WEDNESDAY 4TH MAY 2022

It is with deep sadness that we have to tell all our History Live devotees, that after battling for the past few months, Eric Wood died peacefully on Sunday morning, 24th April. He was a lovely, gentle man with a slightly naughty but mellow, always kind, sense of humour and he will be much missed by all who had the privilege of meeting and knowing him.

Consequently as some of you may already know, the Committee has decided to postpone our next meeting in tribute to Eric, and also to send our heartfelt condolences to Margaret Black, our esteemed Chairman, & his long time partner.

WEDNESDAY 6TH APRIL 2022

Our speaker will be Christine Gregory who is a local author, artist and photographer. Christine will tell us all about the life and times of the River Bradford near Youlgrave.
The River Bradford is a tiny White Peak river – just four miles in length. But as with so many rivers it has been central to the lives and livelihoods of the communities close by and to the animals and plants that depend on it for their existence. The river and its dale are now hugely popular with visitors to the White Peak.
Christine Gregory lived in Youlgrave above Bradford Dale for 21 years. In 2013 she was commissioned to produce a book on the river by the Bradford River Action Group; a group of local people dedicated to the preservation of the health of the river and its wildlife. Christine presents her slideshow/talk by taking us on a walk along this cherished little river with images of the landscape, wildlife and remaining evidence of local industry.
Christine’s books will be for sale on the evening.

WEDNESDAY 2ND MARCH 2022

After the successful March meeting, where Alan explored the history of Gun Moor, we added the entrance fees to the collection made specifically to help the Ukrainians – what a very generous group History Live is!! The total amount we have donated to United Help Ukraine is £325. Thank you all so much.

Our speaker is Alan Weeks. Swythamley Historical Society
The History of Gun Moor. Events witnessed by a Moorland Peak near Leek
In 2019 the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust acquired Gun Moor because of its unique habitat and wildlife but had to take out a large loan. Alan Weeks of Swythamley Historical Society was asked if he could give a talk on the history of Gun Moor as a small part of their fund-raising campaign to pay off their loan. At the time he knew only a couple of facts about what had taken place on and around the moor. But with a bit of digging around, he discovered that Gun Moor had witnessed a considerable number of events over the years – from prehistoric earthworks to post WW1 oil drilling; from monkish sheep pastures to modern day murder and much more besides – Bonnie Prince Charlie, the last local hanging etc. etc. So come to the talk to hear all about it.
Covid safety measures will be in place but please wear a mask if you can.

WEDNESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2022

We will be welcoming everyone back on Wednesday 2nd February 2022, with masks desirable. The speaker is Dr Simon J. Harris. Evidence and Legend: The Search for the Lost House of Sir John Chandos KG (d.1370) at Radbourne , Derbyshire. This talk stems from work completed for a community archaeology and history project run by Radbourne History and Archaeology Group (RHAG) with Lottery funding. If you visit Radbourne now you will find extensive parkland with an eighteenth-century mansion sited on a high ridge. This is the home of the Chandos Pole family. We know that they had an earlier house located close by. However, in the 1530s, that great Tudor traveller and antiquary recorded the presence of both an unimpressive residence, and the ruins of a great palatial house linked to Sir John Chandos (d. 1369/70), one of the great English soldiers of the first part of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). More recently Leyland’s account was elaborated that added colour to his statement. This talk will chart the historical research and archaeological search for the various Chandos houses, and the families of Chandos and Pole behind their contruction, and how accounts could be elaborated to the confusion of modern searchers. Dr Simon J. Harris is a medieval researcher and records expert who has worked on several national and international projects based at English and French universities concerning the colonisation of land in medieval County Durham, the calendaring of The National Archives class SC 8 (Ancient Petitions), the York Cause Papers (Church Court Records), and the Gascon Rolls (The National Archives, C 61), amongst others. More recently he has worked freelance on a history and archaeology project at Whitle on the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border, the editing of records to do with the Lancashire Forests in the medieval period, a project surveying the surviving medieval records for Cumbria, and on the publication of the medieval records of Jersey. Since 1995 he has also been listing the archives of the Legh family of Adlington (Cheshire) and has given a talk related to that work for History Live in the past.

2021

At our November meeting we were treated to a fascinating illustrated talk by Trevor Wragg. Entitled ‘There’s more to walls’, Trevor proved that the subject is anything but dry.
Trevor has been a waller since 1964 and is a Master Craftsman, holds several national awards and now trains and assesses newcomers to the craft. His wide ranging presentation discussed the geology of the Peak District, the difference between limestone and sandstone or grit stone and how these differences affect wall building. He also explained how the lives of our predecessors can be shown in the shapes of old walls – some are curved, others straight – all for good practical reasons. Walling styles are very regional, the National Stone Centre at Wirksworth has examples of many of them. Throughout history wallers have inserted good luck tokens into walls as they built them; Trevor has found coins, a child’s shoe and many other items.
Walls teem with flora and fauna, as different layers provide perfect habitats for a huge number of species. Wall building also recognises the need to allow wild and domesticated animals to get on with their lives, with purpose built gaps called smoots, just the right sizes to allow rabbits, hares, badgers, ducks, grouse and others to pass through. The presence of a wide range of plants is also a good indicator of the lack of pollution in the air.
A lively question and answer session brought the meeting to an end, Trevor’s engaging personality and enthusiasm for his craft had given us another hugely successful History Live meeting.

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N.B. 3rd November’s speaker has changed & will now be Trevor Wragg, the dry-stone waller. Title of his talk is ‘There’s more to walls: the importance and heritage of the Peak District dry stone walls.’
The earliest surviving dry stone wall was constructed about 3,500 years ago, but most of those we see around us were built following the Enclosure Act in the 1740s. As well as preventing animals from wandering, dry stone walls provide a living environment and a protective home for a whole range of animal and plant life. Trevor will tell us about their history and uses as well as encourage us to really look at walls when we might previously have just taken them for granted.
Trevor Wragg is well known locally as an experienced and knowledgeable waller having worked on farms, estates and gardens since 1964! He is a Master Craftsman, trainer and assessor. Through his lively and entertaining talks he hopes that people will take pride in their landscape, care for the walls and understand better how they interact with the landscape.

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Tonight’s October speakers, Margaret Black & Eric Wood, led us through the generations of the Harpur Crewe family, showing where very successful marriages had brought what would have been millions in today’s times into the Harpur family by the alliance with Lady Catherine Crewe. In a couple of generations the surname was changed to Harpur Crewe when various relations requested that it should happen.

The house, family & estates, once there was no direct male descendant around to inherit, would have been crippled irretrievably due to Death Taxes, so Calke Abbey was left to the National Trust in 1985. The fascinating thing about the transfer was that the house was packed up and left almost as if its occupants had just walked out, with the N.T. preserving the house in its state of decay. This meant a unique opportunity for the N.T. to show a home as it was in past times.
Margaret & Eric showed just how productive they had been during lockdown with all the quantity of fascinating research they had done on the Harpur-Crewe family, putting many of us to shame.

OCTOBER 6TH MEETING:
Calke Abbey and the Harpur Crewes with Margaret Black and Eric Wood
Following the History Live trip to Calke Abbey in 2019, Eric and Margaret spent time during lockdown researching further into this extraordinary and often eccentric family with connections to the Moorlands. This presentation is the result of lots of photos, research material and cups of tea!
Margaret and Eric will take us through the story of the family from the beginning through many generations up to the present day. You may wonder:

Where did their money come from? The Harpur Crewes were very rich.
Where does the name originate?
Are there any heirs living today?
Where does Sir Vauncey’s Christian name come from?
Come along and find out!
Eric and Margaret will be well known to History Live regulars – Margaret is Chair. Both are very involved in local history activities, such as the Tudor Farming Interpretation Group, Digging Deeper and the South West Peak Partnership – as well as being National Park volunteer rangers.

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Wednesday 1st September 2021: (Ice Age Archaeology – Creswell Crags & Beyond)
History Live’s first meeting of 2021 had been long anticipated and the general consensus was that it was very successful. While we were launching in a brand new venue, also recognising that some of our regular audience could be away on holiday or just still reticent to attend indoor get togethers, the turnout was still gratifying. From a home where we had been happily attending talks for years in Hollinsclough Chapel Hall, Warslow Village Hall looks to work well from two angles – social distancing safety and capacity for larger audiences will be easier, so no longer will anyone interested need to be turned away.
Apparently the day was the first meteorological day of Autumn but the tenor of Jen Horseman’s talk was far from signalling a decline in seasonal cheer. It was enlightening, bright and full of fascinating facts covering millions of years, demonstrating the evolution of humans over the Ages. Jen showed us that there had been serious peaks & troughs in weather patterns over many eons, and not just one Ice Age. From the first period she mentioned many million years ago, the animals that were to be found around Creswell Crags such as the woolly rhinoceros, included many that have long since become extinct. The variety of wildlife changed according to the Age that was present at the time, as was the evolution of humans from basic hunter gatherers through Neanderthals to homo sapiens. Mode of ‘dress’ altered over many centuries and developed as humans acquired more skills such as tanning by chewing hides to soften them into leather (nasty considering urine and other noxious substances were used). Initially there were only basic body coverings using whatever was available, but that grew into more tailored garments and often during Ice Ages could be fur from winter foxes etc.
In the beginning periods that Jen described, life was more centred on pure hard existence and survival, and gradually making cutting tools of flint so skilfully made that one could see through their transparency (without & prior to the aid of metal tools) life went from simple and basic to more complex. In the final Age that I cannot even remember the name of let alone pronounce, humans began to produce rough art such as rock carvings and cave paintings as in France; so one assumes that they had developed that ability from mastering mere subsistence to being able to take time to explore more skills.
Jen had brought an array of artefacts to illustrate her talk from prehistoric skulls showing the pronounced brows of Neanderthals to a primitive but much later musical wind instrument made from a bone.
The content and scope of Jen’s talk was quite mind blowing – she certainly knows her subject so well and even though getting quite involved at times, she still retained the interest of her audience throughout. Once again a brilliant History Live evening, fully to be recommended. And many more to come over the new 2021/2022 season.

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History Live September 2021 meeting
Our first History Live meeting of 2021 is on Wednesday 1st September 2021 at 7.30pm (doors open 7pm) in Warslow Village Hall, on B5053, Warslow, Buxton SK17 0JL
Jennifer Horseman: Creswell Crags and Beyond
Jen Horseman is the Learning Officer (Adults & Digital) for Creswell Crags Museum, where they have worked in public engagement for over six years. With degrees in BSc Archaeology and Forensic Science and MSc Palaeoanthropology (human evolutionary studies), their main academic focus was the archaeology and particularly cultural treatment of the dead during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods (Neanderthals and early modern humans) of Europe.
Tucked away in the countryside of the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border, Creswell Crags is an archaeological site of national importance holding incredibly important collections from both periods and is amongst the most important archaeological sites in the country for this fascinating period.
The striking limestone gorge is an Ice Age time capsule, with numerous caves revealing fossils of animals like woolly mammoths and cave hyenas, and tools of the Neanderthals and humans who once sheltered there. Alongside hints at how people survived in an extreme and changeable climate, archaeologists have also found wonderful examples of cave art from around 13,000 years ago, illustrating the creative side of these resilient Ice Age pioneers.

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Meetings have for nearly thirty years been held in the Chapel Hall at Hollinsclough; now with the group’s every increasing popularity due to a very varied and interesting programme of speakers each season, resulting in an escalation of numbers, it has necessitated us moving to a new, more flexible venue. Added to which the pandemic has caused us to address safety ever more seriously, and a larger venue lends itself to keeping all the social distancing precautions in place, not because it’s legally mandated any longer, but the general age group of participants will need to feel comfortable in an indoor environment.
Our wonderful home-made cakes have always been an important part of the meetings and we are very welcoming towards new visitors, whether wishing to become regular attendees or just passing through.
It would be helpful to know if any of you are able to help with either baking cakes or helping to serve refreshments. The committee has agreed an allowance of £4 per cake which we hope will reimburse the cake maker for the ingredients and we usually need 3-4 cakes or their equivalent for each session. We are always looking for cake makers so please contact Elspeth first – to help with her planning – whether you can either join the regular rota or bake for just this meeting.
Tel: 01298 83282 or email Elspeth.walker@virgin.net

A reminder: the £3 entrance fee includes a choice of tea or coffee and home baked cakes.