A week-long event starting on Saturday 23rd May will see Chatsworth’s water features played in all their original glory this half term holiday with the Emperor fountain expected to reach a staggering height of 200 feet – the equivalent of 14 double decker buses!

As well as the Emperor fountain – which was named after Tsar Nicholas I Emperor of Russia in anticipation of a visit that never took place – visitors will be able to enjoy the impressive site of water tumbling over the roof of the Cascade house before it flows over the stone slabs created to mimic the sound of music.

Another water feature to look out for this May Bank Holiday is the Willow Tree Fountain. Designed as a practical joke when it was first ‘planted’ in its own little dell back in the 17th century, the copper tree often catches out the unwary with its spurts of water.

Free waterworks tours will take place five times a day, starting from the Cascade house and culminating in a countdown as a member of the public is invited to turn up the Emperor fountain to its full 200 feet, more than double its usual playing height of 75 feet.

Chatsworth’s Paul Hayes said: “These water features rarely get played to this level, the last time we had them all on was for the Queen’s visit last year. It’s an amazing opportunity to see them in their full glory as they were originally intended to be viewed.

“To give an idea of how impressive the plume from the Emperor Fountain will be, it’s likely spray can be felt in the car park if the wind blows in the right direction!”

Also on offer over the weekend will be bee themed activities in the Stickyard; a new educational space in the garden, where a series of hands on fun activities looking at native bees will be taking place, and packs of bee friendly plant seeds will be handed out for visitors to plant at home.

Councillor Barry Bingham became the town’s 375th mayor at a ceremony held at Chesterfield Town Hall this week.

Councillor Bingham was raised in Old Whittington and New Whittington and he worked at the Staveley Coal, Iron and Chemical Company for 38 years.

He has served as a Liberal Democrat councillor since 2007 and was re-elected as councillor for the Barrow Hill and New Whittington ward at the borough elections held on 7 May.
Councillor Bingham says: “I am honoured and very proud to become Chesterfield’s mayor.”

“Over the course of the next year, I am particularly looking forward to meeting residents from across the borough and hearing their stories and experiences.”

Councillor Bingham’s wife, June, will serve as his mayoress for the coming year.

Mrs Bingham was also born and raised in Chesterfield and worked at Boots in the town centre for 40 years.

The couple married in 1977 at the same time as celebrations took place for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.

Residents are invited to attend the civic service at St Mary and All Saints’ Church, the Cooked Spire, on Saturday 23 May from 11am.

There will be a civic procession from the Town Hall to the church. Anyone attending the service is asked to be seated for 10.40am before the arrival of the procession.

The service will be followed by a further procession from the church to the Town Hall. There is likely to be congestion in the town centre and the car parks around the Town Hall will also be closed until after the service.

The couple replace Councillor Alexis Diouf and his wife, Vickey-Anne, who served as mayor and mayoress during 2014/15.

Spireites stalwart Jim Brown was named as Chesterfield’s ‘Club Hero’ at the recent Football League Awards event.

All Football League clubs were asked to nominate someone who has made a valuable contribution and photos of all the Club Heroes were shown on a big screen at the gala ceremony held at The Brewery in London.

Jim first joined the club in 1972. Following a two-year spell at Saltergate, he moved to Sheffield United and then played in the United States. He rejoined Chesterfield in 1983 and was handed the role of commercial manager three years later, although he retained his playing registration until 1997 and was often an unused substitute.

Jim was instrumental in setting up the highly successful ‘Blues on the Move’ lottery, which raised valuable funds over a 30-year period and at one point had over 9,000 members. He also set up the 50/50 draw, which continues to generate revenue for the club.

He bravely stood up to then-chairman Darren Brown when financial problems threatened to cripple the club, keeping records that helped to later convict him of fraud.

The 63-year-old also edited the matchday programme for a number of years and looks after matchday hospitality guests.

Spireites chief executive Chris Turner paid tribute to the popular Scot, saying: “Jim has served the club loyally for many years, making a tremendous contribution and raising valuable funds. Every club needs someone like Jim.”

Jim said: “It’s always nice to be recognised in your job but it’s been a privilege to serve the club both as a player and commercial manager for over 30 years.

“I obviously enjoyed my time as a player, but as commercial manager I really do have to thanks our sponsors, advertisers, lottery agents and programme sellers who over the years have supported the club and myself through the good and the bad times. The support I have received is very much appreciated.”

(Photo: Jim Brown is pictured receiving his Club Hero award from Spireites director Ashley Carson at half-time in the play-off semi-final, first leg against Preston North End. Courtesy of Tina Jenner.)

Eastwood Park’s new sports pavilion is now complete and will be opened officially on Saturday 16th May by Councillor John Burrows.

The facility will provide changing facilities for sports groups using the park as well as a tea room and kitchen facilities and a community meeting room.  It will also have new male, female and disabled toilets which will be open to users of the park to replace the ones currently open on Hasland Road.

The project has been funded partly by a grant of £150,000 from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund, with the remaining £201,000 provided by Chesterfield Borough Council.

Councillor Chris Ludlow, Chesterfield Borough Council’s executive member for health and well being, said:-

“We have lots of regular users of the park’s sports facilities, including bowling, football and cricket clubs and we hope that the new pavilion will bring new groups into the park.

“Our thanks go to Sport England for their grant funding, without which the new pavilion would not have been possible.

“I’m particularly proud that our builders and apprentices have delivered the project – offering the most cost-effective solution and providing employment for local people.”

Charles Johnston, Sport England’s property director, added:-

“The Inspired Facilities Fund has made a huge impact on grassroots sports since its inception, and remains one of our most popular funds. Since 2011, we have invested £94 million into 1,800 projects to improve and refurbish existing sports facilities all over the country.”

“It is great to see Eastwood Park join the long list of successful projects to benefit from this fund and we are looking forward to seeing these improvements make a huge difference to the local community, and to help more people to play sport.”

During the ceremony a plaque will also be unveiled to thank the Friends of Eastwood Park for their hard work, support and dedication during the park’s restoration project.

Eastwood Park reopened in June 2013 after a 10 month refurbishment thanks to £1.3 million in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.

Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre has been highly commended in a prestigious industry awards ceremony.

The centre in Rykneld Square, operated by Chesterfield Borough Council, received the accolade in the visitor information provider category of the VisitEngland awards for excellence 2015.

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centre and visitor economy, said:-

“The VisitEngland awards for excellence are prestigious national awards and I am proud that our Visitor Information Centre has been nationally recognised.

“Our friendly, hard-working staff are the first contact many visitors have with Chesterfield. Their knowledge about the borough and the wider area, including the Peak District, is second-to-none and this award is well-deserved.”

James Berresford, VisitEngland’s chief executive said:-

“It is a great achievement to win a Highly Commended Award in a field of very high quality applications.

“The award places Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre in the top five businesses for excellence in their category in England. I warmly congratulate them on this achievement.”

 Chesterfield VIC VisitEngland award shows (left to right): Lady Cobham (chairman, VisitEngland), Catherine Walker, Kerry Sheldon, Anne McFarlane, Bernadette Wainwright and James Berresford (chief executive, VisitEngland).

Chatsworth has been awarded Silver in the ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ category at the Visit England Awards for Excellence 2015.

The award was presented to the Chatsworth team by the national tourism body at a glittering ceremony on Monday 11 May at the Sage Gateshead, which drew together the country’s top visitor attractions. The Visit England Awards for Excellence are firmly established as representing the highest accolade in English tourism.

The Duke of Devonshire comments:-

“We are absolutely delighted that Chatsworth has been awarded Silver in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category at this year’s Visit England Awards. Chatsworth is a very special place with a dedicated and passionate team, who continually strive to exceed visitor expectations and deliver excellent customer service. I am thrilled that the hard work and commitment to our visitors has been recognised at such a high level.”

The award recognises businesses that incorporate best practice, demonstrate excellence in customer service and are committed to delivering the very best in quality and innovation.

This year’s busy programme at the Peak District (Derbyshire) country estate includes launching the Chatsworth Festival – Art Out Loud, a major new literary festival; the 10th anniversary of the Beyond Limits monumental sculpture exhibition; plus, fun for families throughout the summer culminating in the ever popular Country Fair ahead of the glittering Christmas displays.

Chatsworth has undergone significant change in recent years with improvements to its events, exhibition programme and visitor services. For example, last year it added a new contemporary art and sculpture exhibition in the house and garden by Michael Craig-Martin; ‘Chatsworth in Wartime’, recreated the State Apartments as the girls school dormitory they used during WW2; a week of evening events called ‘Luminaire’ was held in the autumn with house tours by candle light and spectacular night-time projections in the garden.

Customer service training has built on the theme of ‘Excellent to Extraordinary’ while the increasing number of visitors from overseas has driven greater foreign language interpretation in the house, including Chinese. Food and toilet facilities have been upgraded in the garden and farmyard while access to Chatsworth has been improved with more frequent public transport as well as better onsite parking and driveways.