November’s Twitter Digest

If you’re having one of those “Nothing much” days, welcome to the Twitter Digest for November. Here’s an extract from the diary of Isabella, Lady Crewe.

This month’s Archives of the Week started out with something a little out of the ordinary. We don’t often tweet about quarry archives but Twyfords quarries in Birchover and Stanton in Peak, reminded us that although quarries may not be very pretty, their stone makes beautiful historic buildings.

We followed this by celebrating STEM Day with the records of Tapton House School Chesterfield. In the 1940s the school formed a Science Society.

The Society inspired spinoff groups including the Astronomical, Geographical and Meteorological sections.

We also highlighted a series of postcards of Eyam, produced by F Frith & Co. On 1 Nov 1666, Abraham Morten was the last of 260 villagers to die from the bubonic plague, which had arrived 14 months earlier from London, on a flea riddled bale of cloth.

Mompesson’s well, along with the boundary stone, was the quarantine marker where villagers exchanged money for food with other villages. The Well was named after William Mompesson, the parish priest whose decisive action averted more widespread catastrophe. At the marker vinegar was used to disinfect the coins which were left by the well in exchange for food and medicine.

Next we featured the papers of the Fentem family. These include Walter Fentem, born in Eyam in 1857, but who emigrated to America and was briefly an orange grower in Florida.

Then there’s this 1786 map of Hubbadale lead mine by surveyor James Dawson …

… with detailed images of miners, winches and even a pony. Worthy of being framed on a wall, this is a functioning plan, with notes, calculations and suggestions about the seam

We’re very proud that our new catalogue features as one of the year’s highlights within the archives sector!

You can browse it here

Following on from October’s Archive Box tweets, we’ve been getting stuck into a different trend for November, Museum30, a list of 30 prompts for photographs based around museums and just things you enjoy in life. Participants are encouraged to interpret the prompts in any way we like!

Although we’re not a museum, we’ll join in where we can 😃.

For example with the #Fragment

We love this detail from one of our Calke Abbey deeds from 1566.

Don’t you just love books that have a #page that folds out?

We like the illustrations in ‘Agriculture and minerals of Derbyshire’ by John Farey …

… so much, we used them on our #blinds!

Can anyone else see a smiley face in this cartouche on a 1676 map of Atlow? We think it’s plainly there, not even #Hidden!

Rather surprisingly, we do have an amazing item of #clothing in our collection: this fabulous shirt from around 1883, made by Edmund Potter & Co. Do you remember this blogpost?

In the days before Movember not all upper lip #growth received approval…

The hashtag also proved the perfect opportunity to show the #tools of John R. Biggs (1909-1988), distinguished wood engraver, typographer, graphic designer, writer and teacher.

But getting a box from its #location can involve getting on a tall ladder.

After hours of exciting and exhilarating research, our visitors can have a #break in our breakroom.

With comfy seats and the poem Matt Black wrote for us to admire

Now as #Winter approaches, here’s a snowy day at The Cat and Fiddle near Buxton, reputed to be the highest pub in England – as shown on this postcard from around 1900.

Of course, with Christmas shopping still to do, ever wondered what it would have been like to go shopping in Chesterfield in 1905? … Step inside a local Edwardian store.

But if you’re in Matlock and looking for somewhere warm and cosy to spend some time this winter, we have a trolley full of local authors ready for you to read in our comfy book rooms.

We’d also love to welcome you to our Warm Space as the temperature plummets …

… with comfy seats, books and toys, baby changing facilities, computer access, free wi-fi and free hot drinks.

We’re open Tue to Fri, 9.30am to 5.00pm. See our website for how to find us.

And Finally

This certainly brightened our day when we opened the folder in the Searchroom

#WorldKindnessDay #BestMoment