Voice Magazines - Selston, Pinxton, Jacksdale & Westwood Edition - April 2024

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

Who remembers the very first record they bought?

Was it an LP or a single?

Did you have your own record player, or did you have to share the family one? Why am I asking these questions?

Well…20th April is “Record Store Day”, a day dedicated to independent record shops across the world.

The event began in the US in 2007 with the first official “day” being 19th April 2008. Today thousands of record shops all over the world use “Record Store Day” to celebrate the role they play in bringing music to the masses. Here in the UK at least 260 stores take part every year.

As a child of the 70s, vinyl records were a big part of my life – it helped that one of my aunties actually worked in a record store, meaning I had access to the latest releases at discount prices!

I had a blue “Dansette” record player in my tiny bedroom, and I would spend ages up there listening to my favourite LPs, singing along and trying to dance in the miniscule amount of space ‘twixt bed and wardrobe’.

As time went by the old record player was replaced, first by a “boombox” style radio cassette player (and there hangs another story concerning cassette tapes and pencils…if you know, you know!), and then eventually by a CD player.

But I never forgot the joy of taking a shiny black LP out of the white dust cover. Of reading the song lyrics, revelling in the artwork on the album cover, then carefully replacing the LP in its protective

paper cover and sliding it into the cardboard album. Somehow the tiny cassette and CD packages never had quite the same impact – and the plastic! Wow, all those CD cases that cracked and fell apart – card album covers never did that. We were sustainable in the 70s and 80s – even if we didn’t know it.

So…circling back to the beginning of this article – the first record I bought for myself with my own pocket money was “David Essex”. The second album by him, released in 1974. Even at 11 years old, his blue eyes bedazzled me.

A staggering 50 years have elapsed since that purchase, tastes in music – both mine and in general – have changed, and not always for the better <grin>. But what is remarkable is that vinyl records have survived the onslaught of cassettes, CDs, and digital downloads, and are revered by musical purists as the best way to listen to music. I’m not sure about that, but vinyl LPs are certainly more of an overall sensory experience than streaming!

And finally – if you want to be a part of Record Store Day, there are three record stores in Sheffield, one in Chesterfield, and one in Nottingham, listed on https://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/ Why not pay one of them a visit and support them?

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All Around the Shire

Both my mum and my granny had big tins which contained a wide variety of “bits and bobs” and sewing accoutrements: treasure trove to a small girl. In my mum’s case it was a large old Quality Street tin with a tight-fitting lid which was kept in the “glory hole” or under-stairs cupboard – a semi-lit cave filled with fragrances of shoe polish and dust. When she needed something from it, she would call out, “Janny, fetch “The Tin” for me” and I would gladly collect it from its designated place in the glory hole.

As well as her sewing and button collection, it held a single sock with a hole in the toe. We never had a proper darning mushroom; mum used an orange instead. But she did have several cardboard rectangles with different colours of wool wound round for mending woollen clothes.

Some of the more unusual objects which found themselves consigned to “The Tin” were a metal whistle, a single fuse, odd keys, an Edwardian button hook, lengths of string, a kilt pin, hair grips, a plastic fork for eating dates at Christmas and fairy light bulbs. There were also many unidentifiable objects or parts of things which went to live in the tin until they were reunited with the missing bit.

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Some of these had been in “The Tin” for so long that their original use had been long forgotten but their place was assured for all time because they “might come in handy one day”. The sewing items were most often used and were stored in a separate box within “The Tin” except for the pin cushion which remained the vibrant and prickly star of “The Tin”. The first thing that greeted you as the lid was eased off like a bejewelled hedgehog.

I have gathered together a bits and bobs basket for our reminiscence sessions containing many of the remembered items from my childhood. People love to rifle through it and rediscover long lost memories. Did you have a bits and bobs tin, box, drawer or basket?

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Pinxton & South Normanton: History Group

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PINXTON PORCELAIN FACTORY - WHO WAS BEHIND IT AND WHY? APRIL 2024

Read any book or newspaper article which mentions the formation of the factory and you will get the same story. It was eighteen-year old John Coke’s initiative. As a ‘young man John spent several of his early years touring Northern Europe and fell in love with the Meissen porcelain he saw in Dresden’. This was first promulgated around 1886 by Llewellyn Jewitt and has been copied in every publication since

HOWEVER, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO SUBSTANTIATE THIS. When John was seventeen years old, he did go on a chaperoned tour of Northern Europe for several months. He did indeed visit Dresden. While away he frequently wrote home to his family. In his letter from Frieberg in August 1794 and he mentions having last visited Dresden. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO MENTION AT ALL OF PORCELAIN. Strange if he had been smitten! John’s letters are extant in the Trusley family archives, and I have a copy of the pertinent letter.

The other major obstacle with the story was that John, the youngest of Reverend Coke’s sons, had no money of his own. He had no commercial/business experience, either. He was seventeen/eighteen at the time. Porcelain production was an extremely specialist and difficult business. Even more so in making any profit from the process. Britain was at war with the French.

So, what/who was the catalyst! On the basis that ‘nothing evolves from nothing’, we must look to the Derby China Works for the

nearest connect. That is where the expertise for this cutting-edge technological knowledge and process existed.

The only recorded contact with Derby was Rev. D’ Ewes Coke. In 1743 Reverend D’ Ewes joined the Derby Philosophical Society. Around the same time, he and his wife had their portraits painted with D’ Ewes cousin, Daniel Parker Coke, a barrister and Member of Parliament whose local seat was Melbourne Hall, Derby. Derby at this date had a population of around 10,000 and was the cultural and social centre of the county.

Although William Duesbury is the name generally associated with the early years of the Derby factory, the initiative and business acumen behind Derby’s early years is undoubtedly a Derby banker named John Heath. Heath was an exceptionally wealthy Derby banker. He was responsible for the early initiatives of the Derby Works. He also owned the Cockpit Hill Pottery in the centre of Derby. In early 1779 the Heath bank had a run of investors wanting their money, which resulted in the Heath

brothers having to make a speedy retreat to avoid the dreaded debtors’ gaol. But where did they disappear to?

Tristram Revell of Carnfield Hall, Rev. Coke’s friend, was the illegitimate son of The Reverend Francis Revell and Mary Heath; the sister of John and Christopher. Where better to disappear to but their nephews three-storey, multi bedroomed country house where Tristram lived on his own with just a few servants?

We can only speculate about the after-dinner conversations involving the Heaths ceramics experiences. Is this where Reverend Coke gained interest in making porcelain? He is known to have been an outstanding botanist, even writing on the subject and presumably illustrating his subjects. He must have had an artistic flair. Given his disabilities he would have been attracted to leaving an artistic legacy. What better way than being responsible for some of the best decorated soft-paste porcelain ever! As a result of his disabilities, however, this would need to be delivered via his favourite son, young John!

Article submitted on behalf of Pinxton and South Normanton Local History Society. Monthly meetings 7.15 pm Third Monday at South Normanton Post Mill Centre. All welcome

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3. At the same time, spray a non-stick wok or large frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and put it over a high heat. Add the chicken strips and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until browned.

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4. Add the vegetables and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.

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6. Divide the rice and chicken mixture between 4 bowls, and sprinkle over the shredded seaweed, if using, to serve.

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Ingredients:

• 3 large skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips

• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 250g dried long-grain white rice

• Low-calorie cooking spray

• 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks

• 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips

• 100g mangetout

• 150g shiitake mushrooms, stalks removed, very thinly sliced

• 3 level tbsp teriyaki sauce

• 100ml hot chicken stock

• 1 dried seaweed sheet (nori), shredded (optional)

Serves: 4 Ready in: 25 minutes

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Re-walking

Rafa’s Rambles Flake’ s Favourites

This fantastic walk originally came to us from Terry at Alfreton Ramblers Club and featured in the magazine nearly 10 years ago, so it’s definitely time for a rewalk! Having said that there were only a few small changes. Although this is a taxing walk with some steep climbs it is worth it for the amazing views. As well as the tricky uphill sections there are some stretches of road and some steppingstones to cross so please take care, especially with your dogs. Enjoy!

3.5 MILE CIRCULAR FROM ASHOVER CHURCH

A difficult and varied walk for you and your dog. The route should take around 2 hours. There are a couple of difficult climbs and descents and a couple of stretches of road. The terrain is generally good but as with all walks if it will depend on the conditions. A good pair of boots is a must for the up/downhill sections.

START: ALL SAINTS CHURCH, ASHOVER, ASHOVER CHURCH, 22 CHURCH ST, ASHOVER, DERBYSHIRE, S45 0AU,

1. Begin at All Saints Church, Ashover (there is ample parking nearby). With your back to the church head right down Church Street. At the junction turn right onto Butts Rd and continue for approx. 200 meters. After the road bends round to the right take

a footpath sign on your left. Follow the track across the River Amber and continue bear straight ahead uphill towards a signpost and then bear up and right to reach some steps that take you through the wooded area.

2. As you reach the top there is a lovely view of Ashover. Cross a stile over a wall of stone slabs, carry on up the next field to cross another stile. Turn left onto a track, which you will follow for 300 meters until you meet a crossroad. Turn right here and follow the track. Cross Gin Lane and carry on along the track as it takes you into Matlock Forest.

3. As you emerge from the wooded area take the path that leads diagonally uphill. As the path levels off and you see a stone chimney to your left take the path that leads diagonally right, steeply uphill and through a wooded area.

4. As you reach the top you meet a T-junction on the path. Turn right and very shortly take a left turn alongside a stone wall.

5. Cross a collapsed wall into a field and carry on ahead with the field border on your left. As you approach the wooded copse cross the field towards it and follow around the outside to meet the field border. Follow this down to the gate at the bottom.

6. Turn right onto Holestone Gate Road. There is no path so take care and make use of the grass verge on the left-hand side of the road. Carry on ahead for approximately half a mile and as the road bends round to the left take the footpath sign on your right.

7. Carry on ahead through the gaps beside the two gates and pick up the path as it leads ahead into a wooded area known as Bradley Hollow. As you exit the woods bear left along the path down through the field past the ruined building to cross a stile onto Gin Lane.

8. Turn left and carry on for just over 200 meters before taking a footpath marked stile opposite a farm. Walk on towards a the oppostie side of the field heading for a gate and pass into the field on your right. Carry on with the field border on your left.

9. At the top of the field cross the stile and make your way down to the bottom left corner of the next field to pass through a gap and follow the path with Hate Wood on your right. After about 70 meters take a stile on your right into the wood and go down the steps towards the river.

10. Take great care crossing the river via the steppingstones. Carry on with the fence on your right before taking a gate in the fence. Follow the path across a small bridge. Follow the path with the trees on your left then bear left diagonally uphill. You will see the church spire directly in front of you. Carry on, passing between the houses to reach Butts Road.

11. Cross the road and turn left before taking a signposted path on your right after a few meters. Follow this path as it takes you round the back of the school and the church yard to bring you out onto Church Street. Turn left to head back to where you began the walk.

This walk is for illustrative purposes only. Voice Magazines Ltd takes no responsibility for anyone who chooses to follow this route and encourages all walkers to obey all byelaws and signs and to respect the area they are walking in, ensuring they pick up all dog mess and obey the countryside code at all times.

Ashover River Amber Matlock Forest Bradley Hollow Hate Wood

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Mike’sMusings

Our resident muser has the mike...

Mike is always glad to hear from you at : mike.musings@outlook.com

If I was Prime Minister I would……………..? (Part 2 of………?)

Well, I have to say that after my article last month when I gave graphic details of my, almost life ending collision with an electric bike, I was expecting some sympathetic messages of support. Sadly, I was disappointed. In fact, to be brutally honest, the comments I’ve received can be summarised as distinctly unsympathetic bordering on downright cruel & heartless.

As for my eminently, sensible suggestion that pavement use should be limited to those who can walk at a minimum speed of 4mph, well, I’d reprint some of the comments were this not a reputable family read publication.

I have however hit a nerve, as I’ve had a number of suggestions for changes in legislation to ease the frustration that many (make that some, and on occasions, just the one) of you feel. Most relate to antisocial behaviour, but here’s a few with a common link, viz, eating.

Trevor, from Selston, is a man after my own heart, as he’d like to make it illegal to eat or drink in cinemas and theatres. Like me, he finds the noise, and occasionally the smell from cinema goers, as they munch through whatever life enhancing food they’ve purchased, from what Americans call the concession stand – another bone of contention! – detracts from his enjoyment of watching the film.

NB – just for the record, and to be totally clear, Trevor’s complaint relates to the smell of the food, and not the cinema goer!

Trevor’s solution, which he feels would win widespread support, would be to introduce a total ban on the practice and have security guards operate airport style scanning machines in the foyer to ensure that no contraband illegally enters the auditorium. Should someone be so stupid as to selfishly smuggle in a pack of say, Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers, for a mid-film/ show snack, they would be made be to watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as many times as it takes until they can successfully answer the question “What was that all about?”

I think that’s a bit extreme, but Trevor is convinced it will have the desired effect.

Kelly, who contacted me from Wessington, said that her big gripe was seeing people go into a café, order one coffee, find a seat – often taking up two! - take out their laptop and WFC (work from café) for the next six hours. This, regardless of the fact that customers with kids, pushchairs and the like, are unable to find somewhere to sit.

Now Kelly is aware that it would be difficult to simply make this illegal. However, she has a suggestion that will find favour with many people, not least hard-working café proprietors, that she feels will solve the problem once and for all. Quite simply, she’d like to see café workers freed from the possibility of prosecution for criminal damage or claims for compensation, should they ‘accidentally’ drop a hot mug of cappuccino onto a keyboard.

Keep them coming folks – there will be more next month.

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BOOK REVIEW

ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER - ROSE TREMAIN

Forlornly wandering around Paris after her husband as he pursues his interest in puppet theatres, Marianne is struck by the unfairness of his accusation that she can be a bloody difficult person to like.

She reckons she has done her best. She married said husband - her best childhood friend Hugo - and has tried to give them a good life. Then it strikes her that “her best” has left her like a sick grey parrot in a cage, in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong people.

Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain is the story of a naïve and innocent girl who as a teenager falls headlong in love with a perfect human being – not the man who ends up as her husband needless to sayand spends most of her life lost to an imagined perfect life with the perfect man.

She’s very much the product of her middle class suburban 1960s-70s upbringing, although the swinging sophistication and early feminism of the period seems to be in a different world. At one point she sees herself turning into her mother. The descriptions of her parents’ world are really entertaining in a wince kind of way.

Marianne is infuriatingly uncertain of herself, but also someone you want to hug even while she’s driving you mad. It’s a story of a young love which can only go wrong in the real world but it’s also funny and astute and subtle and pokes gentle fun at the times it is set in. The writing fizzes along and it’s an interesting take on how we get trapped in our lives by the things around us, and by our own perceptions. A perfect little gem.

Guess the words and Fill in the crossword ! Pitcherwits®

Pitcherwits® are crossword puzzles where some of the clues are in pictures.

Sound easy? It’s not called “Pit-your-wits” for nothing!

The mixture of cryptic and picture clues, combined with Professor Rebus’ unique sense of humour, will keep you entertained for hours.

Across

1 Ill-fated plan to go to war in a states copcar (6,5)

5 Siân, having an ego that could cause such pains! (7)

14 See arms as about to embrace an old Egyptian (7)

16 Vat, with ‘ant’ label, cracked in sea struggle (5,6)

Down

Across

9 Leave out no mitigating circumstances, however small (4)

10 Grid, about to encircle (4)

11 Back to lady’s alternative (5)

12 An ocular sort of flower for Murdoch? (4)

13 Approached with inner pain (4)

Down

2 Tell you later which tab to use (1,1,1)

3 Andre Agassi to have his own cooker (3)

7 Absent on three separate occasions (3,4)

14 Vicar, mentioned briefly in the Book of Revelations (3)

15 ‘Tis complicated, so park yourself (3)

1 Pops in to Rio to make a suggestion (11)

4 He’d a venison sandwich that just isn’t sticky! (3-8)

6 A stooge who intended to join the Navy (2,2,3)

8 Avenger’s plan to carve in script (7)

Down: 1 Beachcomb, 2 Elegies, 3 Ash, 4 Ski, 6 Pay rise, 7 Tea, 8 Capturing, 10 Whippet, 13 Mac, 16 Use, 17 Lah.

Across: 1 Blue whales, 5 Emphatic, 9 Crag, 10 Wasp, 11 Earth, 12 Ohms, 14 Pier, 15 Buckle up, 18 Enchanting.

ANSWERS FOR LAST MONTHS PITHERWITS

These puzzles are devised by the brilliant Professor Rebus. For more of his puzzles visit www.pitcherwits.co.uk

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Gardener’s Calendar

Lawns appreciate a bit of love after the ravages of a wet winter. April is the best time to re-seed baldy bits if there’s a bit of warmth. Dig the patch over and add a bit of fresh soil if it’s looking tired.

Rake over and make sure the seed has proper contact with the soil, plant about an inch deep if you can and tread in. Even if you’re just seeding over existing lawn make sure the seed is well trodden in. Water. If you’ve got uneven hollows or ridges just carefully peel back the top layer of turf and either remove or add soil and replace the turf, treading it down firmly. If you don’t like moss in your lawn or your grass is looking a bit ragged use a wire rake to pull out the debris – it will look a bit messy for a while but will repay the effort.

When using your glorious home-made compost to reinforce border soil be careful how you lift it from the compost heap or bin. Most hibernating creatures such as hedgehogs should be gone by now but it’s best to avoid attacking the compost pile with long tined forks or sharp spades, just in case.

Deadhead your daffs but leave the foliage to die down neatly and don’t tie. That way the energy will go back into the bulb and give you a good show net spring.

Top Tip:

For a cottage garden look scatter the kind of seeds which used to grow in cornfields before intensive farming got to them. The likes of cornflower and poppies will give you a quick blast of colour and are great tor encouraging early pollinating insects.

The chlorine in the tap water most of us use for watering houseplants can actually harm growth. But if you leave it standing in an open jug for 24 hours a lot of the chlorine will dissipate. If you’ve got acid loving houseplants, use rainwater.

NATURE NOTES FROM THE PEAK DISTRICT

A PEAK TIME FOR SPARROWHAWKS

Whilst there are clearly still problems for birds of prey in and around the Peak District and North Derbyshire, recent decades have witnessed some spectacular recoveries such as by common buzzard especially, and but more localised, red kite too. Peregrines are doing well in urban areas where they nest on tall buildings and consume feral pigeons, but they still suffer persecution and disturbance in the Peak itself. There are other similar stories but that is maybe for another occasion. However, two of our more familiar birds of prey are a falcon, the kestrel, and a hawk, the sparrowhawk, and their recent histories are a little different. The kestrel was almost the only bird of prey that was still fairly abundant in the 1970s, whereas I now recall my first local sparrowhawk viewing as a ‘redletter day’! The bird, a female, was high over the Rivelin Valley on the eastern edge of the Peak District moors. The characteristic rounded wings, long tail, and the ‘flapflap-glide’ flight were very obvious. Kestrel on the other hand was a fairly common sighting that we expected on any outing to suitable habitat, and of course which thrived along the grassy verges of motorways and dual carriageways where they fed on abundant voles and mice. Unlike other birds of prey, kestrels escaped the worst of pesticides and also of persecution.

However, whilst kestrels thrived along their newly-created motorway habitats, the sparrowhawks were pretty much under the cosh and numbers plummeted, until perhaps the early 1980s. Regulation of both pesticides and (by now illegal) persecution meant sparrowhawk numbers started to increase. Other birds of prey, especially common buzzard also began a dramatic increase in both

MALE SPARROWHAWKS

BY IAN ROTHERHAM

numbers and geographic spread, the latter connected to a decrease in gamekeeping across lowland England. It seems that an unexpected consequence of the rise of the buzzards has been their emergence as direct competitors for feeding habitats (such as the roadside verges) with their smaller cousins, the kestrels. Moreover, buzzards are quite territorial and can be aggressive on breeding sites and in feeding areas. The overall result does seem to be a decrease in kestrels and the rise of buzzards and kites along roadside grasslands. Nowadays, the sparrowhawks have really come good and in many areas are quite abundant. In gardens both in the countryside and around the urban fringe they are doing well and are apt to take up residence close to bird-feeders. Whilst the loss of your garden blue tits, great tits, siskins, and the like can be distressing to witness, it is part of nature’s great cycle of life and death. The idea of rewilding nature and the countryside hinges greatly on the re-establishment of what we call ‘trophic levels’, i.e., the feeding levels of one-time regionally extinct predator and prey interactions in the food-chains. This drama of rewilding is acted out in and around our gardens every day, and predators like the sparrowhawks are stunning birds, but they do have to eat! Furthermore, the predators take out numbers of young birds that would otherwise starve during the winter months, and balance is maintained.