Archive for the ‘History’ Category

Royston Grange Walk

The walk will follow the High Peak Trail to the sidings, up to Minninglow and then down the valley to Roystone Grange where there will be refreshments. Along the way there will be an opportunity to hear and talk about the 5,000 years of history that this walk covers.
Suitable for all ages, approx 3 miles, mostly on tracks but the middle section is across fields and includes a couple of step-over wall stiles. Dogs on leads welcome.

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Royston Grange Walk

The walk will follow the High Peak Trail to the sidings, up to Minninglow and then down the valley to Roystone Grange where there will be refreshments. Along the way there will be an opportunity to hear and talk about the 5,000 years of history that this walk covers.
Suitable for all ages, approx 3 miles, mostly on tracks but the middle section is across fields and includes a couple of step-over wall stiles. Dogs on leads welcome.

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Royston Grange Walk

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Bradbourne Mill Open Days

I am the owner of the historic Grade II Water Mill located between Bradbourne and Tissington and thought our local community would be very interested in our first public opening dates starting this year.  I hope you may be able to pass on the information.

Bradbourne Mill is the oldest surviving water mill in Derbyshire and the earliest historical records take the site back to 1180 when it was held by Geoffrey de Cauceis, great grandson of Henry de Ferrers.  The Bradbourne family became the first recorded tenants of the mill; later Roger de Bradbourne sub-tenanted the water mill to the canons of Dunstable Priory who held a cell in Bradbourne next to the church very close to the Mill. The current water mill that exists today showcases the oak timber hurst frame dendra dated to 1625-1630 and the exposed mill workings and water wheels, however, it is likely the stone building is of an earlier date.  

For the first time Bradbourne Mill will be open to the public in May this year on three dates below between 10 – 4pm.  

Thursday 18th May 2023

Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Wednesday 24th May 2023

If anyone would be interested in visiting the site for an hour tour, then please see the attached website and link.

https://thewatermill-bradbourne.co.uk/open-days-%26-conferences

The charge is £5 per person for entrance and refreshments.  The proceeds will be shared between the maintenance of the water wheel and Tissington and Bradbourne Churches. 

Sandy Potter

Owner

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History Society AGM

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History Society AGM

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Talk at Bradbourne

D day and the Battle for Tilly Sur Seules and the Logistics of getting an Army up through Europe

with Rev Steve Williams and Jean Yates

Wdenesday 21 Spetember 7.30 in Bradbourne Church Hall

£5 to include refreshments

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Talk at Bradbourne

D day and the Battle for Tilly Sur Seules and the Logistics of getting an Army up through Europe

with Rev Steve Williams and Jean Yates

Wdenesday 21 Spetember 7.30 in Bradbourne Church Hall

£5 to include refreshments

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Parwich History Society has a number of items for sale:

Voices: Women of A white Peak Village

Compiled and edited by Gillian Radcliffe in 2004, this book gives a fascinating insight into the lives and experiences of the women of Parwich past and present. It is illustrated with photographs and runs to 218 pages. £5.

A Parwich Walk

Written by Peter Trewhitt and Patti Beasley in 2002, this 28 page booklet gives an historical overview of the village with handrawn maps and illustrations and a few photographs. Although a some updating is required, the village has changed very little in the last twenty years. £1

Postcards

A set of 8 postcards reproduced in 2003 from old photographs. £1 for the set, 20p for individual cards.

All items are available from Fiona H, Nethergreen Farm. tel: 390191 email: fiona.parwich@gmail.com

Thanks to Saskia T who has sent this photograph with the comment “The postcards look great grouped together. I put them up in frames on the wall in the S/C cottage and people certainly comment on them. The other two items are also regularly used.”

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History Society AGM

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Memories of Parwich

We have received this lovely email from Anne F recalling happy Parwich days:

I discovered your website whilst thinking about my parents who met during WW2 at Parwich hospital !! My mother was a nurse and my father was convalescing and many wonderful and lasting friendships were made during that time. Parwich has always had a very special place in our hearts and I grew up visiting the village and Parwich Hill many times and hearing many stories which we continue to recall to this day. Mum died last year age 98yrs and we have been thinking about how we could perhaps donate something towards the village. We brought Mum for her last visit only several years ago and drove her up the back lane that winds behind the hill and parked by the stile that accesses the footpath across the fields and to the top of the hill. Many memories !

We don’t have a huge contribution and wondered whether we could donate something towards your planting in Pump Hill ? Mum and Dad loved Parwich and spent their lives walking and enjoying the countryside. It would be lovely to contribute something in their memory.Perhaps there may be room for some more woodland flowers ?

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History Society AGM

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We have received the following request:

Does anybody know how to find out if there are any records that would show past cricket matches played in Parwich? It’s for a friend of mine, Wayne Ward, his Great-Grandad’s name was Arthur Smith, he had some cricket playing brothers (Les and Lawrence) and his Dad (Charlie Smith) and one or possibly both of his uncles (George Smith and William/Bill Smith) were cricketers too. He is trying to find out if any written records might exist. He has a 1910s or 20s photo which shows his Great Grandad’s Dad and Grandad (team manager), but other than knowing that Arthur Smith and his brothers were cricketing well into the 1940s and probably beyond, he doesn’t know much else! Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you lucy B

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Parwich Hall in 1924

We have recently been sent digital copies of photographs of Parwich Hall in 1924. At that time the Hall was owned by Major Gainsford, a colliery owner from Sheffield who bought the estate in the 1915 sale and then sold it in 1931 to the Crompton- Inglefields. A woman appears on a number of the photos and we have been told that the text says she is “Miss Ina”. Major Gainsford’s wife’ name was Edith Geraldine so it is possible that Miss Ina might have been Geraldine which was misread. Or maybe a name she was known based on Geraldine. If anyone has any information on the Gainsfords and the mysterious Miss Ina, we should love to hear it.

 

 

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Villages’ Wakes grew out of communities celebrating their church’s patron saint. For us that is St Peter whose feast day is the 29th of June, still used to to calculate the start of Parwich Wakes; our Wakes beginning on the nearest Saturday to the 29th of June.

The current St Peter’s Church was built in 1872/73, replacing the smaller Norman building also dedicated to St. Peter. We can see some features of the old Church today in the current building, including the tympanum over the west door, the archway of the west door, the archway between the tower and the nave and the carved faces high up in the side chapel. It is thought that the old church was built in the late eleventh or early twelfth century and would almost have certainly been dedicated to St. Peter as it is unusual for the dedication to be changed. It is possible that there was a previous Saxon church here, but the evidence is inconclusive.

The old St Peter’s in a nineteenth century water colour

So we have been celebrating as a community at the end of June for at least nine hundred years, though perhaps much longer. These celebrations from the start would have included a lot more than just a church service. Processions and theatricals would have been included, possibly by the fourteenth or fifteen century involving a play celebrating Robin Hood and Maid Marion. The prettiest or best dressed youngsters might even have be elected to be that year’s Marion and Robin, a precursor to out Carnival parade and fancy dress competition. It is likely that there were local sports, foot races and perhaps archery competitions, certainly when archery practice was compulsory from the fourteenth right up to the sixteen century. ‘Beers’ were a big part of the celebrations, where local guilds and groups brewed beer to sell during the revels. This tradition was revived not so long ago with the Oddfellows Ale, brewed by Leatherbritches. The ‘beers’ raised money either to fund candles and devotion in the church for each guild’s favourite saint or to help guild members when times were hard. (more…)

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History Society AGM

CANCELLED

CANCELLED

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Talk Postponed

The history talk on the Dunstable Annuls at Bradbourne on 26 March has been postponed

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Bradbourne History Talk

POSTPONED

Bradbourne Church Hall

Thursday 26 March. 7.30 pm

“The Dunstable Annuls”

a talk by

Rev Steve Williams and Jean Yates

Entrance £4 to include refreshments

 

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Denis’ Talk and Walk

Thank you to Martin C for these photos of yesterday’s event

denis

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Good Turn Out for POP

Thank you Sally P for these photos of the recent Parwich Origins Project talk.

The start of what will hopefully be a fascinating project for our community

 

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Parwich Origins Project – TONIGHT

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History Talk at Bradbourne

October 10th 7.30pm at Bradbourne Church Hall.

A Talk entitled

The Met Office and The D Day Landings

by Jean Yates Of Dunstable.
Entrance £4 to include Refreshments.

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Why is Parwich Here?

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Why is Parwich Here?

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History Talk at Bradbourne

October 10th 7.30pm at Bradbourne Church Hall.

A Talk entitled

The Met Office and The D Day Landings

by Jean Yates Of Dunstable.
Entrance £4 to include Refreshments.

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Nethergreen Dig

Thank you to Richard K-M for sending this polecam photo of the work the excavation group at last Sunday’s Archaeology Day.

polecam pic

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Archaeology Day Preparations

Although the Day has been postponed to tomorrow Sunday 28 April, preparations were underway on Friday. Two areas have been marked out for the geophys team, one in Chris and Ruth’s orchard and one in the field at Nethergreen Farm. The geophys scanner cannot work in wet conditions so fingers crossed for a dry day tomorrow.

Friday also saw the removal of turf and loose stones from what will become the large excavation trench. With only an inch or so of top soil removed interesting stones were starting to be revealed which indicate an earlier construction. The trench is now ready for a full excavation.

archaeology 2019

Everyone is welcome to come along and have a go at the geophys survey and excavating the trench. There will be a few archaeological activities for children. Please bring along any interesting finds you may have from the village and also your knowledge about local water sources. We are hoping to start a major project on the importance of water to the village, this Archaeology Day is our first step towards this project.

Fiona H. History Society

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Bring along any interesting finds that have appeared in your gardens or elsewhere and find out what they are. We have our very own finds expert Ian Pitts on hand to identify what you bring along.

The bits of pottery or metal work we find in our gardens can tell us a surprising amount. In my garden bits of late nineteenth or early twentieth century pottery at the bottom of the well tell us when it was likely to have gone out of use and been filled in, and two bits of pottery, one above and one below, suggest a yard surface, two feet or so below the current garden, was in use around the 1500s. (An advantage of having Ian doing your walling is the additional finds identification.)

Some random pottery finds in a Parwich flower bed
The piece on the right is Medieval perhaps indicating a Medieval house was nearby

Also we have a display of some of the late Brian Foden’s finds in and around Parwich from his many years of field walking. This includes some very fine Neolithic flints and arrowheads.

Note, this event has been delayed a day, because of the imminent arrival of Storm Hannah. Come for all or part of the day, 10am to 4pm Sunday 28th April, Nethergreen Farm.

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Archaeology Day now Sunday

Due to the imminent arrival of Storm Hannah the decision has been made to postpone the Archaeology Day to Sunday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm

Fiona H

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Before mains water, local water sources and water management were essential for successful farming and ultimately survival. For example Parwich had an ‘ancient’ water meadow system designed to get grass growing as early as possible in the Spring to feed livestock as early as possible before the Winter feed stores were used up and the beasts had to be slaughtered.

The History Society hopes to undertake an archeology project investigating aspects of water management in our area. At this stage we are gathering what information we can about water usage in our area and also trying to find out what people are most interested in.

Domestic well found at Church Farm

A lot of houses had their own water supply and there was a system of wells and springs serving the community as a whole.

Communal water sources in Parwich, marked with green dots

The communal sources we know about are

  • the Village Pump (now the bus shelter)
  • Staines trough
  • Pump Hill trough (supplied by pump that also took water up to the ‘dew pond’ at the top of the Hall gardens)
  • Kiln Lane troughs
  • spring below Knob Hall
  • step down well at Church Farm (now in Court House garden)
  • springs on hillside opposite the Crown Inn, now in the garden of Pool Croft

There may have been other sources used communally such as the covered well behind West View or the step down well by Brook Cottage but we need confirmation of this.

Given mains water arrived here with in living memory, there is potential to gather what information and stories people have, in addition to studying the evidence of remaining features and of old maps.

Nether Green Farm itself has at least two wells, one of which a very unusual design for Derbyshire (so far the only parallels identified are in Cornwall), but also there are seasonal springs that fed the water meadow system and interesting but not yet understood underground water channels and sluices.

Come along on Sunday to perhaps find out where your house used to get its water from, help us map the water sources in Parwich and the surrounding area, share any information you might have, have a look around Nethergreen Farm or even participate in archeological investigations there.

Updated 26/4/19 Come for all or part of the day, 10am to 4pm Sunday 28th April, Nethergreen Farm.

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Archaeology Day; More Details

Archaeology day poster 2

With the kind permission of Chris and Ruth L, there will be some geophysical surveying of the lumps and bumps in their orchard as well as at Nethergreen Farm. A geophys survey enables archaeological images to be mapped without disturbing the ground. Come and see how it works and have a go! 

Fancy your hand at excavation? A couple of trenches will be opened under the guidance of an archaeologist. Small trowels and sieves will be provided for you to see what we can learn about the previous use and occupation of the area.  One of the trenches will be where we believe there is a small chamber, found a couple of years ago using a small camera (and nearly losing Ian P)! 

well 003 (2)

 

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Archaeology Day

Archaeology day poster 2

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Archaeology Day

Archaeology day poster 2

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Archaeology Day

Archaeology day poster

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Cultural Heritage Lectures

Just outside our immediate area, this series of lectures by the South West Peak Landscape Partnership covers features which are found locally:

Cultural Heritage Spring Lecture Series brought to you by the South West Peak Landscape Partnership
What better way to spend an evening than learning about fire, foxholes, bullets and barrows? Or how about hearing tales of Anglo Saxons in the Staffordshire Moorlands?

You can learn about these topics – and many others – during a spring lecture series on cultural heritage, from renowned speakers, at Buxton’s Devonshire Dome. Tickets cost £5 and all proceeds go towards South West Peak Landscape Partnership’s Small Heritage Adoption and Barns & Buildings projects.

The Small Heritage Adoption Project is working to protect little-known pieces of history that are sometimes overlooked and ranges from boundary markers to lime kilns to Bronze Age burial mounds.

The Barns & Buildings project is focusing on field barns throughout the South West Peak and is working to record and in some cases restore these iconic features of the landscape.

Both projects rely on a group of dedicated volunteers who have the opportunity to train with and learn from local experts in cultural heritage and help protect the South West Peak’s unique history.

The lecture series will include:
12th March – There’s More to Walls by Master Craftsman Trevor Wragg;
19th March – Fire, Foxholes, Bullets and Barrows by SWP cultural heritage officer Dr Catherine Parker Heath;
26th March – Anglo Saxons in The Staffordshire Moorlands and the South West Peak by Harry Ball;
2nd April – Highways and Waymarkers by Jan Scrine of The Milestone Society;
9th April – Historic Mining in the South West Peak by Dr John Barnatt.

(more…)

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Archaeology Day

Archaeology day poster

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A Secret Find in a Secret Location

One space only left for a day’s volunteering on Tuesday 27 November 

The History Society has been told of an interesting find which has taken place in the parish of Parwich. At the moment the nature of the find and it’s location have not been disclosed. The Peak District National Park Authority is organising a 5 day excavation of a trench in the vicinity of the find at the end of the month and have offered 10 day spaces to the History Society / village (2 for each of the 5 days). 6 of these have already been filled at our AGM leaving 4 day spaces for other volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering for a day’s excavation you will need to be reasonably fit and healthy, able to do a full day and walk to the site carrying tools as well as have suitable footwear and clothing. If you are interested contact me on 191 by the end of Thursday 15 November. If we are oversubscribed, priority will be given to History Society members.

Fiona H

 

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