Heritage Cafe - January 2019
Ashover Light Railway
Richard Booth, Chairman of the Ashover Light Railway Society, will give a presentation about the history of this former narrow gauge freight and passenger line, part of which ran through the Amber Valley, from around 1925 to 1950. There are remnants of the track bed submerged under Ogston Reservoir.
Brackenfield Heritage Cafe
Social get togethers for the over 50s with a focus on local history. Meetings usually take place at Brackenfield Church Hall, from 10:30am to 12:30pm, with a guest speaker. Admission is £3.00 per person on the door and includes refreshments. Open to residents of Brackenfield, Wessington and the surrounding areas. Please get in touch if you would like to come along, so we know how much cake we need!
Contact details:
07940 510531
Heritage Cafe - December 2018
Martha Jasko-Lawrence, Curator of Archaeology at Museums Sheffield, brought some fascinating examples of mediaeval Brackenfield Pottery to show the group. These were all finds from the kilns which were excavated in 1972 after local farmer, Mr Prue, found some pottery sherds in his fields. The collection has moved round several museums over the past forty years and is now stored in the archives in Sheffield, so it was good to give some pieces an airing. One member of the group took part in
the dig and was delighted to see the finds again after forty six years. Thanks to Stuart Band for additional photographs.
Feedback was as follows: "Lovely opportunity to meet local people and find out about local history" & "Very interesting and friendly, pity it's only once a month"
Friday 14th December 2018 at 6.30pm at Brackenfield Church Hall
Christmas Tree Switch On Ceremony - Guest appearance by Santa on his Sleigh!
Bring a weatherproof decoration to hang on the Tree, Refreshments from 6.30pm: Mulled wine and a mince pie (£2.00), Prosecco and a mince pie (£3.50), Mince pie (50p), Children's squash free
Lights Switch On at 6.45pm followed by Carol Singing + Christmas Raffle 50p or £2.00 a strip
Christmas Welcome Ring Workshop
Thursday 13th December 2018 from 7pm to 9pm at Brackenfield Church Hall
Make your own traditional door welcome ring. £25 including all materials and refreshments. To book contact Gilly on 07926 189366
This is a repeat of last year's event which was enjoyed by all: "It was good fun; a really enjoyable social event and my Christmas ring was much admired!"
Brackenfield Heritage Cafe
Brackenfield Heritage Cafe was treated to an absorbing and entertaining hour with Master Farrier Doug Bradbury (MBE) who held the floor with far ranging tales of his work from shoeing Derbyshire pit ponies to remedial work with race horses in Turkey. Doug and his wife, Joan, brought many intriguing examples of shoes and equipment from ancient to modern, including shoes for cows ("cow slips") and an enormous file for rasping horses' teeth. Doug has trained many apprentices and gained freedom of the City of London on becoming a Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, one of the perks being permission to drive sheep over London Bridge! Full of energy, humour and passion for his work, Doug is truly inspiring. He and Joan welcome visitors at their museum on Thanet Street in Clay Cross.
The next meeting is on Tuesday 11 December. Martha Lawrence, Curator of Archaeology at Sheffield Museum, will be coming along with some of the mediaeval Brackenfield pottery found in kiln sites at Woolley during an archaelogical dig in 1972. All welcome.