It is nearly the end of September and what a super month it has been…..summer continues to amuse us whilst autumn just teases us with the odd spot of those golden colours. No better time than to be out walking in the country and no better place to complete a walk than the village of Hartington on a sunny September evening…….
On the high ground above the village is Saint Giles Church overlooking all, as it has done since the 12century. The fading evening sun lights up the natural colours of the local sandstone adding a further rich glow. Hartington is a popular tourist spot always busy at weekends, but at the end of the day peace returns.
Hartington is also a place of pilgrimage for Anglers and in particular ‘Fly Fishermen’. It is here on the River Dove that Charles Cotton and Issac Walton created the book the was to become the fisherman’s bible ‘The Complete Angler’, first published in 1653.
Bonnie Prince Charlie is also recorded as staying in Hartington on his ill fated rebellious journey south…in fact he progress little further than Derby about 15 miles away.
Hartington is one of the very few places that can produce cheese under the name of ‘Stilton’. The Duke of Devonshire founded the first cheese factory in the village in 1870. Under the Duke and then the Nuttal family the factory produced the famous cheese until 2008. Sadly like much of todays food industry, local foods are swallowed up by multi nationals and and to a great extent lost to us all.
Hartington is a Derbyshire village close to Staffordshire. It is within the Peak District National Park and is in the area known as the White Peak.
29th September
© David Oakes 2013
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 