Baronet's Diary

A Tribute to Her Majesty the Queen

In my role as Chair of the local Tourist Board for the Peak District & Derbyshire I get asked to open a variety of tourism-related experiences. In August I was invited to the home of Karl and Helen Davis at Roston to open the third holiday cottage on their farm in the picturesque hamlet south of Ashbourne. The pandemic was cruel for Karl and his motor business and so he used his assets to ‘pivot’ converting his large office into two 5star holiday units. This proved successful but the couple needed a third unit to complement the business so that it could run more effectively. And so the Wood Shed was created after planning from Derbyshire Dales District Council was granted. Local businesses and friends were among the 40 of us that gathered at Bank Top Farm where I cut the ribbon to officially announce the cottage open! In recompense Karl and Helen gave me the (very smart) tailor scissors that I used as a thank you so I am well prepared for other ‘openings’ in the future.

I have never officially opened a new Village Hall before but that all changed in June when I cut the ribbon at Marston Montgomery to officially celebrate the enormous efforts of the villagers to collate not just the funds but the planning consents to build a community building on Weston Bank in the Village. Over a hundred locals gathered alongside the Steering Group and local MP Sarah Dines to celebrate this impressive achievement .Speeches to mark the special occasion were made by Village Hall Chairman Mike Thackery, Will Thomson of development company Radmore Homes, as well as Sarah Dines and I was delighted to cut the ribbon on the development as well as assist in planting an oak tree on site in recognition of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. An inspiring project alongside an inspiring community. Do visit the site in this most delightful village if you are passing.

We are delighted to announce that our eco-friendly holiday let is now completed on the eastern edge of the Estate. With gorgeous views looking east over the Tissington Trail to Carsington Water and beyond the High Flatts Barn conversion has been constructed by Peter Agertoft and his team from Rowsley based Peak Building Brigade. Boasting solar panels roofing and an air source heat pump the letting sleeps four and is complete with all mod cons and Wi-Fi. Our other lettings are all in the village itself with this one on the outskirts offering peace and seclusion. Our first visitors were so impressed that they said that ‘were not ready to leave’. High Flatts is a great success and can be booked for weekly and mid-week breaks through our website Click Here

It is always a delight to visit the Heights Of Abraham in Matlock Bath. Travelling in one of the cable cars to the top of the gorge is a fascinating way to travel in Derbyshire. In mid-May I was lucky enough to take that mode of transport to join the happy throng that were celebrating the opening of the new period costume exhibition entitled ‘A Mirror on the Past’ as former MP and journalist Matthew Parris officially cut the ribbon and recalled his support for the Pugh family’s project when the cable cars were first introduced in the 1980s. The new exhibition in the Masson Pavilion will take modern day guests back through time and come face to face with visitors of the past, whilst learning a little about the social and working conditions of their time. 14 life-sized mannequin figures, beautifully dressed in historically accurate clothing, populate the large exhibition housed in the refurbished Pavilion. Animated picture frames alongside the figures reveal information about each time period. In addition a sculpture trail of willow figures made by Cheshire based artist Caroline Gregson adorn the pathways at the summit and, of course, there are plenty of watering holes when you do get to the top. Do visit this season and see what delights are housed at The Heights!

Our household has increased by seven. On Francesca’s birthday our cocker spaniel, Isla, starting giving birth to her brood at 3am. Expecting only three bundles of fun after the various scans at the vets we were thrilled to see a fourth emerge after two hours of labour. A fifth and a sixth then popped out with a seventh special surprise a full 12 hours after the first. I can report that all are healthy and boisterous and making great progress. The funny thing though is that 24 years ago on her very birthday as Francesca entered the world our then Jack Russell terrier Merli gave birth to seven puppies in the scullery. April 21st …a great day for births especially as it is of course shared with our Queen who was 96 that day!!

My only previous visits to Chesterfield FC had been to the wonderful dinners of the Derbyshire Society of Golf Captains of which I am fortunate to be Patron. At the dinner this year in the raffle I won two tickets to the ground to watch the much awaited encounter between the Spirerites and visiting Grimsby Town. Shawn of my companion at the last minute due to Covid I decided to go on my own and having negotiated the A61 found myself perched at the half way line just above the visiting dugout. I was part of an attendance of over 7000 for the match in the National League and although three of the visiting fans were ejected before the game had kicked off and even though Chesterfield took an early lead it was all one way traffic as Grimsby came out victors 4-1. I had enjoyed my day and will return for as one of the exiting supporters sagely commented as we left the ground “we didn’t win but we certainly were entertained”.

We have a new bench in the village that sits to the east of the Pond surveying the ducks and other wildfowl looking toward the Avenue. It has been erected in memory of the Finney family who brought fun fair rides to the Estate during Well Dressings for families to enjoy. On my inheritance I remember the swing boats and rides that stood by the pond and were enjoyed by young and old alike. Time moves on and the attractions went in the late 90s to be replaced by large inflatable slides that seemed to obliterate the Hall in the 00s .however we now have no such fun as children seem to be more in touch with their interactive sessions on their computers. The daughter of the last Finney to man the rides, the late Walter, wanted to commemorate the family and the bench sits resplendently lightening the load for travellers and visitors alike. Why not come to the village and see for yourself?

We have not moved the books in the Library for several years. In the spring and with the house closed to visitors the new ‘home team ‘and I decided to invoke the good practice of looking after such a bibliotheque by removing all the books individually, dusting them down and flicking through the pages in order to give them all air. To our utter dismay we found that some- certainly the ones on the bottom rows- had developed serious mould and were home to varieties of bug life. The technical term is ‘bookworm’ and if these creatures are not disturbed for some time they tend to bury down into the pages and then proceed to eat the paper! With a total of 3017 books in the library the team had a hard task to get through all the volumes in the time allotted. I think in future we will allocate a full week in January/February to spring clean our library and release the bookworms into the wild. A job well done.

I am back on the road again . It is not that I have lost my driving licence but rather I am visiting Historical Societies and other groups such as the Probus Club at Melbourne. Under the auspices of Chairman John Williams, the Club welcomed me at The Thomas Cook Mission Hall in Melbourne with coffee and sausage baps before I proceeded to give the Group my talk on ‘Tissington-Its Past Present & Future’. In a normal year I give about eight talks mainly in the Midlands to similar groups but have been asked as far afield as Stratford, London and Dublin. It is an amusing way to get the Tissington’ message’ out there and I have made a lot of contacts over the years. If your Society is looking for a speaker then please do get in touch by email.

In early December for the first time since the pandemic took hold the eminent body that I chair ,namely Marketing Peak District and Derbyshire (otherwise known as the local tourist board) held a gathering to thank all our members and hear ‘ state of the industry ‘ addresses, amongst others, from Derbyshire County Council Leader and Board Member Barry Lewis and marketing director Lindsay Rae. Hosted at Chatsworth in the Carriage House it was a joy to properly celebrate with fellow colleagues the vast range of tourism hosts that operate in the area from Glossop to Swadlincote and from Burton to Buxton. I had the honour of drawing the raffle with prizes from days out to the Great British Car Journey at Ambergate to cases of Thornbridge Brewery ales. A lively event and in addition it was lovely to properly meet the team that work so hard for the membership in the organisation. Let us hope for more visitors ,both domestic and overseas , in 2022 !