Winster’s festive season began in true village style on Sunday 7th December, as residents gathered outside the historic Market House for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. This year’s event was made especially memorable by the presence of Carnival Queen, Kate Conner who helped unveil the sparkling display and bring a sense of seasonal magic to the village. Before the switch-on, Kate visited the Winster Village Shop to assist with the unveiling of its newly dressed

John Everitt and Jemima Letts of the Chatsworth Forestry Team If you, members of your family or any of your friends have autism, this inspirational event is for you and them. John Everitt and Jemima Letts of the Chatsworth Forestry Team will be talking through their joint experience of autism – how it has affected life, work (and logs!) and how learning about it has revolutionised their experience of working together. Come and hear their personal, inspiring and very funny s

Visitors to Haddon Hall were treated to an unexpected touch of Christmas magic recently when the South Notts Men’s Chorus were joined by a most unlikely and enthusiastic guest. As the choir filled the historic hall with seasonal favourites, a bright-breasted robin appeared, hopping and fluttering around the room as if drawn by the music itself. Far from being shy, the little bird sang his heart out, chirping boldly alongside the choir and earning smiles from singers and audi

Santa supported by Rotarians, John Craike and Margie Stuckey The club collected £1,260 at the Aldi store in Bakewell over three days before Christmas for our own highly commended community grants scheme and for Ashgate Hospice Save a precious Bed fighting fund where reduced central funding has currently limited the number of available care beds from 15 to 6. The club is again very appreciative of the support and encouragement from the store manager and his staff. Santa was

‘Faithful in Difficulties’ – The Lives of the “Leadswingers”, creators of the First World War trench magazine of the 3rd West Riding Field Ambulance Service, 1915-1919 19th February ‘Faithful in Difficulties’ (In Arduis Fidelis) was their regimental motto. In between saving lives on the First World War battlefields of Flanders, including at the bloody battles of the Somme and Passchendaele, a small band of young Royal Army Medical Corps servicemen from Sheffield, with shared

Gardens and community green spaces can be fantastic habitats for wildlife. From frogs and toads to bumblebees and butterflies, our gardens are capable of supporting all sorts of birds, mammals, insects and amphibians According to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, there are an estimated 16 million gardens in the UK – and whether these are big or small, together they form a wide network of spaces that has the potential to be a vast haven for wildlife. Wildlife gardening needn’t be h

The annual party in full swing. Inset: Dave Rawson in the party spirit Yet again the Bakewell Rotary Club held their very successful Old Folks Christmas Party at the Methodist Church in Bakewell. Over 85 local people were on hand to enjoy the food, wonderfully prepared by the kitchen helpers who all donated their time and effort to put on a party spread. It was a very festive event with Santa putting in an appearance. As usual we must thank the local businesses who were so

Redstart Dr Mark Eddowes is a local man from Bonsall. His day-job is as an airport safety consultant but he is also an independent ornithological researcher. Mark explores in detail what we can all sense from our own observations – with a changing climate, our springs are advancing, and our songbirds must migrate back here and breed earlier to keep up. They are shifting northwards and vacating previous breeding grounds to the south. He draws in particular on county records an

The fundraising ukulele concert at the end of November at the Whitworth in aid of Alzheimer’s Research was a sell out, with more than a hundred people in the ballroom. The Matlock Ukulele Group Strummers (MUGS) had a fantastic time playing to a wonderful audience who needed very little encouragement to join in with their songs, demanding three encores at the end of the evening. The event raised £654.50 for Alzheimer's Research taking the total raised so far to an enormous £

One of the High Peak’s favourite visitor attractions, Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens, is open for business whilst essential roof repair work takes place. High Peak Borough Council is investing £1.2 million in repairs and improvement works at the Grade II listed complex. The programme is being delivered in two phases and focuses on protecting the historic buildings whilst improving facilities for visitors. The first phase includes roof repairs to the Pavilion Arts Centre and offi

On Friday the 2nd of January 2026, doors open at 7:00 PM Stories and Music begin at 7:30 PM In the at All Saints' Church Hall, Matlock Bank DE43JG "I saw a banshee once, just outside of Galway..."When Charlotte was 8 her Grandad told her the beginning of a story but refused to tell the full tale. Years later a chance encounter led her to find the rest of his story buried deep within an archive gathered from families in Ireland. Not only did she discover this unbelievable l

Peak Forest Reading Room is a registered Charity (No. 520493). The building is Grade II listed with historic connections to the Devonshire Estate and was built in 1880. The front of the building incorporates the ‘Venetian’ window, which was removed from the original Peak Forest Church when the ‘new’ church was built. This window dates from 1657 and is of historic significance. Several works to the roof and exterior of the building have already been undertaken, but the int

St Anne’s School Choir and Christmas Tea Oh, Bless them, they were wonderful. A chorus of joyful voices melting our hearts. Perfect. Nothing beats St Anne’s School Choir at Christmas. Then Christmas tea, a lovely finalé to our WI year. Chatsworth Christmas Outing Happy chaos. Some of us were early, some late, some poorly and some were there but we never found them. It was busy and it was tricky to keep together because there was a plethora of young burgeoning media influencer

Wildlife of the Peak District - An Illustrated talk by Peter Bull on Monday 19th January at 7.30pm Peter Bull has a passion for photography and has a gift for taking superb photographs of wildlife. He lives on the western edge of Hathersage over-looking the Hope Valley, Stanage Edge and Hathersage Moor. His talk will relate the wide variety of habitat in the Peak District, the wild flower meadows, ancient woodlands, bogs, moorlands, rivers and gritstone edges to the equally

Being presented with his Dan grade certificate by Sensei Nigel Briggs, 6th Dan, is Sensei Sonny, watched by Sensei Jason Nesbeth 4th Dan and other students of Matlock Go-Dai Karate Club Matlock Go-Dai Karate Club celebrates another black-belt success! Sonny Field from Matlock now joins the elite, having taken a gruelling grading to gain his 1st Dan junior karate black-belt under the watchful eye of the Association’s Chair, Sensei Duncan Hardy, 8th Dan. Sonny started trainin

SATURDAY 10TH JANUARY, 7.30PM With a voice as deep as a southern sunrise and guitar work sharp enough to cut through any honkey tonk noise, Mark brings a fresh edge to classic country, with a sound of his own. Known for his rich vocals and masterful guitar work, Mark delivers songs that feel both nostalgic and new. On stage he's equal parts calm confidence and electric energy, letting his guitar speak as boldly as his voice. His music offers listeners storytelling they can

Bob Thorpe celebrating the win A local sportsman who has been playing football for over 70 years is celebrating a win on the world stage. Bob Thorpe, aged 74, of Dronfield Woodhouse, was a member of the England Over 70s team which lifted the World Nations Cup in walking football. Bob and his teammates beat Holland 8-1 to take the title in the Over 70s category in the FIWFA six-a-side competition at Torrevieja Sports City, in Spain, in October. In fact, the squad were unbeat

Danny Wells At the last meeting of the year members and visitors welcomed back for the fourth time, Danny Wells. On this occasion he spoke about the “Art of Gardens” which was so interesting in many ways, he explained that on closer examination of many paintings there is a whole host of hidden details with flowers and foliages having secret meaning! This was very much the case in Elizabethan, Victorian and Edwardian times. To close the meeting, Mary and Mary served teas alon

Residents across North Derbyshire can take some of the stress away from the post-Christmas clear-up by registering their real Christmas tree for Blythe House Hospice’s Treecycle campaign. Between 8th to 10th January 2026, hospice staff and volunteers will be collecting trees from postcodes across the High Peak, Hope Valley and Derbyshire Dales* for a donation to fund vital hospice services. Thanks to the devoted support of S ‘n’ S Trees of New Mills, all the money raised wi

Megan Wroe, Head of Family at Graysons The start of the New Year is traditionally one of the busiest periods for family law firms, with the first Monday of January dubbed ‘Divorce Day’ due to a yearly surge in enquiries. At Hope Valley-based Graysons Solicitors, the family team is preparing for an expected rise in calls, with this January marking the first such period under the leadership of Megan Wroe since her appointment as Head of Family. Graysons says one of the bigge