Formerly known as the Galleries of Justice Museum, the site covers a former Victorian courtroom, prison, and police station. Dating back to the 14th century for its courtrooms and at least 1449 for it gaol, the currently Grade II* listed building, known as the Shire Hall, is perfectly placed to home and display centuries of legal proceedings and law enforcement in a fascinating museum collective.
Through May and June, you can meet the artists and view their art and craft. Their varied work includes painting, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, photography, sculpture, glass work, wood carving, printmaking and more.
We discover that Chris’s purpose-built working studio is not only fascinating (and thoughtfully furnished with a burning log burner!), but it provides a true ‘working experience’ for anyone wishing to see how Chris works first hand, with distinct areas for woodworking, metalworking, metal casting, printmaking, laser and CNC routing. His portfolio albums are full of intricate prototype drawings and photos of his installations that could keep us interested, for hours. But we wanted to find out more about the man behind the creations and how he has taken his interest for fine art and combined ...
Neil McGregor’s life as an artist started when he was very young and he has drawn and painted for as long as he can remember. He was inspired by childhood visits to the New Walk Museum in Leicester where he would sit and draw the stuffed animals on display.
The rare, hollow, 12-sided dodecahedron object was found by a small community dig in the village of Norton Disney and is the 33rd ever to be discovered in Britain. Their purpose and significance are unknown and has been a topic of controversial debate among archaeologists.
The unusual discovery was also featured on episode 4 of BBC2’s flagship archaeology programme, Digging For Britain, with Professor Alice Roberts.
The destination celebrates 40 years of cable car flights and 50 years since the current owners took over the stewardship of the hilltop estate, restoring the woodland path network, reopening and enhancing the cavern tours and adding the award-winning facilities, exhibitions and attractions that modern day visitors have come to enjoy.
Joanna Brown, a relative of Benjamin Bryan, the Victorian owner of the Heights (1840’s), will be pushing the big green button to restart the cable cars for the season on 10th February at 9.55am. Joanna (from Somerset) was on holiday in the Peak Dist...
We discovered that Jayne’s father was very artistic. As a colliery Blacksmith he would hand draw very technical engineering diagrams and designs. She would watch him closely and try to replicate them. This fascination had a huge influence on her style.
“Ever since I was a toddler, I would be drawing circles or squares and playing with pens”, Jayne laughs. “I was clearly determined art was for me, even then! I remember being fascinated by my father’s handwriting, which was a calligraphy style, and in the precise nature of the drawings he would produce for items at work.”
This interest in a...
The Chesterfield Canal Trust has run Santa Special cruises for decades. This year, our tripboat Seth Ellis will be running them from the Chequers Inn at Ranby on 2nd & 3rd, 9th & 10th, 16th & 17th and 23rd December.
