22 September: Derbyshire Day

Today is Derbyshire Day. Ten things you might not know about the English county of Derbyshire:

1. The first people known to have settled in the area were the Romans. They built a fort there and called it Derventio. Later on, in 921, King Edward the Elder founded Derby when he built a bastion against the resurgence of Vikings in the East Midlands.
2. Derbyshire covers an area of 255,071 hectares (630,366 acres) – which is nearly two per cent of England.
3. Derbyshire was the location of the first factory in England, possibly even the world – it was a silk mill known as Lombe’s Mill dating back to the 18^th century.
4. At the other extreme, perhaps, Derbyshire was also the location of England’s first public park – Derby Arboretum, which opened in 1840. Philanthropist Joseph Strutt donated the land as a thank you gesture to the local people, who’d helped him make his fortune. The park was designed by John Claudius Loudon. In 1857, it was visited by Frederick Law Olmsted, one of the designers of New York’s Central Park – and it’s thought he used some of Loudon’s ideas. The UK’s first national park, the Peak District, is also in Derbyshire.
5. As well as the city of Derby, towns in the county include Chesterfield (which has a 14^th century church with a twisted and leaning spire), Long Eaton, Ilkeston, Swadlincote, Buxton (home of Buxton mineral water), Glossop (the foundation stone of its town hall was laid on the day Queen Victoria was crowned) and Belper, which has become famous for the Belper Moo. This originated as a way to keep spirits up during the 2020 lockdown. Belper resident Jasper Ward, advertised it on social media as a means of 'fighting lockdown stress, boredom and loneliness'. At 6.30 every evening, Belper residents were encouraged to go to their doors and windows, or into their gardens, and moo like a Cow.
6. On Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire hosts a historic football game lasting two days. It’s played between 2:00 pm and lasting until 10:00 pm, between the Up'Ards and the Down'Ards (which team a person is on depends on which side of Henmore Brook they were born on). There are dozens pf people on each team and tourists have been known to join in, but scoring a goal (striking the ball three times on a millstone) is reserved for locals. It’s usually agreed in advance who will perform the honours should the ball reach the goal. There are very few rules. The game must not be played after 10pm, cemeteries and the memorial gardens are out of bounds, the ball must not be hidden in a bag or rucksack, or carried in a motorised vehicle. A further rule is that players must not commit murder or manslaughter.
7. Derbyshire's country flower is Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium caeruleum).
8. Mr Darcy’s Pemberley estate is set in Derbyshire. George Eliot's novel Adam Bede and DH Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers take place in the county, too. More recently, the TV series Peak Practice and The League of Gentlemen were filmed there.
9. Famous people from Derbyshire include Barnes Wallis, who developed the bouncing bombs during World War II, sailor Ellen MacArthur and Coronation Street actress Tracey Shaw. The video game character Lara Croft was invented at Core Design in Derby.
10. Derby’s cathedral has the second highest perpendicular church tower in England and the oldest set of ten bells in the world. One of them was cast in 1520 during the reign of Henry VIII, and is still in use almost 500 years later (it’s one of the oldest working objects in the city).

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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