The team
Ruth Harrison
Will Newman
Angela Wilkinson
Catherine MillsCharlotte Hodgson
- Frances Hall
Ruth Gordon
Stephen Booth
Blythe Aimson
Other teams
Finds
The lost villages of Derwent and Ashopton
October 28, 2009 3:31 PM from Ruth Gordon | It's strange how some places just cry out to be written about and the villages that were drowned under the Ladybower Reservoir have inspired at least 3 stories that I know about. There was Mary Cockett's Drowning Valley told for... Read more
Fludd by Hilary Mantell
October 28, 2009 3:01 PM from Ruth Gordon | I'm delighted Stephen reminded me about Hilary Mantell. Fludd was the first of her novels I ever read and I couldn't stop talking about it. It has a very strong feel of that border area where Lancashire Cheshire and Derbyshire... Read more
A Beautiful Place for a Murder
October 26, 2009 4:02 PM from Will Newman | Can't believe I didn't think of this before, especially as we have been focusing on crime, legends and the supernatural in the Dark Peak, and Berlie is coming to our finale event on Saturday 31st. Just remembered that Berlie... Read more
Jeannie of White Peak Farm
October 12, 2009 4:36 PM from Ruth Gordon | I've just heard that Berlie Doherty's lovely story of a girl growing up on a Peak District farm has been republished this year in paperback by Catnip Publishing. It is a vivid and sensitive description of a family who are tied... Read more
Unrest of their Time
October 12, 2009 9:40 AM from Ruth Gordon | This is a really dark and unsettling story, written by Nellie Kirkham who was much better known as an authority on Derbyshire Lead mining. It tells of the lives of people who lived in the twentieth century and of parallel lives... Read more
Derbyshire wins the Booker Prize!
October 8, 2009 1:12 PM from Stephen Booth | I don't think we've had a mention yet for distinguished Derbyshire author Hilary Mantel, whose novel Wolf Hall has just won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. Mantel was born in Glossop and grew up in Hadfield. I'm not sure how how much... Read more
John Buxton Hilton: Rescue from the Rose
October 1, 2009 3:40 PM from Ruth Gordon | George reminded me of John Buxton Hilton's splendid thrillers set in the Peak District in the early 20th century. This is the first I read, featuring his characterful investigator, Inspector Brunt and a wonderfully portrayed Buxton inn, The Little Rose and its inhabitants, including... Read more
The Mermaid poem by Henry Kirke
October 1, 2009 3:03 PM from Ruth Gordon | Here is the poem about the Mermaid of the Mermaid Pool on Kinder (though it could be one of the other Mermaid pools in the Peak as there are no less than 3!) The others are at the Roaches, known as... Read more
Poems of Peak and Dale
October 1, 2009 2:47 PM from Ruth Gordon | Helen from the Cumbria Reading Detectives has reminded us of a a Peak District poet! Alan Robinson published Poems of Peak and Dale (Athena Press) in 2002 and lives in Matlock. His poems are inspired by the landscape, the towns... Read more
Arnemetia
September 17, 2009 7:22 PM from Blythe Aimson | Arnemetia is an anthology of community poetry. It is written in Derbyshire and had a suitably gothique cover and name (Arnemetia being the goddess Buxton was named after by the Romans, Aqua Arnemetia, meaning grove of the sacred spring) and when... Read more
Poole's Cavern, Buxton
September 17, 2009 7:11 PM from Will Newman | Poole's Cavern in Buxton is a 2 million year old natural cavern that has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The name derives from an outlaw, Poole, who reputedly used the cave as a lair and a base... Read more
In Place of Execution....
September 17, 2009 7:03 PM from Angela Wilkinson | This is an amazing multi-layered psychological thriller from writer Val McDermid. Set in the winter of 1963, 13 year old Alison Carter vanishes from her home in the isolated Derbyshire hamlet of Scarsdale. The effect of her disappearance reverberates down... Read more
Scared to live
September 17, 2009 6:42 PM from Charlotte Hodgson | I really enjoyed meeting Stephen Booth but found this book difficult to get into. My mum tried to read this as well and also found it a little slow. I hope the next one I read will be better. ... Read more
The Jane Eyre Connection
September 17, 2009 6:39 PM from Angela Wilkinson | The setting of Charlottle Bronte's novel Jane Eyre was apparently inspired by her visit to Hathersage in 1845. Her description of Thornfield Hall certainly appears to match that of the 15th Century manor house of North Lees and Morton could... Read more
Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District
September 17, 2009 6:32 PM from Blythe Aimson | This book was really interesting, and very deeply detailed. There was lots of variation in the stories and layed out in a very user friendly way. The accounts of local ghost legends are well written, which adds to the already... Read more
Narnia in the Peak District?
September 17, 2009 6:15 PM from Will Newman | I have been looking through Bygone Derbyshire and discovered that legendary author C S Lewis has a link with Derbyshire and the Peak. As Lewis wrote later "My happiest hours are spent with three or four old friends in old... Read more
The Wonders of the Peake...
September 17, 2009 6:06 PM from Angela Wilkinson | Charles Cotton was an English writer and big friend of Izaak Walton.He not only helped to write the second part of the Compleat Angler but he also composed the long topographical poem "The Wonders of the Peake" which is amazingly... Read more
Night Angels: a scary episode on the Snake Pass
September 17, 2009 11:40 AM from Ruth Gordon | I've just remembered about this scary thriller by Sheffield based author Danuta Reah. It begins as a young woman's car breaks down on a dark, wet night as she heads back to Sheffield over the Snake. Next morning her car... Read more
Blue John
September 11, 2009 6:22 PM from Angela Wilkinson | Wow - have just rediscovered this wonderful picture book by local author Berlie Doherty - a great writer whose many books are inspired by the beautiful Peak District landscape in which she lives . It is beautifully illustrated by Tim Clarey... Read more
Buxton under the crust.....
September 11, 2009 6:04 PM from Angela Wilkinson | Have just been reading 2 collections of short stories of the supernatural by Buxton writer Terry Lamsley - "Conference with the dead" and "Under the Crust". Terry reckons in the blurb of "Under the Crust" that Buxton deserves more ghosts... Read more
Mysterious Mermaid in Derbyshire
August 21, 2009 4:20 PM from Will Newman | Interesting to see the way this site is working. Angela posted an entry about a long forgotten ballad on The Mermaid's Pool near Hayfield and this has triggered a response from Derbyshire poet, Jeremy Duffield, who was inspired to write about... Read more
Ghost walks
August 20, 2009 7:19 PM from Blythe Aimson | I have just read a book on ghost wallks around derbyshire, there was a range of walks in the area and a few good nuggets of infomation, but overall was very disappointing. The few ghost stories that were in it... Read more
The poet and the pool.....
August 18, 2009 9:37 AM from Angela Wilkinson | David Bell's book "Derbyshire Ghosts and legends" refers to the legend of the Mermaid's Pool near Hayfield..."The mermaid's Pool near Kinder Reservoir is a lonely and desolate place. No fish live in it, no animals will drink from it, and... Read more
More murder in the Peak District
August 14, 2009 3:24 PM from Will Newman | Just finished reading The Edge by Chris Simms. Chris normally writes gritty crime stories based in Manchester but in this book the action moves out into the Peak District. Edale, Buxton, Glossop are all mentioned but the fictional town of... Read more
Inspired by the Peak
August 5, 2009 10:20 AM from Ruth Gordon | Have you had a look at www.peaklandheritage.org.uk ? In the Inspired by the Peak section there are some interesting leads including some old and unusual poetry and ballads. There's legends and folklore and stuff like that in the Digging Deeper section too. Ruth ... Read more
Bygone Derbyshire clues
August 4, 2009 12:55 AM from Will Newman | I've just been looking at some possible links to authors in Derbyshire and around Buxton and the High Peak. "Bygone Derbyshire" is run by the Derby Evening Telegraph and has information about forgotten crime writer John Buxton Hilton, links with... Read more
Finished!
August 3, 2009 5:21 PM from Frances Hall | I have just finished my first "Reading Dectectives" book, Stephen Booth's Black Dog. It was brilliant - slightly surreal and yet captivating reading descriptions of a country I grew up and lived my whole life in. However, the charachters have... Read more
Finds
- The lost villages of Derwent and Ashopton
- Fludd by Hilary Mantell
- A Beautiful Place for a Murder
- Jeannie of White Peak Farm
- Unrest of their Time
- Derbyshire wins the Booker Prize!
- John Buxton Hilton: Rescue from the Rose
- The Mermaid poem by Henry Kirke
- Poems of Peak and Dale
- Arnemetia
- Poole's Cavern, Buxton
- In Place of Execution....
- Scared to live
- The Jane Eyre Connection
- Haunted Derbyshire and the Peak District
- Narnia in the Peak District?
- The Wonders of the Peake...
- Night Angels: a scary episode on the Snake Pass
- Blue John
- Buxton under the crust.....
- Mysterious Mermaid in Derbyshire
- Ghost walks
- The poet and the pool.....
- More murder in the Peak District
- Inspired by the Peak
- Bygone Derbyshire clues
- Finished!
Help the team
Have you got something to contribute? You can contact us to report your clues and you can comment on our blog posts. It doesn't matter where in the world you are!