NEXT MEETINGS
On 17th May, DACA will hold their AGM briefly, to be followed by a talk by David Down on “Mastermind”.
On 21st June, Bernie Petley will talk on “Magic”.
Remember that Meetings start at 7.00pm. not as shown in some local magazines.
EVENTS
Open Day & Fayre
Thanks to all who took part in the Open Day and Fayre on Saturday 27th April. There were lots of helpers and goods for sale and lots of visitors. The display of “The Erica Perry Collection of boards about the History of Darley Abbey”, recently donated by her family, along with local photographs and memorabilia, was very busy and appreciated by visitors & members.
More than £350 was raised on the day, including a donation by Rosemary in memory of past-member Thorsten Sjolin. Many familiar and new faces were met on the day. Well done to the organising team of Marie, Carol, Sheila & Maureen, and to Ann & Helen for great refreshments on the day.
St. Matthew’s Church 200 yr. Celebrations
https://stmatthewschurchdarleyabbey.wordpress.com/bicentenary/#
2019 will mark the bicentenary of St Matthew’s Church in Darley Abbey.
We DAHG will hold an Exhibition of our Archive material (maps, brochures, newspapers, etc.) relevant to the Church’s history on Saturday 29th June from 1 – 4pm. in the Village Hall. We will need helpers for setting up at 12:30 and clearing away afterwards.
We are looking through our Archive for Church-related material and we are collaborating with the Church sub-committee over display material. If you have family records or photos from early St. Matthew’s history, could you lend these for the Exhibition? We will look after them carefully.
We will also have a display of Family History material, where you can look up your Darley ancestors and start your Family Tree. Come and find out about your Darley house in the past.
Darley WI will also provide a Victorian Tea Room to complement the Exhibition, with tea & cakes.
Our event is under the banner, “Who would live in a place like Darley Abbey?” being promoted by DACA.
DVM / WHS Discovery Days
We will be holding an Exhibition on “Transport in Darley Abbey” on Saturday 26th October from 12.30 – 5pm in the Village Hall. This is our part of the Derwent Valley Mills Discovery Week with a “Transport” theme, and there will be special ‘transport’ events along the whole valley. Our Exhibition will cover all forms of transport in Darley from Roman Roads to Monastic Tracks to Canals to Railways to Trams and Trolley Buses. Again if you have any ‘Transport in Darley’ material, either memories or photos, the odder the better, can it be loaned for the show?
There will be no Village Tour Walk this year unless a Leader and Steward come forward.
Roy and Sheila will be showing CD’s about Darley in St. Matthew’s Fellowship Room from 4 – 5pm.
RESEARCH
“Darley Memories” and “Darley Photos” Projects
The website continues to attract old Darleians, who are offering written memories and photos of Old Darley activities. Some of them have said they will be attending our two future Exhibitions, bringing Memorabilia. For these projects to take off, we need volunteers to manage the collation of documents and the scanning and storage of photos, perhaps for eventual issue as DAHG Reports. Any Volunteers ?
See later in Tony’s section ….
Burley Hill Pottery
The Loan Copy of this Report No. is available for your comments.
DVMills / Wayfinding
DVM are sponsoring improved signage and Interpretation Boards in Milford/ Duffield /Darley and we and other Darley Groups held a meeting recently with Peter McGrail, their Consultant, about improvements in Darley.
Darley Slade Gatehouse – no response from DCC yet regarding a proposed Archaeological Survey.
Watching Briefs & Surveys
Spinney Close Tunnels; New Road Trenches; Church Lane Culvert; Lavender Row Culvert;
Ice-house Display Area :- no progress on these surveys & investigations this month, perhaps when the weather improves.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
New Road 3 houses development — no news yet
Church Lane 1 house development — the owner will keep us informed.
Darley Park multi-user path — no news yet; Query sent to DCC and we await their response.
Tony Lintott adds …….
Alan mentions old Darleians making contact. This is becoming a fascinating aspect of our group’s work and for our Archives/Library team of Barrie and Liz. Recently we/they have established that one Darley ancestor lived in a very old part of Derby, off London Road. This was featured in the Derby Telegraph Bygones section, with a couple of photos. See here, https://drive.wps.com/d/APtFCdfl9vsjgIDAsvv9EQ
Don’t forget to use our DAHG email address, darleyabbeyhistoricalgroup@gmail.com to get in touch with your Committee. We’d be happy to hear from you and happy to include your thoughts or stories in the Blog to make it even more interesting.
Our Blog has now been accessed in 30 countries around the world, the latest being Burkina Faso. We’re also way through the 5000 page-hits barrier and receive around 6 hits per day. Not bad for a small group.
The new committee listing is now on the website following the AGM. Draft, meeting minutes are written.
See the revised Events Programme, having been updated by Alan.
Explore the historic Derwent Valley with your GPS Smartphone. Go to this web address: https://www.pocketwonders.co.uk/pocketwonders/derwent-valley-mills-world-heritage-site/
Alan Bradwell – Newsletter Editor
Tony Lintott – Website Editor
DARLEY ABBEY HISTORICAL GROUP 