I was in Matlock on Saturday Tom, and always thought it's a lovely area.
In Ambergate, about 5 miles from Matlock itself, there's a pub called the 'Hurt Arms' - which always makes me smile.
Wow. The Hurt Arms was a mile from my office, where I worked for 20 odd years. My first affair began in there. It's on the A6, in Ambergate, & gets flooded by the Derwent, which runs parallel to the A6 there, now & then. The peculiar Whatstandwell Bridge is 3 miles north, & that stretch of road between the Hurt Arms & the wibbly-wobbly Whatstandwell Bridge, all of it with the Derwent alongside, is among the most beautiful in England. The portal for Carsington Reservoir is on that stretch of the Derwent, too, but only visible from the north of the river. Carsington Reservoir is, in effect, fed from the Derwent, & the Derwent from the run off from the Dales & Pennines.
Opposite the Hurt Arms is the A610, & 200 yards along that is a plant hire company called J C Balls. They hire out heavy civil engineerring contractors plant - dump trucks, mobile cranes, tippers, tc. And fancy dress costumes.
Only in Derbyshire.
Heading north after Whatstandwell Bridge, flick a left & it takes you up a winding lane to Wirksworth, past the home of Helen McCarthy, (?) the yachtslady, & then past the Capability Brown landscaped & Tony Kendall maintained (pre-retirement) Wigwell Grange, which sits in 700 acres of prime Derbyshire countryside. It's the home of J N Kirkland, OBE, & was built, progressively, from 15??. Mary, Queen of Scots, on her way from Scotland to London to be beheaded (so the story goes), stayed overnight there, & carved into the bark of an oak tree "MURDRERS". (Spelt as carved). It's still visible, to this day, though whether the story is true is another matter.
The grounds have numerous English oak trees, some over 600 years old, & it was my sad task to fell several which had become dangerous. Ivy had "attacked" them - ivy saps the strength & water from trees, grows up the trunk, wraps itself round the branches, strangling their water & light supply, then by sheer weight, the branches & boughs crash to the ground.
Squirrels are a nightmare there too - they nibble circles round a branch or bough, chew the bark off in a perfect circle, & then the branch dies. Extraordinary. We had a "problem" with badgers, too. Oh, & moles. Let's not go there.
The owner of Wigwell Grange prior to JNK was a man called......Gordon Bennett.
When JNK purchased the Grange, it only had 70 acres round it, but he has bought up all the surrounding farmland so that he knows his Estate will be secluded for as long as his family wish it so. And he rents it back to the Tenant farmers at a pepperrcorn rent, so everyone is happy.
Please don't ask why I just wrote all that waffle, there is no explanation.
Carry on, as you were.
Author