There and Back Again

Off to The Dukeries, place of my birth, to visit my mother, and where there will be no dragons to tame, only the Lion and the Unicorn mazes to walk.

Unicorn and Lion Pavement Mazes by Adrian Fisher at Worksop, Nottinghamshire

http://www.mazemaker.com/

I was born in a small village that was a quiet farming community, close to the forests of Sherwood where Robin Hood resided. Shireoaks village, pronounced locally Shyerokes, and so written on earlier maps, was graced by Shireoaks Hall circa 1600, with a fine early water cascade feature, discernible on the old map below. The village lies on the boundary of three counties; Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and an ancient large oak - the Shire Oak - is indicated on this map of around 1790.

Although a farming community, it was not a back-water, for the Chesterfield Canal ran alongside the railway, but the relatively peaceful countryside was rudely awakened by the sinking of the shaft to mine the rich coal seam around 1843 which remained working until the late 1960s.

During the 1960s my father played in the Whitwell Band, at that time sponsored by the Colliery owners, and as the Whitwell Miners Welfare Band, won the Championship competition held at the Albert Hall in London. My father was the trombone soloist and reputably his nervously knocking knees kept time with the beat of the conductor's baton. All the surrounding towns and villages in the adjoining counties of Derbyshire and Yorkshire had brass bands (composed solely of brass wind instruments) and at Whitsuntide the tradition was for many bands (up to 80 one year) to travel around the villages in the Peak District and play at each village - and down a pint or two.

Shireoaks Band circa 1912

I will be back in Dorset, my heart's home, in a week or so.