Every year Bakewell u3a hosts a coffee afternoon to raise money for a worthwhile charity, sometimes local, sometimes national. For 2026 the organisers have chosen Cancer Research UK and invite you and your friends to come along to the Methodist Church, Bakewell, at 2pm on Wednesday 21st January and join in the fun. There will of course be a raffle and plenty of coffee and tea and biscuits but the main attraction will be the table-top sale of lots of hand-made or unwanted bit

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

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

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SING IN The SPRING CONCERT? Bakewell Choral Society's Spring Concert will be on Saturday, 25th April at Bakewell Parish Church. They will be performing Vivaldi Gloria, Pergolesi Magnificat and Rutter Magnificat. Rehearsals start on Monday, 5th January 2026. Guests are invited to come and join at the start of the spring term and to sing in the concert. All voice parts are welcome. If you have not sung with Bakewell Choral Society before, the fee for rehearsa

L-R:John Hopkins and Club Chairman, Paul Davies On a recent typically cold, grey and wet December day, the members of Bakewell and District Probus Club were reminded of sunny skies and summer warmth by their colleague, John Hopkins, who presented a talk about his experiences as a schools inspector in Dubai. Having spent a career in teaching, culminating in a headmastership in Wales, and approaching the age of retirement, John was presented with the opportunity to serve as an

L-R: Tony Fry and Club Chairman, Paul Davies When, on the grounds of ‘Health and Safety’, we are prevented from carrying out a course of action, we sometimes complain that such considerations are an infringement of our liberties. However, the need for such legislation was clearly demonstrated at a recent meeting of the Bakewell and District Probus Club when member Tony Fry described three catastrophic industrial accidents which, most probably, would have been avoided had the

Henry and his Mum, who is a teacher at the school Henry Donovan, a pupil at Bakewell Methodist Academy, led the way in a challenging fundraising event at school. Last year, Henry was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an auto immune condition where the body can’t make insulin. Insulin acts as a key that lets sugar from food go into the body’s cells to give them energy. In type 1 diabetes the body’s immune system accidentally attacks the cells in the pancreas t

L-R: President, John Hopkins, David Ensor and Secretary, Peter Huttable At the evening meeting on 26th November at the Rutland Arms, Bakewell members were delighted to welcome speaker, David Ensor. He had travelled from the Cotswolds to be at the meeting and tell more of his fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research UK with several walks and over £70k raised so far – and he’s off to do the via Francigena camino from Lucca to Rome next year. The club had donated some £500 to his re

Once again at Bakewell Methodist Church we are celebrating the Christmas story with a Festival of Nativities. The invitation is to everyone to come and see the meaningful story of Christmas pictured through beautiful Nativity crib scenes, including a life-size scene with all the characters around the crib. Come and discover again how the birth of Jesus came about and why that brings so much to celebrate in this season! The Festival is open every day from 1st to 22nd December

Saturday, December 20th, 2025 • 3:00 PM • Assembly Room Theatre, Bakewell Town Hall  Prepare for an afternoon of swing, sparkle and seasonal cheer as the Belper Jazz Company teams up with acclaimed vocalist Jeanie Barton for a special Christmas themed concert at Bakewell’s historic Town Hall on Saturday 20 December 2025 at 3:00 PM .  A Season of Sound and Joy  This festive performance promises toe-tapping jazz arrangements of beloved holiday classics in the hands of the Belpe

L-R: Steve Maybury and Club Chairman, Paul Davies To judge by the popularity of television and radio programmes devoted to the subject, crime thrillers are a source of continuing fascination to the public. Most of these are based on fiction but, in contrast, an actual murder committed in 1931 was the topic of a recent talk to the Bakewell and District Probus Club by member, Steve Maybury. The story, as related by Steve, was about an apparently contentedly married couple, Jul

Sunday 23rd November, 10.30-12.30 “Isn’t jazz played in seedy basements late at night?” Yes – but you can also immerse yourselves in the cool sounds of mellow jazz whilst enjoying an amazing breakfast at The Medway Centre in Bakewell! The Jazz Breakfast is deservedly one of Oxfam’s most popular annual events. Come with your family and friends to relax, chat and read the Sunday newspapers, which we provide, while enjoying a sumptuous buffet of cheeses, cold meats, eggs, smok

A reminder that the seventeenth Christmas Tree Festival at All Saints’ Parish Church, Bakewell will take place between 11 and 21 December 2025. After the festival’s opening during a short service at 7pm on Thursday, 11 December, the church will be open from 9.30am to 4pm daily (12 noon to 4pm on Sundays). Delicious home made refreshments and light lunches will be served in the Open Door Café each day between 10am and 3.30pm (12.30 to 3.30 on Sundays) There will be music to

L-R: Club Chairman, Paul Davies and Stefan Andrejczuk To many people in this country, the name of Marks & Spencer suggests the traditional British business but, in fact, it was founded by a penniless immigrant, Michael Marks who, in 1882, arrived in England unable to speak the language but who was determined to work hard to earn a living. The story of the famous retail business which bears his name and that of his partner, Thomas Spencer, was related to the Bakewell and Distr

Visit Bakewell Christmas Market Weekend and browse through the incredible selection of festive stalls, delicious food and drink and not forgetting the vast selection of entertainment planned for over the weekend. There will be over 100 stalls, gazebos and trailers in the beautiful historic market town centre with local brass and silver bands, choirs and DJ. The 15th Bakewell Christmas Market 2025 will be held on Market Street, Granby Road and Riverside Crescent and welcomes

The next Rotary Club of Bakewell Repair Café is being held at the Bakewell Methodist Church Hall on Saturday 29th November from 10am to 12.30pm (last jobs taken 12 noon). Our usual team of repairers will be on hand to try and save your items from the scrap heap using their brilliant repair skills. Items previously repaired successfully include vacumn cleaners, radios, stools, and our bicycle repairer is coming too. We will also be holding a special Darning Workshop at the sa

Albert Keir of Bakewell, a veteran who helped to liberate Europe from the Nazi occupation, who sadly died last month at the age of 100 Bakewell Royal British Legion (RBL) would like to invite all veterans and local residents, to join in or attend our two Remembrance Events. The 11th of November each year is marked as a day of remembrance, to mark the end of World War I (WWI) in 1918. The guns fell silent at 11am on this date, which has become known as Armistice Day, or Reme

Stephen Coates, President of Bakewell & District Historical Society and Bakewell Old House Museum giving a detailed presentation of John Blake and his work On Thursday 18th September at Bakewell Town Hall, dignitaries and guests learnt about the ‘Mystery of the Missing Mural’. In 1945 Private John Blake, an Army soldier who had been stationed in Bakewell during WWII, painted a huge mural on the rear wall of the Assembly Room in the Town Hall, the Mural was some 30ft wide by

Albert Keir, a veteran who helped to liberate Europe from the Nazi occupation, has died at the age of 100. Albert Keir was part of the D-Day naval crew which assisted American troops landing on Omaha Beach in France on 6 June 1944. Albert was awarded the Freedom of Derbyshire on 12 February 2025 in recognition of his service and achievements. Albert had been working as a painter and decorator after leaving school at the age of 14, and was a member of the Local Defence Volu