Sunday 31 May 2020

A Day Trip to Derby - Part 4


A general view of St. Peter's church

Having finally photographed the monument to Bess of Hardwick at Derby Cathedral, towards the end of my day trip to Derby, I had 35 minutes before I had to catch my bus back to Chesterfield. 

St. Michael's church on Queen Street

I hadn’t stopped all day and I quite fancied a pint of beer at the Old Dolphin Inn, Derby’s oldest public house, but I decided instead to have a quick walk down Queen Street to look at the old St. Michael’s church, which had caught my eye. 

The tower of St. Mary's church

Now offices, I just took some photos of the grotesques on the tower before heading off towards St. Mary’s church, whose tower is adorned by large crocketed pinacles, but I didn’t cross the ring road and headed off towards the Museum of Making, which is located in an old silk mill next to the River Derwent. 

A view south along the River Derwent at Cathedral Green Footbridge

Seeing that the museum was closed for refurbishment, I made my way through Silk Mill Park, where there is a large statue to Bonnie Prince Charlie at the rear of the cathedral. It is another use of Derbyshire gritstone, with large ashlar blocks forming the plinth.

The statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie

Continuing to Corn Market, I carried on along St. Peter’s Street, where I was interested to see St. Peter’s church. It dates back to the C12, with various additions over the years, but I only had time to take a couple of photos of the east end. 

St. Peter's church

Although I didn’t explore this church, my photos show that it is built out of mottled red/yellow Triassic sandstone, which is the only example I saw on the day, with Derbyshire gritstone used in 1898 to rebuild the tower. 

A gargoyle on St. Peter's church

At the end of a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in Derby, I set off along East Street, where I encountered the enormous Derby Ram sculpture, carved in Derbyshire gritstone by Michael Pegler in 1995. 

The Derby Ram on East Street

There were parts of Derby city centre that I had not yet seen and I was tempted to stay around in the sunshine for another hour; however, I had a long journey ahead of me and I decided that I had done enough for one day.

Waiting for the Comet at Derby Bus Station

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