Two Zeds on a post...

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.  (Woo Hoo, I've done all 26!)

Look for the letter, to see where I am.

A brace of Zeds in Derby!

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This rather tatty looking building was, until the beginning of 2010, the Zanzibar nightclub in Derby. Located on London Road, which runs alongside the Westfield Centre, heading straight for the middle of town, you would think it would be perfectly positioned to attract loads of trade, but it would seem not! In fairness, most of the other clubs are on the further edge of town and that seems to be where the night time scene is, but surely a building of this size and distinctiveness could fulfil some useful purpose in our city!

Instead, it sits here slowly going more and more derelict...

paint peeling, algae growing...

once exotic palm trees looking decidedly forlorn...

..and a straggly bunch of weeds threatening to grow right up the turbaned mascot's nose...

See?

But this place was not always a Night Club.

The building first opened as a cinema, the Gaumont Palace, on 17th September 1934. Fronted by a flight of white steps, it boasted a marble and walnut lobby which gave way to a grand auditorium with seating for over 1,000. The art deco ceiling housed over 500 light bulbs and there was a ten rank Compton organ which filled the room with a huge sound.

Even now, the shape of the building and some of the exterior decoration give an impression of how it must once have been.

Gradually, cinema attendances dwindled. I distinctly remember my Mum telling me that television had taken the place of the big screen and that the age of the cinema was passing. Forty-five years later, the fortune of the 'pictures' has turned around completely, but in the mid 60s, its days seemed numbered.

The Gaumont changed it's name twice, first becoming the Derby Odeon (in 1965) and later the Trocadero (Troc) at which time it was split to house both a cinema and a bingo hall. These are the reincarnations which I remember. I know that I went to the Odeon Saturday morning Kid's Club on at least a couple of occasions, but only remember the Troc from the outside!

I would be thrilled to walk along here one day and see scaffolding. This building is worthy of restoration!

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A fifteen minute walk across town brings us to another 'zed' which is enjoying rather better fortunes.

This is Zizzis, a busy restaurant in the Frairgate area of Derby centre. It's a while since I've eaten here, but the food was great and the waiter memorised our order (in spite of there being about 7 of us).

Across the front of the building is this quote from Sir Henry Royce of Rolls Royce fame:

Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it.

Did I mention that the food is Italian?  For a peep at the menu, click here.

Zizzis completes this round of Alphabe-Thursday very nicely. I've enjoyed posting all about my county and I've discovered places and information which were totally new to me. It's been good to take you for the ride but, next time around, I think I shall choose a slightly less work-intensive theme :)

Youlgrave

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.

Look for the letter, to see where I am.

Y is for Youlgrave.

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Youlgrave is a large-ish village which boasts three pubs...

The George Hotel, opposite the church...

The Bull's Head Hotel, in the centre...

and the Farmyard Inn towards the further end of the village.

Balancing this out very satisfactorily are three churches...

The Anglican parish church of All Saints, which dates from the 13th century but was heavily restored in 1870...

The Wesleyan Reform Chapel, built in 1857, with a weekly Sunday service...

and the  Primitive Methodist Chapel of 1895, which holds services twice each Sunday.

Youlgrave also has a Health Centre...

and a Primary School, which caters for children from 4-11 and has strong ties with the parish church. I love the small raised garden with the tomatoes growing.

Further into the village is the original school building.

The village hall is tucked away down a quiet side street,

after which the lane drops away to open countryside.

Some houses in the village are named after their past functions, this is one such: The Old Grocers Shop.

But the name of this house made me smile.

Take a guess!

Have you guessed?

Here it is...

Very profound :)

Erected in AD 1887, the former Co-op (which stands at the top of Co-op Hill) is now a Youth Hostel.

Opposite the Youth Hostel is the Conduit Head.

The provision of the original water supply for the village, was developed because of fundraising by the Youlgrave Friendly Society of Women, founded in 1827. Water was piped from local springs to the Conduit Head, this large circular tank and, each morning, the 'waterkeeper' unlocked the tap at 6am for villagers to come and collect their water.

In 1869, a new water system was developed and piped to 9 taps around the village and some of these are still decorated each year as part of the Derbyshire well dressing season.

Most of the buildings in the village are constructed from local stone.

Here, you get a sense of the elevated position of the village, standing above Lathkill and Bradford Dales.

Use has been made of the green spaces around the village, with a cricket ground and park at one end...

...and allotments at the other.

I enjoyed my tour round Youlgrave, a place I hadn't visited lately. I hope you did too :)

Just one more letter to go now :) and that would be 'Z' :/

Cross 'O'Th Hands

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.Look for the letter, to see where I am.

A little bit of inventiveness needed for today...

X is for Cross 'O'Th Hands (X of the Hands).

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The place we are visiting today is quite small; just a collection of farms and houses and a chapel.

The  setting is pastoral, the hills gently rolling, but the overall altitude is raised in relation to the surrounding countryside and there are good viewpoints outside the village in both directions.

It's rather unusual name was taken from the long gone public house which is believed to have been used for bare knuckle fist fighting.

The houses are brick built and vary in age.

The Methodist Chapel was built in 1903; its original designated being a Primitive Methodist Chapel.

It is still open and holds a service every Sunday evening.

It's lovely to see the red telephone boxes still around. In the cities, most of these have been replaced by their more modern, dull grey counterparts.

And, at the very top of the village, is the main road which runs between Ashbourne and Belper.

It wer' a bit wet in Willington

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.Look for the letter, to see where I am.

W is for Willington.

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'Willington' comes from the Old English tun (homestead or farm) among the willows. It is a village of around 2,700 people, situated on the banks of both the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal, approximately 5 miles outside Derby.

The Green Man is one of 3 pubs in the village, all between the centre and the canal.

The centre of the village has a double mini roundabout which was causing quite a backlog of traffic while I was there. Around the roundabouts are a florist,

post office

and Co-operative Supermarket.

This road runs away from the roundabouts, south towards the bridge over the Trent between Willington and Repton. The railway bridge is both low and narrow; not a problem for cars, but a bit of a pain for larger vehicles which need to drive in the centre of the road to avoid hitting the edges of the arch.

Also alongside the roundabouts is the raised railway station.

From here, you can catch trains to Birmingham, Stoke on Trent, Crewe, Nottingham and Derby.

The village clock marks the time.

Yet another railway bridge heads out on the Derby road, along which is the modern Baptist Church...

...and the Chinese takeaway.

In Derbyshire, we call this a jitty, meaning a footpath between two streets. This particular one leads down the side of the village school.

Willington Community Primary School is a smart looking building (in spite of the flat roof; I'm suspicious of flat roofs) which has around 200 children on roll, aged between the ages of 5 and 11.

Just down the road is the Village Community Hall which, if I'm honest, looks functional, rather than interesting or attractive. Useful though!

Heading back past the centre, it's only a matter of a few strides to the canal. Look carefully and you can see the raindrops rippling the surface of the water!

Here, there are temporary moorings for narrow boats, mostly looking pretty forlorn on this soggy September afternoon.

The post sets out the regulations for the moorings. I'm sure you can figure out the rules for this location (though I think the dog poop sign is aimed more at local dog walkers than boaters!).

Not surprisingly, the picnic benches in the beer garden behind The Dragon are deserted. On a balmy summer evening, this is a popular spot for a beverage.

Nipping round roadside, this is what the front of the pub looks like. It's had a bit of a makeover since Dad and I last stopped off here a couple of years ago. I have to say that it needed it. We were virtually the only ones in the place at the time!

Almost next door is Willington's third pub...

...the delicatessen and a house sandwiched between the two drinking places. Lovely to have the canal behind, but I suspect it can get a bit noisy in the evenings!

And finally, for those who want longer term moorings than are on offer behind the pubs, there is the new Mercia Marina, where, for £107.30/metre of length per annum (excluding VAT), you can hire one of the 524 berths and park your boat. It's cheaper than renting a house and, if you get fed up of the views of the cooling towers of the now decommissioned Willington Power Station, you can always cast off and head out under the bridge to journey the Inland Waterways of Britain.

By the way, did you spot that this photo was taken on a different day? It doesn't rain here all of the time :)