Ramtastic…:Derby [23×19]
♫ Title Music ♫ It July 2023 and I’ve travelled from London to Derby, something that Bonnie Prince Charlie never managed to achieve in any direction, do you think it was something to do with the city’s sheep… ♫ Title Music ♫
Situated on the River Derwent and pretty much in the centre of England the city of Derby has a long recorded history that dates back to the founding of Roman camp of Derventio some time around the year 80, though the well preserved remains of a Bronze age boat on
Display in the city’s museum along with the remains of a prehistoric hippo make it clear that the human, and animal, activity of the area goes back much further. Some time in the 9th Century the town was captured by the Danes and, along with Leicester, Lincoln,
Nottingham and Stamford became one of the five boroughs of the Mercia region of the Danelaw, the part of the British Isles under Viking control in the 9th and 10th Centuries. In 917 the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia conquered Derby and annexed the town and area into their Mercian Kingdom.
During the English Civil War Derby was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops. In 1692 Derby became the first location in England, since the departure of the Romans over 1200 years earlier to set up a civic system of piped water, using wooden pipes – the waterworks involved using waterwheel powered
Pumps to take water out of the Derwent and put it into storage tanks for distribution. Derby, Derbyshire and in particular the Derwent Valley were among the centres of the Industrial Revolution. In 1717 John Lombe and George Sorocold opened the worlds first
Fully mechanised factory on an island in the Derwent. John had visited Piedmont in 1716 and returned to England with details of the Italian silk throwing machines – not necessarily obtained in the most legal of manors, certainly there is speculation that John’s sudden death in
1722 might have had something to do with the bad reaction the King of Sardinia had to this sudden commercial challenge to an industry that Piedmont had previously controlled… Meanwhile Richard Arkwright adapted the process to work with cotton spinning in his mill in Cromford
Near Matlock Bath and kicked off the birth of the Mill town. Today the stretch of the Derwent from Arkwrights Mill down to Lombe’s Mill is a World Heritage Site – the Derwent Valley Mills. Back down in Derby and the town received an unexpected visitor in 1745 when Charles Edward
Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie stopped in the town from 4th to the 6th December. At the time the Young Pretender and his Jacobite Army were storming down England in an attempt to seize the British crown. Having set off from Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands
On 19th August 1745 by early October they had reached the English border and after receiving assurances that there was substantial support from English Jacobites and a planned French invasion in Southern England the decision was made to invade England and press South. Sadly for Charles those assurances of support failed to materialise. At the
Same time government armies had started to march north to meet the Jacobite army. On reaching Derby he stayed at Exeter House where he held a council of war on the 5th December, which decided to retreat. In April 1746 the rebellion ended in the bloody battle on Culloden
Moor with Charles escaping to France, but a heavy retribution being meted out on his supporters. Today a plaque marks the site of Exeter House, where that council of war had been held, and behind the cathedral is an equestrian statue of Prince Charles.
The first church of All Saints was built on the site of the current Cathedral in around 943, though this building was replaced in the 14th century with the tower being built between 1510 and 1532. The fabric of the rest of the church deteriorated severely
From the middle of the 17th century and by 1700 was in a ruinous state. In February 1723 the vicar, Dr Michael Hutchinson, decided a new building was required and made the unilateral decision to demolish the church – employing a gang of workmen to complete the task overnight. With no choice
The Mayor and Corporate of Debry were forced to commence fund raising for a new church. With the 16th century tower kept a new church was constructed, opening in 1725. In July 1927 the church was elevated to Cathedral, leaving Derby as a town and Cathedral City, but not an actual City. Derby didn’t receive
Full city status until Queen Elizabeths Silver Jubilee celebrations 50 years later in 1977. Whilst the rest of the fabric of the church was torn down, one element that did survive was the elaborate memorial monument, built during her lifetime, to Elizabeth Hardwick, otherwise
Known as Bess of Hardwick. Born into a Derbyshire “gentleman-yeoman” family around 1521, through a series of four marriages the result of each one was a significant increase in her wealth and power, she climbed to become one of the richest and most powerful women in the kingdom, founded
A series of estates and stately homes that dot the landscape of Derbyshire including Chatsworth House, Hardwick Hall, Welbeck Abbey and Bolsover Castle and founded a dynasty in the Cavendish’s that include the Dukedoms of Devonshire, Newcastle and Portland that still exist to today. The Cavendish family survive today, with their family seat at Chatsworth
House. The family gives its name to the Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge and from land ownings were heavily involved in the creation of Eastbourne on the Sussex coast as a seaside resort in the 19th century. The cathedral is a short walk from the Derwent river – today a quiet river running along the
Edge of Derby City Centre, but in its time an important part of the Industrial Revolution, it’s role in the formation of Mill Towns and automated factories invaluable. Derby Riverboat run regular tours up a section of the river using a modern built
Electric narrowboat from a landing stage opposite the Silk Mill up to the Mill and weir at Darley with a commentary along the way by former Poirot David Suchet. Along the way the tour passes under reminders of Derby’s industrial past and the connections
It had to the rest of the country as the boat sails under the Handyside Bridge – formerly part of the rail network before the lines round Derby were reduced under the Beeching Cuts. ♫ Music ♫ The River provided the power for the Silk Mill in Derby which fist started to attract tourists as
Early as 1777 and the mill remained in use for Silk production up until 1865 when bankruptcy forced the then owners – the Taylor Family – to sell the machinery and the lease on the building. In 1908 F.W. Hampshire and Company move into the premises to make fly papers and cough medicines,
But the building was badly damaged by a fire in December 1910 in the adject flour mill that spread to and engulfed the Silk Mill, sending the east wall into the river. The building was rebuilt, but only to three rather than the previous five stories.
During the 1920s the building passed to the Electricity Authority and was used as stores, workshops and a canteen for a power station that was on the site until 1970. With the demolition of the power station the site was adapted for use as a museum – opening
As Debry’s Industrial Museum in November 1974. The original museum closed in 2015 but a new museum opened in May 2021 as the Museum of Making which charts the history of manufacturing in Derby, from the site of the worlds first fully automated factory through
To the modern high-tech Planes, Trains and Automobile manufacturing of modern day Derby The city is home to Rolls Royce engines with their Trent-1000 engine being fitted to Boeing 787 Dreamliners; Alstom and previously Bombardier, Trains whose vehicles are pretty much endemic in Southern England,
East Anglia and the West Midlands; and Toyota Manufacturing UK who are headquarted just south of the city and produce the Toyota Corolla and Suzuki Swace in their Burnaston factory. Over in the centre of town the Pickfords House Museum is located in the 1770 built family home of local architect Joseph Pickford.
After passing through various hands the house was purchased in 1982 by Derby City Council and has been open to the public since 1988. Today the house is a museum and the Garden has been restored to how it would have looked in the Georgian period.
The Middle floor has been turned into a small museum dedicated to toy theatres with many examples on display in a couple of the rooms. ♫ Music ♫ The house was built by Pickford both as a family home and as a show house to demonstrate his skills to potential clients. ♫ Music ♫
The upper floor has been retained as it would have looked when it was used by the family’s servants. ♫ Music ♫ Whilst the ground floor is laid out as it would have been when the Pickford Family lived there. ♫ Music ♫ In the basement there is a recreation of a 1940s
Bomb shelter along with the original Kitchen and Scullery. ♫ Title Music ♫ A short distance away is the Derby Museum and Art Gallery which brings together the complete history of the region and some more of it’s famous children.
The main exhibit is the 3,400 year old Bronze Age long boat that was found in the nearby suburb of Shardlow. The boat is hollowed out from a single oak tree trunk. Other exhibits include a model of how the town would have looked
Towards the end of the 18th century as well as archaeological finds from pre-history through the Romans and Viking eras to the Medieval period. ♫ Music ♫ In the next door gallery there are the preserved remains of several local prehistoric residents of Derby, including the fossilised remains of an Ichthyosaur
And the bones of a Hippo that wallowed in the waters of the Derwent many millennia back. There’s also the usual Victorian collection of taxidermized animals, both local to the East Midlands and ones from slightly further afield – or at last I think so, I don’t remember there being a Derbyshire Pangolin species.
♫ Music ♫ The Art Gallery focuses on local born artist Joseph Wright Whilst the neighbouring world galleries house artifacts from across the globe. ♫ Music ♫ The Bonnie Prince Charlie Room is a recreation of the room in Exeter House
Where Bonnie Prince Charlie held his council of war in 1745, the wood panelling being original from Exeter House – donated to the museum at the time of it’s demolition in 1854. 7 miles north of Derby is the town of Belper, one of the first ever Mill Towns.
Coal deposits in and around the area were an important part of the economy, with deposits found on the surface and in shallow workings in the area. There were forges in the area from at least the 13th century making use of the coal for ironworking.
Jedediah Strutt, a partner of Richard Arkwright, built a water-powered cotton mill in Belper in 1784 – the second ever in the world after Arkwrights own upstream in Cromford. The original North Mill from 1784 was soon joined by the West Mill.
After a fire burnt the North Mill down in 1803 it was rebuilt with a new structure that was designed to be fireproof which was further expanded and extended over the years. A new East Mill was opened in 1913, and this is now a modern day landmark of the town.
Whilst the mill is no longer used to manufacture textiles the power inside the building is still derived from the river that runs under the building using turbine-driven generators. Just behind the mills the Belper River Gardens provide a pleasant (when it’s not
Raining) gardens with a teahouse, walkways, plant displays and even pedalos you can take out onto the calm waters of the mill pond, before the waters disappear over the edge of the Mill race. 21 Miles north of Derby and you reach Chatsworth House and Estate, one of the premier stately homes
Of Britain and the centre of the Empire that Bess of Hardwick built for herself. The estate dates back to the 11th century, but the house and grounds were started by Bess in 1553, just a couple of years after she and husband number two purchased the estate in 1549.
Elizabeth Hardwick was married, and widowed, 4 times. Three of those taking place before she’d even reached 40, and with the end of every marriage she came out of them richer and more powerful than she had been beforehand. Marriage one was likely a marriage of convenience between, a possibly still minor,
Bess and 13-year-old Robert Barley, heir to the neighbouring estate in 1543. Robert died the following year and after lengthy legal wrangling Bess was awarded her claim on the Barley estate. Marriage two, just four years later was to the then twice-widowed Sir
William Cavendish. William died 10 years later after having 8 children with her, of which six survived infancy. Whilst left with debt to the crown Lady Cavendish now had the Chatsworth Estate in her name and was matriarch of a powerful family.
Just two years later in 1559 Bess married Sir William St Loe – Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth I and Chief Butler of England – thanks to his relationship with the Royal Bess, William was able to reduce Bess’s debt. Sir William died in 1564 or 65 – in suspicious
Circumstance, possibly poisoned by his younger brother, and left everything to Bess to the detriment of his brother and his two daughters from an earlier marriage. Aged only in her late 30’s and now a Lady of the Bedchamber with daily access to the Queen,
Whose favour she enjoyed, an annual income calculated to amount to the equivalent of £20 million in todays money and retaining her good looks and health, Bess now had a plethora of suiters from the top of society. She didn’t remarry until 1568, but when she did it was to George Talbot,
The 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, one of the premier aristocrats of the realm and already the father of seven children from his first marriage. Just to seal the deal two of George’s children were married to two of Bess’s in a double ceremony in the same
Year. On marriage the simple Elizabeth Hardwick had risen to become the Countess of Shrewsbury. Today Chatsworth is still the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and the Cavendish Family, with the 12th Duke and Duchess still living there,
But more than a century of high death duties and inheritance taxes have worn away at even the richest of families and today the house and gardens are open to the public to look around. ♫ Music ♫ Derby station is located on the Midland Mainline from London to Sheffield
Via Leicester with frequent connections to London St Pancras International – for connections via Eurostar to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. East Midlands Airport is 12 miles south of Derby, linked by frequent Skylink buses, and is a hub for Jet2 and Ryanair with flights to many parts of Europe. ♫ Title Music ♫
Home to the worlds first factory, the final resting place of the wealthiest woman in Tudor England, turning point for Bonnie Prince Charlie and a very large concrete ram.
Cathedral (https://derbycathedral.org)
Derby Museum and Gallery (https://www.derbymuseums.org)
Derby Ram
Derby River Boat (https://www.derbycanal.org.uk)
Museum of Making (https://www.derbymuseums.org)
Pickford’s House Museum (https://www.derbymuseums.org)
River Gardens
Silk Mill Park
Site of Exeter House
Belper: Mills (http://www.derwentvalleymills.org)
Belper: River Gardens
Chatsworth House and Gardens (https://www.chatsworth.org)
Visit Derby – http://www.visitderby.co.uk
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:31 Background
1:39 Lombe’s Mill
2:34 Bonnie Prince Charlie
3:44 Derby Cathedral
4:45 Bess of Hardwick Memorial
6:04 Derby Riverboat
7:02 Museum of Making
9:04 Pickford’s House Museum
11:06 Museum and Art Gallery
13:33 Belper
16:00 Chatsworth
22:27 Getting There
22:51 Outro
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