Friday, February 19, 2016

Five on Friday

It's Friday again!  Where has that week gone?  It is also a very special Friday as it is a celebration of Five on Friday being a year old.  Thank you to the lovely Amy for organising us all, it is always such fun to see what everyone has posted each week.  Click on the link at the bottom of this post to find other bloggers who are joining in too.

Yesterday we visited the City of Derby just for a couple of hours to photograph a small pterosaur bone in the City Museum and Art Gallery.  Below are some of the other things we saw there and elsewhere in the city centre.


 1. In the Museum - an inventive way to raise funds for the Museum.  Up the staircases were different pictures of birds with the donors' names underneath.  Local company Rolls Royce were there and so was television presenter Michaela Strachan. You can buy a bird from £25 upwards and for the top price of £250 plus you get a Peregrine Falcon. Every year the Peregrines nest on the tower of Derby Cathedral.   Lots of local families seem to have joined in but there is plenty of wall left to fill with birds.



2. Joseph Wright of Derby -  best known for his light filled and interior paintings most famous of which is The Orrery.  These are on the walls in the main gallery where, of course,  I couldn't take photos (you can see the works here) but there was a workshop full of ideas for writing stories and drawing pictures around his painting of a Blacksmith's shop.  Again lots of activity and people joining in.  Although in the next gallery a live giant stick insect seemed to be the most popular exhibit of the day.
 
 3. Bess of Hardwick (1527 - 1608) - From the Museum to the Cathedral where there was a seminar in progress up by the main altar and also visitors like us wandering around.  We found the memorial to the famous Bess of Hardwick in the Cavendish Chapel and were able to take a few quick photos as this was where refreshments for the seminar were to be served.  You can see the blue clothed table in front of the memorial.  Also in here was a stone slab made for the grave of Joseph Wright of Derby as well as many other brass inscriptions to various members of the Cavendish family including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1757 -1806) just over the stairs to the St Katherine's Chapel.  More on Bess of Hardwick here.

4.  Glimpses into the past - lots of little nooks and crannies can be found around the Cathedral Quarter.  Amen Alley runs down the side the building; we also found the Blacksmith's shop at the end of Blacksmith's Alley.  The date over the black door is 1675 and the date on The Old Bell Hotel 1717 both can be found on Sadler Gate


5.  Bonnie Prince Charlie - Charles Edward Stuart (1720 - 1788) also known as the Young Pretender.  In 1745 he and his supporters set out for London to try and claim the throne back for the Stuarts.  He got as far as Swarkstone Bridge and retreated from there via Ashbourne to Derby and thence back to Scotland where he escaped to France after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden.  More history here

Hope you've enjoyed this short visit to Derby.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
 

40 comments:

  1. I know very little about Derby or its museum. Will add it to my list. I have always been fascinated by Bess of Hardwick. Remember visiting Hardwick hall a few years ago. An amazing house. Have a good weekend. Barbara x

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    1. Bess is fascinating isn't she? I grew up in a village about 4 miles away from Hardwick Hall so knew about Bess from an early age:)

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  2. Very interesting Rosie. I was particularly interested to see the tomb of Bess of Hardwick and will have to put that on my list to visit. Good idea about the birds too. Have a good weekend :-)

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    1. Bess's tomb was move to the present 18th century church from the older one - only the tower remains from the first church:)

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  3. Your posts are always so interesting and full of information. I need to come back and revisit time and again. Great x

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    1. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, I sometimes worry if I put too much information in - it is nice to know that you revisit:)

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  4. I love the idea of buying birds to support the museum. The staircase looks lovely.

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    1. The birds are a great idea aren't they?:)

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  5. I love reading your interesting posts. I am fascinated by Bess of Hardwick and have read a couple of books about her. xx

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    1. She is such a fascinating character isn't she?:)

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  6. Derby is such an interesting city. Last time I went on a guided tour stopping off at different historic landmarks it was pouring with rain so must go back and do it all again at a slower pace! Hardwick Hall is also on my wishlist of places to visit this year. Have a good weekend - hoping we get come dry weather!

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    1. Derby has quite a fascinating history. Hardwick Hall is lovely, I grew up in a village about 4 miles away from there in between Hardwick Hall and Bolsover Castle so from an early age we were taught about Bess and the Cavendish and Peveril families at the village school:)

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  7. How amazing that you visit a town just down the road from me - when I was contemplating a trip to the Potteries Museum this weekend! I don't visit Derby as a tourist spot half as often as I should. Thanks for the reminder.

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    1. Oh, I wonder if you visited the Museum yesterday? I think it is in between exhibitions at the moment but still lots of lovely things to see in the permanent display galleries:)

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  8. I did indeed enjoy my visit to Derby. Always enjoy going to a museum. Poor Georgiana, after seeing the movie Duchess I had to read a biography about her---what a sad life she had.

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    1. Georgiana did have a sad life didn't she? Privilege doesn't always bring happiness:)

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  9. What a lovely day out. I really like the idea of sponsoring the museum in return for a bird on the wall, and the puffin and hummingbird poster is excellent.

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    1. The birds are lovely aren't they? It is a great idea for helping the museum stay open and including the community:)

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  10. Those birds are a great idea Rosie. It looks like it was a very interesting day, Bess of Hardwick's tomb must have been amazing. I will have to visit Derby soon, especially given that a nephew has stayed there after attending University. Have a lovely weekend xx

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    1. Plenty of interesting places to visit in Derby, the Cathedral, the Museum and Art Gallery and Pickford's House plus the Victorian Arboretum, a treat of Eggs Benedict at Bennetts - all fascinating:)

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  11. I loved this visit to Derby via your blog. You always share such lovely photos and interesting historical facts. Wishing you a fabulous weekend, Pat

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    1. Thank you, Pat glad you enjoyed your visit:)

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  12. So many interesting things to see and learn about. Love the name of that alley! Can I hear an amen? Hope you have a good weekend!

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    1. It is a great name ins't it? It was a narrow alley so I guess it was where people nipped up to the services in the cathedral or church as it was then:)

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  13. I would love to visit Derby one day. I like the sponsored birds on the wall of the museum - such a great idea to raise funds! Have a great weekend Rosie. x

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    1. Like most cities Derby has so less appealing areas but there are some wonderful places to visit:)

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  14. It looks like a great day ot so many interesting things to see, thank you for sharing, have a great weekend. :)

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    1. We did have a super day wandering around, it was quite relaxing:)

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  15. I always so enjoy seeing around the country and finding out about our history through your blog, you make it so interesting and share things that I didn't already know! Thank you so much for joining in the anniversary of Five On Friday, I really do appreciate it so much! Have a good weekend! xx

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    1. Thanks Amy and thanks for continuing to organise Five on Friday, have a lovely weekend:)

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  16. I really do need to visit Derby properly one day and see these places. The money making idea on the stairs and walls is such a great way to raise funds. Have a wonderful weekend Rosie xx

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    1. Derby is quite an ordinary place but there are some absolute gems of history if you seek them out:)

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  17. One day I will get round to visiting all these places you tell us about - a most interesting post.

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    1. Glad you found it interesting, Elaine. Perhaps you will visit Derby one day:)

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  18. This was an interesting post, and Derby sounds like a wonderful place to visit! Love the altar, and am always amazed at the carvings for the deceased. Thanks for sharing, it sounds like you had a memorable day :)
    Wendy

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post, Wendy. Some of the monuments are amazing aren't they?:)

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    1. Thanks, Sandra, glad you enjoyed the post:)

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  20. A very interesting collection again!

    Thanks for the recent comments - for commenting on the same post on each blog - I don't expect anyone to comment twice! I don't really like repeating myself but whilst the wild blog is running, I like to still put my walks on the main blog!

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    1. Thanks Louise, I commented on the wild blog first I think and then spotted your post on the Ramblings blog so said almost the same thing - just as it was somewhere I knew - I think we may go up there for bluebells this year if there are any:)

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