Brailsford

My personal challenge for this round of Miss Jenny Matlock's alphabe-Thursday is to post about a location within the borders of my own county of Derbyshire, UK, for each letter of the alphabet.

Each time, X will mark the spot.

B is for Brailsford.

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Mainly, I think of Brailsford as a place to travel through, as the A52 runs right through the middle of the village and, when I'm here, I'm normally on my way to somewhere else. So, I decided it was time to stop and have a better look!

 Main road or no, it's not unusual to get stuck behind a tractor, with or without a load.

The village institute provides a meeting place for local community groups, such as the WI and the Parent and Toddler Group. As a child, I remember that Dad was always particularly careful to observe the 30mph speed limit through Brailsford, as it had a bit of a reputation and the local Bobbies used to hide behind the village institute hedge with their speed radar gun!

Next door to the Institute is a small commercial craft centre which includes a saddler, iron worker, art gallery and furniture maker. 

The houses in the village are mostly brick built. Seven miles down the road is the market town of Ashbourne, beyond which the character of the villages changes to being mainly limestone built. Many of the gardens in Brailsford are beautifully kept and I love the detail above the windows.

Brailsford has its own school, tucked away down a narrow entry. From the front, it is not a particularly attractive building, but around the back it has a nicely laid out playground and access to the field next door.

Notice the log built train :)

A short distance away from the main road, a small modern housing estate has been built...

...including a new Medical Centre.

Further out again is the church, which is actually about half a mile from the village. Built in the 11th and 12th centuries, with later additions, the church is dedicated to All Saints and is shared with the nearby, but much smaller, village of Ednaston, which may explain its slightly 'out of the way' location. The probability is that it was built on the site of an earlier Saxon church which had been constructed on the border of the lands of two Saxon lords; Earl Waltheof, who held two carucates of taxable land in Brailsford and Toki, who held three such carucates in Ednaston.

Apparently, there is a really good example of a Saxon cross in the churchyard, but I missed it! DRAT! I'm gonna have to go back.