Members of the Bolsover WI will be taking part in the Bolsover Hill Race on Sunday 21 May. They are hoping to enter a team of 12 walkers all wearing a specially made fancy dress costume inspired by the Calendar Girls.

The race involved a series of 1 mile races where people can walk, run or cycle up a one mile course starting at Villas Road and finishing at Castle Street. There are prizes for the fastest male and female in both the running and cycling categories, plus a prize for best fancy dress – with a special children’s race for those who wanted to walk up the Hill with mum and dad.

Sue Coulton, 65 from Bolsover volunteered at the first Bolsover Hill Race last year. Later that year she and members of the WI attended a talk at the Proact Stadium, from the real Calendar Girls. It was this which inspired them to take part in the event this year.

Sue said:-

“I think listening to the girls and how they came up with the calendar really made us think of what we could do to support a charity. In effect they inspired us to take on the Hill Race, though we are not as brave as them and won’t be taking our kit off. We’re really looking forward to taking part and will be using some appropriately placed Sunflowers on our outfits to mark what the girls did.”

Entry to the Hill Race costs only £10 for adults, with a free place for Under 12s for every paying adult. All profit from the event will go to the NGS Macmillan Unit Appeal, at Chesterfield Royal Hospital

Sue has a personal reason for wanting to take part, she added:-

‘It’s so important to have a new cancer treatment closer to home. I lost my daughter to cancer when she was only 12, and we had to travel every day to Weston Park for treatment. It was really hard, so I know that by having this unit near to us is going to make such a huge difference.”

The running race was sponsored by Great Bear Distribition.

Highlights of this year’s event will include a prosecco bar and special train services calling at the unique Barrow Hill Roundhouse site.  The event organisers have teamed up with rail tour operators Rail Operations Group, Vintage Trains and UK Railtours to offer visitors a very different way of getting to Rail Ale 2017.

Rail Ale 2017 will take place on Thursday 18^th, Friday 19^th and Saturday 20^th May, opening from 12.00 noon until 11.00pm on all three days.

On offer at this year’s Festival will be over 300 beers from around the UK, with one of the bars dedicated to real ales closer to home, as well as a wide selection of increasingly popular craft keg beers, a cider bar, bottled beers from around the world and the new prosecco bar adding a little sparkle to the drinks menu.

In a first ever link up with Rail Operations Group and Vintage Trains a unique train service will call into the Festival on Friday 19^th and Saturday 20^th May.  Two classic diesel locomotives will haul the special trains, picking up passengers from Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield before heading into the Festival for a few hours of beer tasting, live music and cider drinking.  For those Rail Ale fans coming from further afield, UK Railtours will be running a repeat of their sell out 2015 rail tour, bringing visitors from London and the South East by high speed train into the Festival on Thursday 18^th May. Starting at London St Pancras the tour will pick up passengers at Luton Airport Parkway and Bedford before heading north to the delights of Rail Ale.

Visitors to Rail Ale 2017 will also be able to enjoy a wide ranging feast of music from some of the best local bands and solo artists in the region on the Main Stage and jazz and brass in the Café Bar Marquee.  In between the music and the ever popular Rail Ale train rides on the Roundhouse site, the Festival food stalls will offer a selection of food to suit all tastes.

The dedicated free bus service will also be running from Chesterfield railway station throughout all three days.

Alexa Stott, Event co-organiser, said:-

“Rail Ale has evolved continuously since it started 16 years ago and we are looking forward to sharing our new ideas for this year’s Festival with our visitors whilst retaining the unique attractions from previous years that make this one of the must-do events of the year.”

For detailed information on Rail Ale 2017 click here.

Visitors can now discover how Chatsworth appeared in the early 18th century thanks to the acquisition of an important major landscape painting giving a detailed bird’s eye view of the estate.

The Directors of the Chatsworth House Trust are delighted to announce the arrival of an important addition to the Devonshire Collection – A View of Chatsworth by Jan Siberechts, painted circa 1703.

Until now a painting of the house and garden in the 1st Duke’s time was missing from the collection. This large scale, detailed painting is now on display at Chatsworth, with a series of landscape paintings of the house and garden detailing major changes through the past 400 years.

The Duke of Devonshire commented:-

“I am extremely excited that this landscape has joined the Devonshire Collection. It will be of great interest to our visitors as it portrays on a grand scale a complete view of Chatsworth, house, garden and park as built and laid out by the 1st Duke and this enables us all to know so much more about Chatsworth at the very beginning of the 18th century”.

This bird’s eye view of Chatsworth originally belonged to Admiral Edward Russell, later 1st Earl of Orford, a close friend and political colleague of the 1st and 2nd Dukes of Devonshire.  It passed by descent to his great-niece Letitia Tipping who married the 1st Lord Sandys in 1725, and has remained in the Sandys family until now.

Previously catalogued as by an unknown late 17th century English artist, A View of Chatsworth has recently been reattributed by Omnia Art to Jan Siberechts, who specialised in painting bird’s eye views of English country houses in this period.  Siberechts is known to have worked for the 1st Duke of Devonshire as payments to the artist are recorded in the Chatsworth archives, and a number of watercolours by Siberechts exist showing views of Derbyshire near Chatsworth.

Charles Noble, Chatsworth’s Curator of Fine Art,  who advised the Directors of the Chatsworth House Trust, said:-

“I am absolutely thrilled to have been a part of this acquisition from a leading landscape artist working in England at the turn of the 18th century.  It is of historical importance both in art and to Chatsworth”.

A short film about Siberechts’ A View of Chatsworth with Curator Charles Noble will be on display in the Green Satin Room in Chatsworth House from 24 April 2017, and also available on the Chatsworth House YouTube channel and on the Chatsworth website.

This year’s Markovitz Showroom Sparkle Night Walk is set to be bigger than ever, with over 2,000 people already signed up to take part. The Hospice is hoping to smash last year’s records and reach over 3,000 walkers, enabling Ashgate Hospicecare to get one step closer to funding a 24/7 Hospice at Home team to keep people at home.

One participant who is set to sparkle in aid of Ashgate Hospicecare is 38 year old Suzanne Leusby from Chesterfield, alongside her 11 year old daughter Tayla.

Suzanne said:-

“Tayla and I are taking part in the Sparkle Night Walk in memory of my mother-in-law and Tayla’s Nannie Margaret, who was cared for by Ashgate Hospicecare and sadly passed away from cancer on 2^nd March 2017 aged 68. We’re also walking in memory of both of Tayla’s granddads, who passed away from cancer too.

“Whenever Tayla and my son Joshua (6) visited the hospice, they felt very comfortable and kept asking when they could go back. Joshua loved the play area, and because they both felt completely at ease there, they were able to enjoy their time visiting their Nan and be themselves – which brought a lot of smiles all round.

“We weren’t sure what to expect at first, but as soon as we entered the hospice we were immediately shown where everything was and were made to feel completely welcome. Margaret also commented on how nice the hospice was and she loved her little private patio. They made sure she was well looked after during the time she had left and respected her wishes for the care that she wanted. She had not long lost her husband to cancer and the family were still struggling with the loss, so it really helped knowing that she was getting all the help she needed.”

Tayla added:-

“I liked visiting my Nannie at the hospice more than in hospital because Ashgate were very welcoming to me and my little brother. They looked after my Nannie very well, like making sure she liked what she was eating and getting her ready for the day. I like Ashgate Hospicecare because while my Nannie was eating, there was a play room for me and my little brother to play in.”

When asked what Tayla was most looking forward to about Sparkle, Suzanne said: “She’s really excited about doing the walk at night and staying out late! She can’t wait to get all dressed up in bunny ears with her friends whilst raising money for a well deserved charity in memory of her Nannie.”

If you’d like to find out more about the Sparkle Night Walk click here.

Courage and determination from riders around the world will once again be in evidence across three days of thrilling action at the Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth International Horse Trials (12-14 May 2017).

With the course upgraded by the former top event and Olympic rider Ian Stark to deliver a fresh and exciting experience for both equestrians and spectators, there will be the chance to see awe-inspiring action at close quarters.

Alongside the top quality equestrian action drawing in an international field featuring elite British riders, organisers have lined up even more family friendly attractions to ensure a great day out for everyone.

Competition highlights include the first leg of the Event Rider Masters Series, back for the second year, as well elegant dressage, thrilling cross country and the chance to see the stars of the future in the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse 4 and 5-year-old classes.

Upping the action on the opening day, the popular ‘Eventing Challenge’ is back. Held in a grass arena at Queen Mary’s Bower, the riders must complete a show jumping course before taking on the cross-country fences against the clock.

Fun attractions around the park include the popular Pony Club Mounted Games and Scurry Driving, where horse and carriage fly around an obstacle course at top speed. Children can even get a ride in a cart pulled along by the Newfoundland Rescue Bear Dogs, the popular gentle giants who are always pleased to meet younger visitors. Mullinscote Gun Dog Display, Paws for Thought and have-a-go dog agility displays, the Hound Parade and The Sheep Show, featuring some real woolly characters, all combine to bring the countryside to life for the visitor.

A new interactive circus skills workshop will give everyone the chance to have a go at juggling, spinning a diabolo, walking on cup stilts, balancing on wobble boards or playing with hula hoops.

Pottery painting for all the family is another new addition this year. With many ceramic items to choose from, there are lots of fun ways to get creative – draw, paint, stamp or sponge to create a personalised piece to take home. A small fee applies. Together with face painting, there is lots of hands-on activity for all the family at the horse trials this year.

Sally Ambrose, Chatsworth’s head of visitor experiences, said:-

“We’ve really built on the previous year’s events, both in terms of increasing the equestrian content across all three days and adding more family friendly attractions too. It’s a great opportunity to be part of an amazing event with some fantastic showmanship and skill on display while enjoying the stunning Peak District countryside.”

Sam Horrell CEO at Dodson & Horrell added:-

“As title sponsors for the fifth year running our team always looks forward to the horse trials which has so much to offer visitors over the weekend and it’s great to be a part of this key event in the equestrian calendar. The setting at Chatsworth provides an idyllic backdrop and allows everyone to not only enjoy the international competition but also to soak up the atmosphere that Chatsworth creates.”

The Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance is the charity for 2017. They will have a stand at the event where visitors will have the chance to learn more about their vital life-saving service. The Dog Agility and the UK Rescue Bears will also be giving all their donations collected at the event to the charity.

There is an advanced booking discount available online until 9 May 2017. Adult prices start at £10 per day; child prices start at £4 per day for under 14s, under 5s are free. All ticket types include admission to the event and car parking. Gates open 8am.