peak district online issue 2
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PEAK DISTRICT ONLINE MAGAZINEWINNING ENTRY - PHOTO COMPETITION
Plucky PheasantsIzzak Walton Hotel - Under new management
WelcomeWelcome to the second edition of our brand new Peak District Online Magazine. The amazing month of November is upon us with its mists and mellow fruitfulness.....as well as the usual wind, rain and bluster!
So far the month has made for some wonderful colours and the team of Peak District Online’s photography duo, ‘Wakes World’ and ‘Villager Jim’ share with you their harvest of stunning imagery.
Using unique angles to highlight this very beautiful part of our country, this new and vibrant publication will be available for your perusal each and every month. Featuring the scenes, places, animals and people of the Peaks, brought to you through the lens of the master artists behind their very popular photography websites.
This months budding photographer can win the chance to win a 2 night break at the stunning Izaak Walton Hotel on the River Dove and find out about the unique history behind this beautiful newly taken over hotel in our article dedicated to it.
See the silly pheasant looking splendid in its colourful plumage and read about their penchant for riding on the front of cars!
Reporting all the latest events and dates for your diary, Peak District Online continue to bring to you the latest news, local bits and pieces as well as providing the UK’s largest holiday accommodation directory any where on the web.
plucky pheasants
The stunningly beautiful pheasant is out and about in abundance in the Peak and a very com-mon sight. It’s quite easily to forget how impressive the male pheasant actually is, because
they seem to be almost everywhere - but the images below are intended to remind you of their beauty.
Slow to take off in flight, it’s not uncommon to encounter a silly pheasant meandering aimlessly along country lanes or hurtling headfirst towards your bumper instead of away from it. They’re
certainly not the cleverest of our bird population - in fact; they do seem to be a little bit bat-ty!
The difference between the male and female of the species is quite astonishing. With its very large, long tail, the male pheasant has very different markings to that of the female, certainly
looking like they’ve been blessed with a bird paintbrush. Their rich chestnut, golden brown and black markings on their body glisten in the sunlight, in an almost two tone way and their long delicate tail and dark green iridescent head contrasts against the red-face feathers.
Unlike the human population, the females are much more demure, not at all showy, with mot-tled paler brown and black plumage. Males are usually larger than females and have much
longer tails. They also play no part in rearing the young, this all falls to mum.
In some parts of Derbyshire (I’ve seen them myself in Chatsworth), it’s common to see a black or green pheasant. They are the same iridescent colour as the neck of the common pheasant,
due to pigmentation in their captive breeding, but males have shorter tails on average and have a much darker plumage. This is uniformly bottle green on the belly and breast. They also lack a white neck ring like the common pheasant.
The female pheasant of the green variety is darker, with many black dots on the breast and belly colour. Other colour mutations can be seen in the countryside and an ex-
tremely rare pheasant, a pure white albino, has been captured on camera recently by Villager Jim. Unfortunately birds of this rarity are easily spotted by prey and have hearing impairments, both of which don’t help survival chances sadly.
Pheasants can be seen across most of the UK, but are very common sight in the Peak Dis-trict moors and open farmland, usually spotted in abundance under woodland edges,
copses and hedgerows. They’ve been known to wander about our little villages and help themselves to bird seed fallen from our garden tables.
As part of the partridge and quail family, the RSPB estimates we have between 1.8 and 1.9 million birds in this country and if you’re walking or driving through
the Peak District, we think we’ve probably got a high proportion of this estimate with the huge amount we have!
Common pheasants are bred to be shot in great numbers where they are taken on the traditional formal ‘driven shoots.’ The open season in the UK is 1st Oc-
tober to 1st February and its quite common to hear the haunting sounds of guns, echoing across the Peak District valleys throughout this period. They are spectacu-lar to watch in the breeding season, their fights are quite aggressive and a fair few feathers are lost along the way.
Adding colour and movement amongst the barren winter moors, they contrast beautifully against the famous Derbyshire Heather, the next time you see a
pheasant wandering about, just slow down a little, because is likely to want to have a ride on the front of your car!
Ilam, Nr Ashbourne, DE6 2AYtelephone 01335 350 981
fax 01335 220 055email [email protected]
www.izaakwaltonhotel.com
The Izaak Walton Hotel has reopened after being taken over by former guests James and Amanda Keay who will be running the hotel with their business partners Andy and Hayley Jeneson. The hotel has had a sympathetic refresh and is now fully operational. It has 36 bedrooms and views of oustanding beauty across the Derbyshire Peaks. It was named after the author of “The Complete Angler”.
The idyllic setting and modern facilities make the hotel a unique setting and ideal choice for your stay. We also cater for Weddings, Conferences, Private Parties, Family Gatherings and Luncheons. We can offer light snacks and lunches in our Dovedale Bar and fine dining in the Haddon Restaurant under the supervision of our Head Chef Simon Harrison.
We have a variety of rooms available including some with four poster beds for that special occassion. The Haddon Restaurant and Dovedale Bar are open to Residents and Non-Residents alike.
Just a short drive out of Ashbourne we are suitably situated for your visit to the wonderful Peak District area of Derbyshire.
Weddings, Conferences, Private Parties,Family Gatherings, Luncheons and more...
inspiring... idyllic... irresistable.
The Izaak Walton Hotel is a characterful hotel near Dovedale, near the village of Thorpe, Ilam & Tissington. It now has brand new owners, James Keay and Andy Jeneson. The pair took ownership of the Hotel on Monday 31st March 2014 and are generously offering the wonderful photographic competition prize for this months magazine - a two nights stay with bed and breakfast included Monday - Thursday.
The hotel holds many fond memories for James and his family since the 1950’s and it’s with determination and hard work they’re looking forward to welcoming guests past and present and have many exciting plans securing the long term future for this wonderful family run hotel.
James said ‘My family and I were so saddened by the closure of the Izaak Walton last Spring that we felt a duty to rescue it and return it to its former glory.’ He went onto say, ‘ This will of course take time but we are totally committed to realising our dream. Initially we will work through a sympathetic refresh of the hotel and grounds followed by further ongoing refurbishment of the main hotel over the coming months and years.’ Making the hotel an ongoing success is also the aim of Andy, who has 20 years’ experience in the hospitality trade. They believe wholeheartedly that with his experience and the support of both their families, the hotel will continue in the same vein as before, to be a wonderful escape for fisherman and families alike.
EXCLUSIVE
OFFERS
AVAILABLE!
visit our website
or call us
01335 350981
PHOTO COMPETION WINNER Wayne Richardson - competition winner ‘Cloud inversion over The Great Ridge ’
Alison Streets - ‘Alport’
runners up
Alison Crump - ‘Life on the Edge’
Paul Machin - “The Pinnacle” Curbar edge
The winner of this month’s photography competition is Wayne Richardson.
Wayne’s winning photo is very topical as there has been some wonderful inversions throughout the Peak District over the last month and Wayne’s photo captures the Mist pouring over Back Tor & Lose Hill on the Great Ridge taken from Mam Tor.
Wayne has won two nights Bed and Breakfast kindly donated by The Isaak Walton Hotel.
www.izaakwaltonhotel.com
Only our second contest and the number of entries was impressive and the quality of the photographs even better.
Next month’s competition is called ‘Landscape Heavens’ so please send us your idea of a Heaven on Earth photograph.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION PLEASE EMAIL US AT [email protected]
visit our facebook page for next months competition
Contemporary Art Exhibition at Hardwick Hall at Hardwick Estate
Wed 11 Jun - Sun 16 Nov
Alastair Mackie’s newly commis-sioned work, ‘Epitaph’, uses technol-ogy which is literally ‘cutting edge’: a 3D scanner, Computer Aided Design software, and a 5 axis [Computer Nu-merical Control] CNC machine have transformed a stone from Hardwick’s own quarry to produce a conceptually
beautiful sculpture.
Castleton Christmas Lights Switch On
November 15th
Switched on this year outside the Toll Bar Gift Shop by Steve Nallon playing ‘Dame Trott’ in Buxton Opera House’s production of Jack and the Beanstalk Panto and ‘Gully Mouse’ from Gulliv-ers Kingdom - Steve Nallon was the voice of Margaret Thatcher in Spitting
Image
Magical Lantern WorkshopNovember 15th
Magical Lantern Procession, Join in the fun by making your own willow lantern. Quick and simple to do. Just pop in to a worshop and have a go - al
ages welcome.
at Buxton Museum & Art Gallery.
The National Forest Food and Drink Fair at Rosliston Forestry
CentreNovember 16th
The National Forest Food and Drink Fair, and Abracadabra Bake Off at the Centre. Includes baking competi-tions, cookery demonstrations and a
Farmers’ Market.
events
more information more information
more information more information
A Festival of Christmas Trees at Crooked Spire Church
November 22nd
Come to the famous ‘Crooked Spire’ Church for a Festival of Christmas
Trees!
Come and see a variety of Christmas Trees all decorated by different peo-ple and groups within the Communi-
ty.
17th Century Derbyshire Food at Eyam Hall
From November 23rd
Have you ever wondered what you’d have for breakfast before the Full En-glish or what came before the jam roly- poly? Join food historian Mark Dawson on a journey back to 17th century Derbyshire and discover fa-vourite recipes and secret ingredi-
ents.
Bakewell Christmas Market at Bakewell
November 29th/30th
Visitors are welcomed to this beauti-ful town and its
traditional English Christmas Market, where you will enjoy cultural enter-tainment and stroll around stalls nes-tled within the beautiful streets and
marketplace.
Annual Indoor Dickensian Street Market
November 29th
This is far from just a market, it’s an experience.
Turn back the clock to the days when shopping was fun.
Wander casually through brightly dec-orated stalls with their sellers dressed in Dickensian period costumes, or simply sit, surrounded by the stalls, in the simulated village green and lis-ten to and watch a cavalcade of en-tertainment running throughout the event; Brass Bands, Dancers, Vocal-
ists, Musicians, Choirs.
visit our events website here
more information more information
more information more information
CALLOW HALLCOUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL & RESTAURANT
Mappleton, AshbourneDerbyshire - DE6 2AA
Telephone: 01335 300 900E-mail: [email protected]
www.callowhall.co.uk
EAST LODGECOUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL & RESTAURANT
Rowsley, MatlockDerbyshire - DE4 2EF
Telephone: 01629 734 474E-mail: [email protected]
www.eastlodge.com
Festive Lunch & Dinner Menu
These special festive menus will be served from Saturday 29th November 2014 until 24th
December 2014
FIRST COURSE
Chef’s seasonal soup of the day
Smooth chicken liver and Port parfait with red onion chutney, mulled red wine reduction & toasted sourdough
Classic cold water prawn cocktail, with Icelandic prawns, Marie Rose sauce & iceberglettuce
Aromatic crispy duck spring roll, cucumber, spring onion & ginger salad with caramelised Hoi Sin dressing
Creamed mushroom and leek mille feuille with shallot sabayon
MAIN COURSES
Traditional roast Barlow turkey with caramelised winter root vegetables buttered sprouts, duck fat roasted potatoes and bacon wrapped chipolata
Slow braised beef cheek with dauphinoise potatoes and port wine sauce
Pan fried fillet of salmon with Thermidor mashed potatoes, puff pastry fleuron and pink Champagne sauce
Smoked feta, spinach & ratatouille strudel with toasted pine nuts, fondant potato, Parmesan crisp and coriander butter sauce
DESSERTS
Our own recipe classic Christmas pudding served with brandy sauce
Warm chocolate orange brownie with Grand Marnier ice cream and popping candy
Scandinavian iced berries served with hot white chocolate sauce
A selection of homemade ice cream and sorbets
A selection of handmade cheeses with quince paste, crackers, grapes and celery
Price for 3 courses plus coffee; Lunch - £24.95 per person Dinner - £29.95 per person
Freshly brewed coffee with mince pies - £3.75
FESTIVE DINING AT EAST LODGE AND CALLOW HALL
PHOTOS TAKEN BY VILLAGER JIM AND WAKES WORLD
VIEW OUR DAILY PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK
