Chesterfield and Matlock

Weather turned out better today than I expected, which just expanded our options a bit. The picture today is the Church of St. Mary and All Saints. Chesterfield’s famous crooked spire.
In an effort to obtain tickets for the daily tower tour which is limited to a small group, we got to the church early. Tickets in hand we now had 4 hours until the tour, and the sudden realisation that there is very little else to do in Chesterfield. We decided to forgo the parking we’d just paid for and do a quick drive to Matlock.

Matlock is a small town with a nice old stone bridge over the Derwent (currently undergoing building work), and pleasant park grounds surrounded by some high peaks. The residential area towers above the centre with little rows of identical stone buildings layering the peak side. We had a little walk and stopped in a nice riverside cafe for tea and cake.
Returning to Chesterfield we found a new parking zone (3rd car park of the day) which showed a nicer side to the town than we had seen earlier in the day, a modern shopping area and distinctly fewer drunks loudly arguing with each other…
We had time for a quick drink before the tower tour, and braved a stop at a German bar we had noted earlier called Albert’s Jungerer Bruder. I say “braved” because we were under some doubt as to whether it was a bar at all, given that on one side of the building it had a red neon XXX sign and another sign saying “Peep show”. As it turned out , the other side of the building has a normal entrance and is a rather lovely and cosy, modern bar inside. Not a nipple tassle in sight. Quite what purpose the other “advertising” has we are still unsure.
After a pint of German lager each we were ready for the tour.

We gathered inside the church where our guide Dave introduced himself. A group of 11 of us ascended a narrow spiral staircase to the first stop, the bell ringing room. Here we sat and listened to a potted history of Chesterfield and the church from its inception in the 13th century. Originally built with a simple tower, the spire was added later (straight at the time) made of unseasoned oak.
We then followed Dave up the next narrow spiral staircase to the Belfry just in time to hear the clock strike 3. It was exceptionally loud which was to be expected given our proximity to the bell, but quite impressive nonetheless.
On to the next spiral staircase and we were at the top of the original church tower, looking directly up the inside of the spire. You could see the crisscross wooden construction and how it twisted up to the point. Dave explained how the (most common) explanation for the twist is the combination of unseasoned wood, with the added complication of tonnes of lead being added onto the outside of the spire at a later date. As the Sun typically heats one side of the spire more than the other, and the lead expands and the contracts, the spire leans and then twists very gradually. The top of the spire is now over 9ft off centre and is “wonky”‘whichever angle you look at it.
One particularly alarming fact is that the spire is not connected to the tower in any way …not even with blu tac as Dave pointed out. The only thing keeping it there is it’s own weight. This fact gave an added dimension to the experience of our final ascent- up a wooden ladder to the top of the tower on the outside where we could stare up the spire and also admire the sweeping views across Derbyshire and beyond.
It was quite a sight and quite an experience.

Afterwards we returned to the German (non titty) bar as we had spied their rather appetising menu. A yummy meal and a massive cocktail (for me the non driver anyway) later and we were happy with a well spent day with a short drive back to the hotel.
We had a couple of drinks in the attached pub where a large glass of wine was half the price in Birmingham- see told you, it’s cheap in the north.
Whilst sitting in a part of the pub entirely on our own, we heard a very strange noise. A bit like a ghostly voice saying “ I seeeeeee” very slowly . Laughing to ourselves that it was the local ghost, we weren’t laughing when we heard the same voice even louder about 10 minutes later which had me almost throwing my wine in my own face and even Rich admitting his hairs all stood on end. Realising the noise was coming from the back of the kitchen we decided it was pipes making the noise, but we’re still glad that our room is in the modern part of the building - where obviously ghosts fear to tread …