where the fashionable end of town has changed from age to age with, currently, shops near the church in decline and the market area more favoured though even this trend is beginning to change again as superstores wield their power.

We were fortunate that 8 July was a beautiful sunny day for the Society's annual day outing, this time to the recently opened, award-winning Sharpe's Pottery Museum at Swadlincote for which our speaker at March's meeting had well prepared us. Members enjoyed the varied displays from decorative art pottery to the ever fascinating range of early sanitary ware for both the home and overseas markets as well as the interactive aural history accounts. Those of us who made our way into the Magic Attic, which rents part of the premises, were also extremely impressed by this large, well-ordered archive containing newspapers, old maps, works catalogues and company papers, old photographs, church records, census returns, etc. Built up over the past twenty years by a dedicated group of volunteers, they provide a very full and well-used service to those undertaking local and family history research.

The Museum also has an excellent catering facility and we enjoyed a good buffet lunch before setting off on the next part of the day. This was a visit to Calke Abbey, the home of the Harpur Crewe family, and described as 'the house where time stood still' when the National Trust took it over two decades ago. Members made their own way round so that they could enjoy at their leisure what took their fancy in the many eclectic collections made by this eccentric family over the generations. However, for the writer, the highlight is the magnificent early 18th century State Bed with its brilliantly embroidered Chinese hangings which had never seen the light of day until discovered by the Trust. Processions of figures, warriors on horseback, mandarins and ladies in brightly coloured robes as well as dragons, birds, gazelles and other animals, glowing with gold thread and shining with rolled up peacock feathers for butterfly wings, decorate the rich blue curtains and the heavy white satin coverlet and hold the spectator spell bound at the intricacy and detail. A very welcome cup of tea in the café completed the visit.