Tideswell, Derbyshire

Last Thursday we drove south from the more familiar Hope Valley through the different landscape of the White Peaks limestone plateau area of Derbyshire so that we could spend some time in Tideswell, the nearby hamlet of Cressbrook and the village of Litton.

We stopped in Tideswell in the market place area by the church as I wanted to spend some time inside before taking a walk.

Tideswell was in times past an important centre for the wool trade and this is reflected in the buildings. Villagers would have been occupied in agriculture on sheep and dairy farms - it's still an agricultural area today - or they would have worked in the local lead mines, mills and quarries.  The 14th century parish church of St. John the Baptist is a beautiful place of worship and known as the Cathedral of the Peak.  It has many interesting features and there is an annual festival on the feast day of the nativity of St. John the Baptist (24th June) followed by a week long programme of festivities including well dressing, traditional Morris dancing and a torchlight procession.

The south porch door has Psalm 84.2 carved on it in Latin:  "How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord God of Hosts!"

Looking up into the bell tower you can see the round trapdoor through which the bells can be raised and lowered for retuning or repair.  All the bells are old dating from the mid 17th century.

There are many carved details taken from nature.

Mary Magdalene with a jar of spikenard, a precious ointment.

Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist

The caring of the young

Learning

Prayer and Praise

The Cathedral of the Peak is particularly noted for its wood carving, the oldest being in the Lady Chapel and dating from the medieval period. The organ case and carvings on the choir stalls were crafted by three generations of a local family, the Hudstones, beginning in the 19th century.

Here are a few of the many beautiful examples.

The Lady Chapel

There is a fragment of  C16th coloured glass.  Initials A M stand for
'Ave Maria'. Other symbols of the Virgin Mary in the Lady Chapel are the rose and the lily.

The monument with two female stone figures (dated from before 1300) would have been in the original church that stood on this site.

The  restored monument to a knight and his lady thought to be Sir Thurston de Bower and his wife, Margaret, in the de Bower Chapel

The Lyttons of Litton

Bishop Robert Pursglove

                There are several interesting memorial brasses of prominent local family members.

The C15th  tomb of Sir Sampson Meverill in the chancel is made of Purbeck marble from Dorset.
On the top is a brass with a symbolic representation of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

On the north side of the church are many old buildings. The St. John's Institute building houses the local library.  

In the main street there are some interesting little shops such as one selling books, second hand, I think, although I didn't go in - very tempting to spend time browsing around when we had plans to go elsewhere!

However, I did go into the baker's and bought a granary loaf and the rose petal shortbread which we've since enjoyed!

It was soon time to drive on to Cressbrook  to see some examples of well dressing (the tradition of making pictures with flowers and other natural materials to give thanks for the supply of  natural water sources) and then had lunch in Litton.

Litton

 More about Cressbrook and Litton next time.....

A trip to London (2)

Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square

Thankfully our day in London was spent in the area around Westminster and St. James's Park and we took a taxi to St. James's Palace where we were met by clerical members of the Queen's Royal Household and given a tour of the inner palace courtyards and the Chapel Royal and the Queen's Chapel.  

By the time we left the rain had got heavier, but we had planned to walk across St. James's Park to Westminster Abbey.  Walking was the best option as security for the Olympics has meant that 

many roads, including The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, were closed to traffic.  There were no crowds  and walking at a brisk pace I took a few photos of the short cut across the park and lake.

Buckingham Palace, The Mall

Mute swans with young 

St. James' Park

Our group arrive at the West Front of Westminster Abbey.

The Large Cloister and Garth.

The North Entrance

For the rest of the late afternoon and early evening we went to a service and then were given a tour

of the Abbey after general closing hours.  It was a very peaceful time as we were able to sit in various areas and reflect on this amazing place before heading back to the station and home. Once on the train we could have a drink, a snack and chat about our day.  

The Palace of Westminster  (The Houses of Parliament)

The Clock Tower, now called the Queen Elizabeth Tower,
 with Big Ben Clock