Derby
Encyclopedia
Derby is a city
and unitary authority
in the East Midlands
region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent
and is located in the south of the ceremonial county
of Derbyshire
. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407. According to the 2001 census, Derby was at that time the 18th largest settlement in England, measured by urban area.
The city has Roman
, Saxon and Viking
origins.
The Roman camp of 'Derventio
' was probably at Little Chester
/Chester Green ;
The site of the old Roman fort is at Chester Green. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs
' (fortified towns) of the Danelaw
.
Djúra-bý, recorded in Anglo-Saxon
as Deoraby "Village of the Deer". This popular belief is asserted by Tim Lambert who states, "The name Derby is derived from the Danish words deor by meaning deer settlement" without reference or proof. However some assert that it is a corruption of the original Roman name 'Derventio'. The proven origin of the name "Derby" would seem to be elusive.
The town name appears, nevertheless, as 'Darby' or 'Darbye' on early modern maps, such as that of Speed (1610).
Modern research (2004) into the history and archaeology
of Derby has provided evidence that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
(c. 900) says that "Derby is divided by water". These areas of land were known as Norþworþig ("Northworthy", = "north enclosure") and Deoraby, and were at the "Irongate" (north) side of Derby.
of 1642–1646, Derby was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops
commanded by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
, who was appointed Governor of Derby in 1643. These troops took part in the defence of nearby Nottingham
, the Siege of Lichfield
, the Battle of Hopton Heath
and many other engagements in Nottinghamshire
, Staffordshire
and Cheshire
, as well as successfully defending Derbyshire against Royalist
armies.
A hundred years later, Bonnie Prince Charlie
set up camp at Derby on 4 December 1745, whilst on his way south to seize the British crown. The prince called at The George Inn
on Irongate, where the Duke of Devonshire
had set up his headquarters, and demanded billet
s for his 9,000 troops.
He stayed at Exeter House
, Exeter Street where he held his "council of war
". A replica of the room is on display at Derby Museum
in the city centre. He had received misleading information about an army coming to meet him south of Derby. Although he wished to continue with his quest, he was overruled by his fellow officers. He abandoned his invasion at Swarkestone Bridge on the River Trent
just a few miles south of Derby. As a testament to his belief in his cause, the prince – who on the march from Scotland
had walked at the front of the column – made the return journey on horseback at the rear of the bedraggled and tired army.
Each year at the beginning of December, the Charles Edward Stuart Society of Derby lead a weekend of activities culminating in a parade through the city centre and a battle on Cathedral Green.
. In 1717, Derby was the site of the first water powered silk mill
in Britain, built by John Lombe
and George Sorocold
, after Lombe had reputedly stolen the secrets of silk-throwing
from Piedmont
in what is now Italy
(he is alleged to have been poisoned by Piedmontese as revenge in 1722).
In 1759, Jedediah Strutt
patented and built a machine called the Derby Rib Attachment that revolutionised the manufacture of hose. This attachment was used on the Rev. Lee's Framework Knitting
Machine; it was placed in front of – and worked in unison with – Lee's Frame, to produce ribbed hose (stockings). The partners were Jedediah Strutt, William Woollatt (who had been joined in 1758 by John Bloodworth and Thomas Stafford, all leading hosiers in Derby). The patent was obtained in January 1759. After three years, Bloodworth and Stafford were paid off, and Samuel Need – a hosier of Nottingham
– joined the partnership. The firm was known as Need, Strutt and Woollatt. The patent expired in 1773, though the partnership continued until 1781 when Need died.
{|class="toc" align=right border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 10pt"
!Year!!Population
|-
||1801||align=right|14,695
|-
||1851||align=right|48,506
|-
||1901||align=right|118,469
|-
||1921||align=right|142,824
|-
||1941||align=right|167,321
|-
||1951||align=right|181,423
|-
||1961||align=right|199,578
|-
||1971||align=right|219,558
|-
||1981||align=right|214,424
|-
||1991||align=right|225,296
|-
||2001||align=right|221,716
|}
Messrs. Wright, the bankers of Nottingham, recommended that Richard Arkwright
apply to Strutt and Need for finance for his cotton spinning
mill. The first mill opened in Nottingham in 1770 and was driven by horses. In 1771 Richard Arkwright, Samuel Need and Jedediah Strutt built the world's first water-power
ed cotton spinning mill at Cromford
, Derbyshire, developing a form of power that was to be a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution.
This was followed in Derbyshire
by Jedediah Strutt's cotton spinning mills at Belper
. They were: South Mill, the first, 1775; North Mill, 1784, which was destroyed by fire on 12 January 1803 and then rebuilt; it started work again at the end of 1804; West Mill, 1792, commenced working 1796; Reeling Mill, 1897; Round Mill, which took 10 years to build, from 1803 to 1813, and commenced working in 1816; and Milford Mills, 1778. The Belper and Milford
mills were not built in partnership with Arkwright. These mills were all Strutt owned and financed.
Other famous 18th century figures with connections to Derby include Dr Johnson
, the creator of the English dictionary
, who married Elizabeth Porter
at St Werburgh's Church
in 1735; the painter Joseph Wright
, known as Wright of Derby, who was famous for his revolutionary use of light in his paintings and was an associate of the Royal Academy
; and John Whitehurst
, a famous clockmaker
and philosopher. Erasmus Darwin
, doctor, scientist, philosopher and grandfather of Charles Darwin
, whose practice was based in Lichfield
, Staffordshire was a frequent visitor to Derby, having founded the Derby Philosophical Society
.
The beginning of the next century saw Derby emerging as an engineering centre with manufacturers such as James Fox
, who exported machine tools to Russia
.
In 1840, the North Midland Railway
set up its works in Derby
and, when it merged with the Midland Counties Railway
and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
, to form the Midland Railway
, Derby became its headquarters.
The connection with the railway encouraged others, notably Andrew Handyside
, Charles Fox and his son Francis Fox.
Derby was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835
, and it became a county borough
with the Local Government Act 1888
. The borough expanded in 1877 to include Little Chester
and Litchurch
, and then in 1890 to include New Normanton and Rowditch. The borough did not increase substantially again until 1968, when under a recommendation of the Local Government Boundary Commission it was expanded into large parts of the rural district of Belper
, Repton
and South East Derbyshire
. This vastly increased Derby's population from 132,408 in the 1961 census to 219,578 in the 1971 census.
Despite being one of the areas of Britain furthest from the sea, Derby holds a special place in the history of marine safety – it was as MP for Derby that Samuel Plimsoll
introduced his bills for a 'Plimsoll line' (and other marine safety measures). This failed on first introduction, but was successful in 1876 and contributed to Plimsoll's re-election as an MP.
opened a car and aircraft factory in the town in 1907. In 1923, the Midland Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
with headquarters in London. However Derby remained a major rail manufacturing centre, second only to Crewe
and Wolverton
. Moreover it remained a design and development centre and in the 'thirties, on the direction of Lord Stamp
, the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory
was opened on London Road.
In World War I, Derby was targeted by German Zeppelin
air bombers, who killed five people in a 1916 raid on the town.
All Saints Church was designated as a cathedral in 1927, signalling that the town was ready for city status.
Slum clearance in the 1920s and 1930s saw the central area of Derby become less heavily populated as families were rehoused on new council estates in the suburbs, where houses for private sale were also constructed. Rehousing, council house building and private housing developments continued on a large scale for some 30 years after the end of World War II in 1945.
Production and repair work continued at the railway works. In 1948 the Locomotive Works
unveiled its first diesel-electric locomotive
- "Number 10000"
. In 1958 production switched over to diesel locomotives completely. Meanwhile the Carriage and Wagon Works
were building the first of the Diesel Multiple Units which were to take over many of the services.
In 1964 the British Rail Research Division
opened to study all aspects of railway engineering from first principles. Its first success was in drastically improving the reliability and speed of goods trains, work which led to the development of the Advanced Passenger Train
.
Derby became a high profile town internationally in sport following the appointment of Brian Clough
as manager of Derby County F.C.
in 1967. Promotion to the Football League First Division
was achieved in 1969, and County were champions of the English league three years later. Following the controversial Clough's resignation in 1973, his successor Dave Mackay
guided County to another league title in 1975, but this is the club's last major trophy to date; relegation followed in 1980 and top flight status was not regained until 1987, since when Derby have spent a total of 11 seasons (1987–1991, 1996–2002, 2007–2008) in the top flight. The club moved from its century-old Baseball Ground
in 1997 to the new Pride Park Stadium
.
Derby was awarded city status on 7 June 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II
to mark the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne
. The Queen presented the "charter scroll" or 'letters patent' in person on 28 July 1977 on the steps of the Council House to the then Mayor Councillor Jeffrey Tillet (Conservative). Until then, Derby had been one of the few towns in England with a cathedral but not city status.
Derby holds an important position in the history of the Labour movement
, because it was one of two seats (the other being Keir Hardie
's in Merthyr Tydfil
) gained by the recently formed Labour Representation Committee at the 1900 general election. The MP was Richard Bell
, General Secretary of the Railway Servants Union
. Bell was succeeded in 1910 by Jimmy Thomas
and he in turn by the distinguished polymath
and Nobel Laureate Philip Noel-Baker
in 1936.
Despite its strategic industries (rail and aero-engine), Derby suffered comparatively little damage in both world war
s (contrast Bristol
and Filton
). This may in part have been due to the jamming against the German radio-beam navigations systems (X-Verfahren and Knickebein, camouflage and decoy techniques ('Starfish site
s') were built, mainly south of the town, e.g. out in fields near Foremark
(ref. Kirk, Felix & Bartnik, 2002, see talk; see also).
Derby has also become a significant cultural centre for the deaf community in the British. Many deaf people move to Derby because of its strong sign language
-using community. It is estimated that the deaf population in Derby is at least three times higher than the national average, and that only London has a larger deaf population. The Royal School for the Deaf on Ashbourne Road provides education in British Sign Language
and English.
Derby has been granted Fairtrade City
status.
of Derbyshire
, although Derbyshire's administrative centre
has in recent years been Matlock. On 1 April 1997 Derby City Council became again a unitary authority
(a status it had held, as a county borough
, up until 1974), with the rest of Derbyshire administered from Matlock.
has its headquarters in The Wharf, a facility in Derby. RAIB has one of its two operational centres in Derby.
and the Toyota Motor Corporation
are engaged in engineering manufacturing. Egg
, the Internet and telephone bank, has its national base in Derby. Other companies of note include Railway systems engineering
firm Bombardier Transportation
who manufacture railway rolling stock
at the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
, and Alstom
who manufacture large power plant boiler
s and heat exchangers.
Derby was for many years a railway centre, being the former headquarters of the Midland Railway
, with both British Rail
workshops and research facilities in the town. Although much less important than in years gone by, train manufacture continues in Derby and Derby railway station retains an important position in the railway network. The city is favoured as a site for a national railway centre.
From 1922 Sinfin Lane was the home of the 62 acres (250,905.3 m²) site of International Combustion
, originally manufacturers of machinery for the automatic delivery of pulverized fuel to furnaces and boilers, and later producing steam-generating boilers for use in electrical generating plant such as used in power stations. In the 1990s the firm was bought by Rolls-Royce plc
and then sold on again to ABB Group.
Derby was the home of Core Design
, who developed the computer game Tomb Raider
with its heroine Lara Croft
, part of the newly opened inner ring road is named Lara Croft Way in recognition of this.
tower is 212 feet (68.6 meters) tall to the tip of the pinnacles. This has been home to a pair of breeding peregrine falcon
s since 2006. Three webcams monitor the falcons here.
Derby Gaol
is a visitor attraction based in the dungeons of the Derbyshire County Gaol which dates back to 1756.
Derby Industrial Museum
is situated in Derby Silk Mill
and shows the industrial heritage and technological achievement of Derby, including Rolls-Royce
aero engines, railways, mining, quarry
ing and foundries. Currently closed due to council cuts.
Pickford's House Museum
was built by architect Joseph Pickford
in 1770. It was his home and business headquarters. Derby Museum and Art Gallery
shows paintings by Joseph Wright
, as well as fine Royal Crown Derby
porcelain, natural history, local regiments and archaeology. Pickford also designed St Helen's House
in King Street.
The skyline of the inner city changed in 1968 when the inner ring road with its two new crossings of the River Derwent
was built. The route of the ring road went through the St. Alkmund's Church
and its Georgian
churchyard
, the only Georgian square in Derby. Both were demolished to make way for the road, a move still criticised today. Thus the editor (Elizabeth Williamson) of the 2nd edition of Pevsner
for Derbyshire wrote:- '...the character and cohesion of the centre has been completely altered by the replacement of a large number of C18 houses in the centre by a multi-lane road. As a traffic scheme this road is said to be a triumph; as townscape it is a disaster.'
The newer buildings along Ford Street and St Alkmund's Way include the Friargate Studios, The Joseph Wright Centre (a campus of Derby College
) and the Jurys Inn. The hotel dominates the skyline, demoting nearby St Mary's and, indeed, the Cathedral (silhouettes which formerly described the character of the city). The building of the Jurys Inn has altered well liked approach views of the city such as those from the top of Green Lane, Nottingham Road and from Darley Park.
passes about ten miles (16 km) to the east of the city, linking Derby southwards to the London area and northwards to Sheffield
and Leeds
. Other major roads passing through or near Derby include the A6 (historically the main route from London to Carlisle, also linking to Leicester
and Manchester
), A38 (Bodmin
to Mansfield
via Bristol
and Birmingham
), A50 (Warrington
to Leicester
via Stoke-on-Trent
), A52 (Newcastle-under-Lyme
to Mablethorpe
, including Brian Clough
Way linking Derby to Nottingham
) and A61 (Derby to Thirsk
via Sheffield and Leeds).
On 16 March 2011, Mercian Way, the final section of the city's inner ring road, was opened to traffic. This new section connects Burton Road with Uttoxeter New Road, and crosses Abbey Street. Abbey Street is the only road between the two ends from which Mercian Way can be accessed.
to Leeds, with a route to London via Rugby provided by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
. At the same time, a route to Nottingham and Leicester was opened by the Midland Counties Railway
. In 1844, these three companies merged to form the Midland Railway
who subsequently opened a direct route to London St Pancras station. The present day station, Derby Midland
is on the same site as 1840 and the original platform visibly forms the sub-structure of the modern Platform 1. The Midland Railway frontage was replaced in 1985, and during 2008 and 2009 the 1950s concrete platform canopies were replaced with steel and glass structures.
Derby station is operated by East Midlands Trains
and the city is served by expresses to London, the North East and South West, provided by East Midlands Trains and CrossCountry
. There also remain local stations at Peartree
and Spondon
, although services are limited, especially at the former.
The Great Northern Railway
's "Derbyshire and North Staffordshire Extension" formerly ran through Derby Friargate Station, from Colwick
and Nottingham
to Egginton
Junction. After closure, part of the route west of Derby was used by British Rail as a test track. Today, the trackbed either side of Derby is blocked only by road development and has been converted to a Sustrans
cycle track. The ornate cast iron bridge by Andrew Handyside
across Friargate is still in place, as is his bridge over the river.
and Carriage and Wagon Works
, the railways had been a major influence on the development of the town during the Victorian period.
However, as described above, during the twentieth century, railway manufacturing developed elsewhere, while in Derby the emphasis shifted to other industries. Even though It had pioneered the introduction of diesel locomotives, new production finished in 1966. Repair work gradually diminished until, finally the locomotive works closed, the land being redeveloped as Pride Park. The only buildings remaining are those visible from Platform 6 of the station.
The Carriage and Wagon Works continues to build trains under Bombardier Transportation
. The Railway Technical Centre
continues to house railway businesses, including the headquarters of DeltaRail Group
, formerly the British Rail Research Division
.
, and the traditional rivalry between the three cities (Derby, Leicester and Nottingham), meant that there was controversy concerning the airport's decision to prefix its name with Nottingham in 2004. In 2006, Nottingham East Midlands Airport reverted to its previous name. The airport is served by budget airlines, including Bmibaby
(for which East Midlands is a main base), Ryanair
and Jet2, with services to domestic and European destinations.
Derby Airfield
, located approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) southeast of the city centre has grass runways targeted at general aviation
.
Derby's former bus station
was an art deco
design by borough architect C.H. Aslin. Built in 1933, it was closed in 2005 and later demolished, despite the protests of environmentalists and conservationists. The unique cafe building is planned to be rebuilt at Crich Tramway Museum. A new bus station has been built on the site as part of the Riverlights development which was opened on Sunday the 28 March 2010. Since the closure of the old bus station, services have been using temporary stops on streets around the Morledge area. Most services in Derby now terminate at the bus station. The new bus station is modern, with 28 bays, 4 for coaches and 24 for general bus services. First, the concourse area where passengers board and alight was completed. The remainder of the building has been developed as a Holiday Inn
and a Hilton Hotel
as well as a convenience store which opened in late 2010.
Local bus services in and around Derby are run by a number of companies, but principally Trent Barton
and Arriva Midlands
. The city is on National Express
's London to Manchester and Yorkshire to the South West routes. Additionally a regional route between Manchester and Nottingham is run by Trent Barton via its TransPeak and Red Arrow services. A whole list of them can be viewed on the List of bus routes in Derby page.
Between 1932 and 1967, Derby Corporation operated the Derby trolleybus system
. The last trolleybus ran on 9 September 1967. Several Derby vehicles have been preserved at Sandtoft
and the East Anglia Transport Museum
.
, a professional chamber orchestra
based in Derby. The Derby Jazz group caters for the jazz interest in the city and is regarded as one of the UK's leading live jazz
organisations.
In rock music, the blues singer-songwriter Kevin Coyne
comes from Derby, as does the three piece rock band LostAlone
, who are signed to Warner Brothers Records. The ska punk band Lightyear
also hail from the city, naming their second album Chris Gentlemens Hairdresser and Railway Book Shop
after a shop in Macklin street.
The pop act White Town
is from Derby, and the video "Your Woman" features many scenes from Derby City Centre.
A full-scale programme of orchestral and other concerts is presented at the Assembly Rooms. A thriving amateur classical music scene includes two choral societies, Derby Bach Choir and Derby Choral Union
, smaller choirs, including the Derwent Singers and Sitwell Singers, and Derby Concert Orchestra. Derby Chamber Music presents an annual series of chamber music concerts at Derby University's Multifaith
Centre. A series of organ recitals is presented every summer at Derby Cathedral
, featuring leading international performers.
An active folk-music scene includes the annual Derby Folk Festival.
Music venues in the city include the Assembly Rooms, Ryans Bar in the St Peters Quarter and The Victoria Inn.
regularly received acclaim in the national press
for its productions, particularly, in recent years, for its staging of shows by Stephen Sondheim
. After a lengthy period of financial uncertainty, the theatre closed in February 2008. It was resurrected in September of that year after a new financing package was put together but forced to close again just two months later because of further financial problems. The lease was later bought by Derby University. Renamed Derby Theatre, it has joined the Assembly Rooms and Guildhall Theatre as one of the venues operated by Derby LIVE, the cultural arm of Derby City Council. The theatre annually hosts the Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company
.
QUAD (See Derby QUAD
) is a centre for art and film which opened on in 2008. The building has two cinema screens showing independent and mainstream cinema, two gallery spaces housing contemporary visual arts
, a digital studio, participation spaces, digital editing suites, artists studio and the BFI
Mediatheque.
The Robert Ludlam Theatre is a 270 seat venue with a programme of entertainment including dance, drama, art, music, theatre in the round
, comedy, films, family entertainment, rock and pop events, workshops and provides a home for many of Derbyshire's amateur
production groups.
Among Derby's many amateur theatre groups, Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company has received critical acclaim for its often innovative productions, and is regularly invited to appear at the Minack Theatre
in Cornwall.
Derby Festé is a spectacular weekend street art
s festival held every September.
John Dexter
the theatre director and the actor Alan Bates
were from Derby.
The FORMAT international photography festival, the largest photography festival in the UK is held every two years in Derby and is organised by QUAD.
Derby is home to several sports clubs.
Derby County
, the city's football team, were FA Cup
winners in 1946, Football League champions in 1972 and again in 1975. They are members of the Football League Championship
. They have played at Pride Park Stadium
since 1997, having been previously based at the Baseball Ground
, a stadium originally built in 1890 to house Derby's short-lived baseball team (one notable baseball player and famous footballer was the Derby legend Steve Bloomer
). Derby County moved there in 1895 after the baseball team folded. Former Derby County managers include Brian Clough
, Arthur Cox
, Jim Smith
, John Gregory and George Burley
. Former players include Colin Todd
, Roy McFarland
(who both later had brief and unsuccessful stints as manager at the club), Dave Mackay
, Peter Shilton
, Dean Saunders
, Craig Short
, Marco Gabbiadini
, Horacio Carbonari
, Steve Bloomer
and Tom Huddlestone
. The club's most recent spell as a top division (FA Premier League
) club ended in May 2008 after just one season
, during which the club won just one out of 38 league games and finished with just 11 points, the lowest in the history of the Premier League.
There are three senior non-league football clubs based in the city. Mickleover Sports
play at Station Road, Mickleover
and are members of the EvoStik Northern Premier League
(the seventh level of the English football league system
). Graham Street Prims
and Borrowash Victoria
are both members of the East Midlands Counties League
(level ten) and play on adjacent grounds at the Asterdale complex in Spondon
.
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
are based at the County Ground
in Derby and play almost all home matches there, although matches at Chesterfield
were re-introduced in 2006. One of the designated first class county sides, they have won the County Championship
once, in 1936.
Derby has clubs in both codes of rugby
. In rugby union
, Derby RFC play in Midlands Division One East (the sixth level of English rugby union) at their Haslams Lane ground. Rugby league
team Derby City RLFC
were formed in 1990 and compete in the Midlands Premier Division of the National Rugby League Conference. From 2008 they are ground sharing with Derby RFC at Haslams Lane.
The city is represented in the English Basketball League
Division One by Derby Trailblazers
, who play at the Moorways Sports Centre. They were formed in 2002 following the demise of British Basketball League
side Derby Storm
.
Local industrialist Francis Ley
introduced baseball to the town in the late 19th century, and built a stadium
near the town centre. The attempt to establish baseball in Derby was unsuccessful, but the stadium survived for some 100 years afterwards as the home of Derby County Football Club. It was demolished in 2003, six years after County's move to Pride Park
.
Arthur Keily the marathon
runner
and Olympian was born in Derbyshire in 1921 and has lived his whole life in Derby. In Rome in 1960
he broke the English Olympic record, recording a time of 2hours 27mins.
Derby Arboretum
was the first public park in the country and is thought to have been one of the inspirations for Central Park
in New York. Although it suffered from neglect in the 1990s, it has been renovated.
Markeaton Park is Derby's most used leisure facility. It is the venue for the city council's annual Guy Fawkes Night
firework display and contains its own light railway
. Other major parks in the city include Allestree Park
, Darley Park
, Chaddesden Park
, Alvaston Park
, Normanton Park and Osmaston Park
.
Derby has a number of public parks, many Victorian
in origin. Darley
and Derwent parks lie immediately north of the city centre and are home to owl
s, kingfisher
s and other wildlife. Derby Rowing Club and Derwent Rowing Club are located on the banks of the river. There is also a riverside walk and cycle path from Darley Park south to two other parks. West of the city centre is Markeaton Park
, while to the north is Allestree Park
and its lake.
Derby has the first public recreational park in the country to have an arboretum
(Derby Arboretum
), which lies to the south of the city centre. The arboretum was set up by the philanthropic landowner and industrialist Joseph Strutt
in 1840. The arboretum's website states that the arboretum's design was the inspiration for the vision of great urban parks in the USA, notably Central Park
in New York City.
There are four museums: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
; Pickford's House Museum
; The Silk Mill
and The Royal Crown Derby Museum.
, the St Peters Quarter and Westfield Shopping Centre, the latter controlled by the Westfield Group. The Cathedral Quarter was Derby's first BID (Business Improvement District), and includes a large range of shops, boutique
s, coffee shop
s and restaurants. It is focused around the Cathedral and the area around Irongate and Sadler Gate. It includes the Market place, the Guildhall and Assembly rooms along with the City Museum and the Silk Mill industrial museum.
The St Peters Quarter is Derby's second Business Improvement district brought into effect in the summer of 2011. Its boundary with the Cathedral Quarter follows Victoria Street, the ancient course of Markeaton Brook. The quarter boasts a diverse range of retail shops many of them, in Green Lane, Babington Lane, Osmaston Road and elsewhere, independent traders. St Peters Street, London Road and East Street also includes a large choice of National retailers along with pubs, restaurants, banks and offices. The quarter includes the historic St Peters church and, on St Peters Churchyard, the Ancient Derby School
building. Nearby also is the Old Courthouse and several other notable buildings. At the eastern end of the quarter is the bus station along with the Hilton Hotel and Holiday Inn, part of the prestigious Riverlights Development on the banks of the Derwent.
Westfield Derby (incorporating the former Eagle Centre) is the city's main indoor shopping centre. It opened in 2007 after extension work costing £340 million. It contains a food court and a 12-screen cinema (Showcase – Cinema De Lux
) which was opened in May 2008. The development was controversial and local opponents accuse it of drawing trade away from the older parts of the city centre where independent shops are located. Some of these experienced a downturn in trade and some have ceased trading since the development opened leading to the "Lanes" project which eventually became the second BID and the formation of St Peters Quarter. In Westfield itself, a combination of high rents and rising rates have made things difficult for smaller traders.
The Friar Gate area contains clubs and bars, making it the centre of Derby's nightlife
. Derby is also well provided with pubs.
s. Pupils attend infant and junior school (often in a combined primary school) before moving onto a comprehensive
secondary school. Many secondaries also have sixth form
s, allowing pupils to optionally continue their education by taking A Levels after the end of compulsory education at age 16. For those who want to stay in education but leave school, the large Derby College
works in partnership with schools across the county to provide vocational training opportunities from the age of 14 upwards, it is one of the largest and most successful colleges in the country, providing post-16 courses for school leavers, apprentices and employer related training both on the college premises and on the employer's own site. Training for companies is undertaken through its Corporate College.
Outside the state sector, there are four fee-paying independent schools. Derby Grammar School
was founded in 1994 and was for boys only, until 2007, when they accepted girls into the sixth form for the first time, who aim to continue the work and traditions of the former Derby School
, closed in 1989, one of the oldest schools in England; Derby High School
is for girls-only at secondary level and for boys at primary level; and Ockbrook School
is an independent school for girls aged 3–18) and boys aged 3–11). Trent College
and The Elms School
are at Long Eaton
and cater for 3–18 year olds. Michael House Steiner School can be found in Shipley
, Heanor
and caters for pupils from kindergarten
age through to 16.
Derby College
has its vocational and A'level academies based in the Derby City Centre, the Joseph Wright Centre
is named after local painter, and is the centre for A'levels. The historical Derby Roundhouse was bought full circle when it became the College's vocational training hub, providing a centre for apprenticeships, engineering, catering, hair & beauty.
Derby has two academies, Landau Forte College, partially state-funded, but also with business backing, and Chellaston Academy. Landau Forte College was one of fifteen City Technology College
s set up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which was converted into a City Academy in September 2006. Chellaston Academy, formerly Chellaston Foundation School, became an academy in December 2010.
Derby has special needs
establishments including Ivy House School located at Derby Moor Coumunity Sports College (which takes pupils from nursery to sixth form) and the Light House which is a respite
facility for children and parents.
The University of Derby
has its main campus on Kedleston Road. There is another campus in north Derbyshire at Buxton
.
In 2003 the University of Nottingham
opened a graduate entry medical school
based at Royal Derby Hospital. The University of Nottingham
also has it's School of Nursing and Midwifery, which is still located at London Road Community Hospital - this however will relocate to the Royal Derby Hospital mid 2012.
BBC Radio Derby
, the BBC's local station for Derbyshire
and East Staffordshire
, is based on St. Helen's Street in the city and offers local, national and international news, features, music and sports commentaries. It has around 150,000 weekly listeners and is available on 104.5 FM and 1116 AM, on 95.3 FM in North and Mid Derbyshire and on 96.0 FM in the Buxton
area, as well as being streamed on the internet. The BBC
in Derby have their own local website for the area which provides news, travel and weather information, as well as other features. Since July 2007, the BBC has managed Big Screen Derby in the Market Place in conjunction with Derby City Council and the University of Derby
, as part of the BBC Big Screen
project.
Capital East Midlands
, is the biggest commercial radio station in the city, broadcasting to Derby on 102.8 FM from the transmitter at Drum Hill, just outside the city. It broadcasts a Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) format, with Top 40 chart hits aimed at the city's under 35s. According to the latest audience figures, the station has around 530,000 weekly listeners.
Capital FM is the media partner for Cancer Research UK's Race For Life events in the city, the Derby City Bonfire and Fireworks at Markeaton Park, and the Derby Christmas Lights switch on.
As well as broadasting on FM, Capital also streams its output on the website, and is available to listen to as an app for iPhones/blackberry/smartphones
in Germany. The partnership treaty between the two cities was signed on 17 February 1976.
The twinning agreement with Derby was signed in 1976 in the historical Hall of Peace in Osnabrück's Rathaus (town hall).
Every year, Derby and Osnabrück each appoint an envoy who spends twelve months in the twin city. The envoy promotes the exchange of ideas between the two cities and acts as an educational and information officer to increase awareness of the twinning scheme. The envoy gives talks to local societies and schools, finds pen friends and short term host families during work placements, works to assist groups who want to get involved in twinning by identifying and approaching possible counterparts and plans the annual mayweek trip.
There is an annual exchange between the wind bands of John Port School
, Etwall and its twin school Gymnasium Melle in Melle
, Germany, District
of Osnabrücker Land.
From 2009 on there is also an exchange between Woodlands Community School
, Allestree and the Gymnasium Angelaschule in Osnabrück.
This exchange is based on a drama-project of both schools in June 2009, which contained performances in both cities with over 1600 visitors.
The exchange of envoys between two cities is very unusual. The envoy in Osnabrück changes every year and Osnabrück also sends envoys to Derby, Angers and Çanakkale. No other city in Germany participates in this exchange of envoys, and in Britain, only one other town, Wigan
, receives and sends an envoy.
, Germany
– Kapurthala
, India (friendship link) – Haarlem
, Netherlands (friendship link) – Foncquevillers
, France (friendship link) – Toyota City, Japan – Changzhi
, People's Republic of China (Memorandum of Understanding)
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
and unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
in the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent
River Derwent, Derbyshire
The Derwent is a river in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is 66 miles long and is a tributary of the River Trent which it joins south of Derby. For half its course, the river flows through the Peak District....
and is located in the south of the ceremonial county
Ceremonial counties of England
The ceremonial counties are areas of England to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as counties and areas for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...
of Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407. According to the 2001 census, Derby was at that time the 18th largest settlement in England, measured by urban area.
Origins
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, Saxon and Viking
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
origins.
The Roman camp of 'Derventio
Derventio (Little Chester)
Derventio was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Little Chester, on the outskirts of Derby, located in the English county of Derbyshire.-Description:...
' was probably at Little Chester
Little Chester
Little Chester, or Chester Green as it is often referred to by locals, is a suburb of the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England, located directly north of the city centre...
/Chester Green ;
The site of the old Roman fort is at Chester Green. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs
Five Burghs
The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia . These were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford...
' (fortified towns) of the Danelaw
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
.
Djúra-bý, recorded in Anglo-Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
as Deoraby "Village of the Deer". This popular belief is asserted by Tim Lambert who states, "The name Derby is derived from the Danish words deor by meaning deer settlement" without reference or proof. However some assert that it is a corruption of the original Roman name 'Derventio'. The proven origin of the name "Derby" would seem to be elusive.
The town name appears, nevertheless, as 'Darby' or 'Darbye' on early modern maps, such as that of Speed (1610).
Modern research (2004) into the history and archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
of Derby has provided evidence that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
(c. 900) says that "Derby is divided by water". These areas of land were known as Norþworþig ("Northworthy", = "north enclosure") and Deoraby, and were at the "Irongate" (north) side of Derby.
16th century – 18th century
During the Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
of 1642–1646, Derby was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
commanded by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet was a Parliamentarian politician and military figure in the English Civil War.-Background:...
, who was appointed Governor of Derby in 1643. These troops took part in the defence of nearby Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, the Siege of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, the Battle of Hopton Heath
Battle of Hopton Heath
The Battle of Hopton Heath, in Staffordshire, was a battle of the First English Civil War, fought on Sunday 19 March 1643 between Parliamentarian forces led by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet and Sir William Brereton and a Royalist force under Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton...
and many other engagements in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
and Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, as well as successfully defending Derbyshire against Royalist
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch...
armies.
A hundred years later, Bonnie Prince Charlie
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
set up camp at Derby on 4 December 1745, whilst on his way south to seize the British crown. The prince called at The George Inn
The George Inn (Derby)
The George Inn, in Iron Gate, Derby was a coaching inn used by the Duke of Devonshire as his headquarters when commanding the Derbyshire Blues, in readiness for the invasion by Charles Edward Stuart in 1745....
on Irongate, where the Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire is a title in the peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and have been rivalled in political influence perhaps only...
had set up his headquarters, and demanded billet
Billet
A billet is a term for living quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, it referred to a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier....
s for his 9,000 troops.
Exeter House
Exeter House was an early 17th century brick-built mansion, which stood in Full Street, Derby until demolished in 1854. Named for the Earls of Exeter, whose family owned the property until 1757, the house was notable for the stay of Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite Rising of 1745...
, Exeter Street where he held his "council of war
Council of war
A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated and coordinated by staff officers, and then implemented by...
". A replica of the room is on display at Derby Museum
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
in the city centre. He had received misleading information about an army coming to meet him south of Derby. Although he wished to continue with his quest, he was overruled by his fellow officers. He abandoned his invasion at Swarkestone Bridge on the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
just a few miles south of Derby. As a testament to his belief in his cause, the prince – who on the march from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
had walked at the front of the column – made the return journey on horseback at the rear of the bedraggled and tired army.
Each year at the beginning of December, the Charles Edward Stuart Society of Derby lead a weekend of activities culminating in a parade through the city centre and a battle on Cathedral Green.
Industrial Revolution
Derby and Derbyshire were centres of Britain's Industrial RevolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. In 1717, Derby was the site of the first water powered silk mill
Derby Industrial Museum
Derby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is housed in Lombe's Mill, a historic former silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Between 1717 and 1721 George Sorocold...
in Britain, built by John Lombe
John Lombe
John Lombe was a silk spinner in the 18th century Derby, England.-Biography:Lombe was born in Norwich in approximately 1693, the son of a worsted weaver...
and George Sorocold
George Sorocold
George Sorocold was an engineer in Derby, England in the eighteenth century.- Biography :He was born in Derby some time around 1668, the son of James Sorocold who had moved to the town from Lancashire...
, after Lombe had reputedly stolen the secrets of silk-throwing
Silk throwing
Silk throwing is the industrial process where silk that has been reeled into skeins, is cleaned, receives a twist and is wound onto bobbins. The yarn is now twisted together with threads, in a process known as doubling. Colloquially silk throwing can be used to refer to the whole process: reeling,...
from Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
in what is now Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(he is alleged to have been poisoned by Piedmontese as revenge in 1722).
In 1759, Jedediah Strutt
Jedediah Strutt
Jedediah Strutt or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelt it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England.Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed the production of ribbed stockings...
patented and built a machine called the Derby Rib Attachment that revolutionised the manufacture of hose. This attachment was used on the Rev. Lee's Framework Knitting
Stocking frame
A stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589...
Machine; it was placed in front of – and worked in unison with – Lee's Frame, to produce ribbed hose (stockings). The partners were Jedediah Strutt, William Woollatt (who had been joined in 1758 by John Bloodworth and Thomas Stafford, all leading hosiers in Derby). The patent was obtained in January 1759. After three years, Bloodworth and Stafford were paid off, and Samuel Need – a hosier of Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
– joined the partnership. The firm was known as Need, Strutt and Woollatt. The patent expired in 1773, though the partnership continued until 1781 when Need died.
{|class="toc" align=right border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 10pt"
!Year!!Population
|-
||1801||align=right|14,695
|-
||1851||align=right|48,506
|-
||1901||align=right|118,469
|-
||1921||align=right|142,824
|-
||1941||align=right|167,321
|-
||1951||align=right|181,423
|-
||1961||align=right|199,578
|-
||1971||align=right|219,558
|-
||1981||align=right|214,424
|-
||1991||align=right|225,296
|-
||2001||align=right|221,716
|}
Messrs. Wright, the bankers of Nottingham, recommended that Richard Arkwright
Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright , was an Englishman who, although the patents were eventually overturned, is often credited for inventing the spinning frame — later renamed the water frame following the transition to water power. He also patented a carding engine that could convert raw cotton into yarn...
apply to Strutt and Need for finance for his cotton spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
mill. The first mill opened in Nottingham in 1770 and was driven by horses. In 1771 Richard Arkwright, Samuel Need and Jedediah Strutt built the world's first water-power
Water-power
Water Power is a pornographic film released c. 1976 directed by Shaun Costello. It was loosely based on the real-life exploits of the Illinois "Enema bandit", Michael H. Kenyon, who administered forced enemas to female college students in the 1960s and 70s. The film starred Jamie Gillis as a...
ed cotton spinning mill at Cromford
Cromford
Cromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
, Derbyshire, developing a form of power that was to be a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution.
This was followed in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
by Jedediah Strutt's cotton spinning mills at Belper
Belper
Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England.-Geography:Belper is situated eight miles north of Derby and is centred in the valley of the River Derwent...
. They were: South Mill, the first, 1775; North Mill, 1784, which was destroyed by fire on 12 January 1803 and then rebuilt; it started work again at the end of 1804; West Mill, 1792, commenced working 1796; Reeling Mill, 1897; Round Mill, which took 10 years to build, from 1803 to 1813, and commenced working in 1816; and Milford Mills, 1778. The Belper and Milford
Milford, Derbyshire
Milford is a village in Derbyshire, England, on the River Derwent, between Duffield and Belper on the A6 trunk road.Until the end of the 18th century it was no more than a few houses near the point, about a quarter of a mile further south, where a roman road from the Wirksworth lead mines forded...
mills were not built in partnership with Arkwright. These mills were all Strutt owned and financed.
Other famous 18th century figures with connections to Derby include Dr Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, the creator of the English dictionary
A Dictionary of the English Language
Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language....
, who married Elizabeth Porter
Elizabeth Porter
Elizabeth Jervis Porter was the wife of Samuel Johnson.Born Elizabeth Jarvis , her first marriage was to Henry Porter, a Birmingham merchant, with whom she had three children...
at St Werburgh's Church
St Werburgh's Church, Derby
St Werburgh's Church, Derby, is a redundant Anglican church in the city of Derby, Derbyshire, England . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade B listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust...
in 1735; the painter Joseph Wright
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
, known as Wright of Derby, who was famous for his revolutionary use of light in his paintings and was an associate of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
; and John Whitehurst
John Whitehurst
John Whitehurst FRS , of Cheshire, England, was a clockmaker and scientist, and made significant early contributions to geology. He was an influential member of the Lunar Society.- Life and work :...
, a famous clockmaker
Clockmaker
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches...
and philosopher. Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, doctor, scientist, philosopher and grandfather of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, whose practice was based in Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, Staffordshire was a frequent visitor to Derby, having founded the Derby Philosophical Society
Derby Philosophical Society
The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentleman in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public.-History:...
.
The beginning of the next century saw Derby emerging as an engineering centre with manufacturers such as James Fox
James Fox (engineer)
James Fox,fl 1780-1830, machine tool maker, was originally a butler in the service of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, of Foxhall Lodge, Staffordshire. He had a strong interest in handicraft and his employer not only encouraged him, but enabled him to set up in business on his own account.The growth and...
, who exported machine tools to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
In 1840, the North Midland Railway
North Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
set up its works in Derby
Derby Works
The Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities in Derby building locomotives and, initially, rolling stock in Derby, UK.-Early days:...
and, when it merged with the Midland Counties Railway
Midland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1832 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR system connected with the North Midland Railway and the...
and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
, to form the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
, Derby became its headquarters.
The connection with the railway encouraged others, notably Andrew Handyside
Andrew Handyside
Andrew Handyside and Company was an iron founder in Derby, England in the nineteenth century.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1805, Handyside worked in his uncle Charles Baird's engineering business in St. Petersburg before taking over the Brittania Foundry in 1848...
, Charles Fox and his son Francis Fox.
Derby was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...
, and it became a county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
with the Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
. The borough expanded in 1877 to include Little Chester
Little Chester
Little Chester, or Chester Green as it is often referred to by locals, is a suburb of the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England, located directly north of the city centre...
and Litchurch
Litchurch
Litchurch is an area of the city of Derby in Derbyshire, England. Originally an obscure locality on the edge of Derby, rapid urbanisation and population growth in the 19th century led to it briefly existing as a separately governed local authority between 1860 and 1888, prior to once again being...
, and then in 1890 to include New Normanton and Rowditch. The borough did not increase substantially again until 1968, when under a recommendation of the Local Government Boundary Commission it was expanded into large parts of the rural district of Belper
Belper
Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England.-Geography:Belper is situated eight miles north of Derby and is centred in the valley of the River Derwent...
, Repton
Repton Rural District
Repton was a rural district in Derbyshire, England from 1894 to 1974.It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the part of the Burton upon Trent rural sanitary district which was in Derbyshire .In 1934, under a County Review Order, it was expanded somewhat by taking in the disbanded...
and South East Derbyshire
South East Derbyshire Rural District
South East Derbyshire was a rural district in Derbyshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It covered an area to the south-east of Derby.It was formed as Shardlow rural district under the Local Government Act 1894, mainly from the Derbyshire part of the Shardlow rural sanitary district South East...
. This vastly increased Derby's population from 132,408 in the 1961 census to 219,578 in the 1971 census.
Samuel Plimsoll
Samuel Plimsoll was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line .-Early life:Plimsoll was born in Bristol and soon moved to Whiteley Wood...
introduced his bills for a 'Plimsoll line' (and other marine safety measures). This failed on first introduction, but was successful in 1876 and contributed to Plimsoll's re-election as an MP.
20th century to present day
An industrial boom began in Derby when Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
opened a car and aircraft factory in the town in 1907. In 1923, the Midland Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
with headquarters in London. However Derby remained a major rail manufacturing centre, second only to Crewe
Crewe Works
Crewe railway works is a British railway engineering facility built in 1840 by the Grand Junction Railway. It is located in the town of Crewe, in the county of Cheshire....
and Wolverton
Wolverton railway works
Wolverton railway works was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the 112 mile-long route from London to Birmingham...
. Moreover it remained a design and development centre and in the 'thirties, on the direction of Lord Stamp
Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp
Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, Bt, GCB, GBE, FBA, was a British civil servant, industrialist, economist, statistician, writer, and banker. He was a director of the Bank of England and chairman of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.Josiah was born in London, the third of seven...
, the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory
LMS Scientific Research Laboratory
The LMS Scientific Research Laboratory was set up following the formation of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.In 1929, the Company President, Lord Stamp read a paper Scientific Research in Transport to the Institute of Transport, and, in 1930 he founded the Advisory Committee on...
was opened on London Road.
In World War I, Derby was targeted by German Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
air bombers, who killed five people in a 1916 raid on the town.
All Saints Church was designated as a cathedral in 1927, signalling that the town was ready for city status.
Slum clearance in the 1920s and 1930s saw the central area of Derby become less heavily populated as families were rehoused on new council estates in the suburbs, where houses for private sale were also constructed. Rehousing, council house building and private housing developments continued on a large scale for some 30 years after the end of World War II in 1945.
Production and repair work continued at the railway works. In 1948 the Locomotive Works
Derby Works
The Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities in Derby building locomotives and, initially, rolling stock in Derby, UK.-Early days:...
unveiled its first diesel-electric locomotive
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
- "Number 10000"
British Rail Class D16/1
British Railways Class D16/1 or 10000 and 10001 were the first mainline diesel locomotives in Great Britain. They were built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at its Derby Works, using the EE16SVT 1600 hp diesel engine with electric transmission, in association with English Electric and...
. In 1958 production switched over to diesel locomotives completely. Meanwhile the Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...
were building the first of the Diesel Multiple Units which were to take over many of the services.
In 1964 the British Rail Research Division
British Rail Research Division
The British Rail Research Division came into being in 1964 directly under the control of the British Railways Board, moving into purpose-built premises at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. The intention was to improve railway reliability and efficiency, while reducing costs and improving revenue...
opened to study all aspects of railway engineering from first principles. Its first success was in drastically improving the reliability and speed of goods trains, work which led to the development of the Advanced Passenger Train
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
.
Derby became a high profile town internationally in sport following the appointment of Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
as manager of Derby County F.C.
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
in 1967. Promotion to the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
was achieved in 1969, and County were champions of the English league three years later. Following the controversial Clough's resignation in 1973, his successor Dave Mackay
Dave Mackay
David Craig Mackay is a Scottish former football player and manager. Mackay is best remembered for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961, and winning the league with Derby County as a manager. He also represented Scotland 22...
guided County to another league title in 1975, but this is the club's last major trophy to date; relegation followed in 1980 and top flight status was not regained until 1987, since when Derby have spent a total of 11 seasons (1987–1991, 1996–2002, 2007–2008) in the top flight. The club moved from its century-old Baseball Ground
Baseball Ground
The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. It was commonly referred to as the "BBG".As the name suggests, the stadium was...
in 1997 to the new Pride Park Stadium
Pride Park Stadium
Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium located on the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby, England. It is the current home of Football League Championship club Derby County, who moved to the stadium from the Baseball Ground upon its opening in 1997...
.
Derby was awarded city status on 7 June 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
to mark the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other Commonwealth realms...
. The Queen presented the "charter scroll" or 'letters patent' in person on 28 July 1977 on the steps of the Council House to the then Mayor Councillor Jeffrey Tillet (Conservative). Until then, Derby had been one of the few towns in England with a cathedral but not city status.
Derby holds an important position in the history of the Labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
, because it was one of two seats (the other being Keir Hardie
Keir Hardie
James Keir Hardie, Sr. , was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
's in Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
) gained by the recently formed Labour Representation Committee at the 1900 general election. The MP was Richard Bell
Richard Bell (politician)
Richard Bell was one of the first two British Labour Members of Parliament, and the first English one, elected after the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900....
, General Secretary of the Railway Servants Union
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...
. Bell was succeeded in 1910 by Jimmy Thomas
James Henry Thomas
James Henry "Jimmy" Thomas was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks.-Early career and Trade Union activities:...
and he in turn by the distinguished polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
and Nobel Laureate Philip Noel-Baker
Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker
by Philip Noel-Baker with other authorsby others* Lloyd, Lorna: Philip Noel-Baker and the Peace Through Law in -External links:...
in 1936.
Despite its strategic industries (rail and aero-engine), Derby suffered comparatively little damage in both world war
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s (contrast Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Filton
Filton
Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...
). This may in part have been due to the jamming against the German radio-beam navigations systems (X-Verfahren and Knickebein, camouflage and decoy techniques ('Starfish site
Starfish site
Starfish sites, or bombing decoy sites, were deliberately created simulations of burning towns that were constructed in Britain during World War II. The name came from the code name for one of the sites, "Starfish", itself from the original code, SF, for Special Fire.Starfish sites were used to...
s') were built, mainly south of the town, e.g. out in fields near Foremark
Foremark
Foremark is a small manor and hamlet with a ruling Lord's country house - Foremarke Hall - in southern Derbyshire, England.-Location:...
(ref. Kirk, Felix & Bartnik, 2002, see talk; see also).
Derby has also become a significant cultural centre for the deaf community in the British. Many deaf people move to Derby because of its strong sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
-using community. It is estimated that the deaf population in Derby is at least three times higher than the national average, and that only London has a larger deaf population. The Royal School for the Deaf on Ashbourne Road provides education in British Sign Language
British Sign Language
British Sign Language is the sign language used in the United Kingdom , and is the first or preferred language of some deaf people in the UK; there are 125,000 deaf adults in the UK who use BSL plus an estimated 20,000 children. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands,...
and English.
Derby has been granted Fairtrade City
Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town is a status awarded by a recognized Fairtrade certification body describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fairtrade certified goods...
status.
Local government
By traditional definitions, Derby is the county townCounty town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, although Derbyshire's administrative centre
Administrative centre
An administrative centre is a term often used in several countries to refer to a county town, or other seat of regional or local government, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located....
has in recent years been Matlock. On 1 April 1997 Derby City Council became again a unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
(a status it had held, as a county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
, up until 1974), with the rest of Derbyshire administered from Matlock.
UK Parliament
Derby was a single United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency represented by two Members of Parliament until 1950, when it was divided into the single-member constituencies of Derby North and Derby South.National HQ
The Rail Accident Investigation BranchRail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is a government agency that became operational on 17 October 2005. Its primary role is the investigation of rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. The agency has operational centres in The...
has its headquarters in The Wharf, a facility in Derby. RAIB has one of its two operational centres in Derby.
Geography
Derby is split into 17 Wards.| Ward | Areas within the Ward |
|---|---|
| Abbey | Stockbrook and Normanton (part of) |
| Allestree | Allestree Allestree -Climate:Due to its location in southern Derbyshire, Allestree has a temperate climate with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range of 11.4 °C to 21.3 °C, and the coolest month is January, with a range of... and Markeaton Park |
| Alvaston | Alvaston Alvaston Alvaston is a suburb and ward of Derby, England. Alvaston is situated on the A6, three miles south-east of Derby city centre. It is bordered to the north by the wards of Derwent, Chaddesden and Spondon, to the east is the City Centre, to the south are Sinfin and Chellaston and to the west the... , Crewton, Litchurch Litchurch Litchurch is an area of the city of Derby in Derbyshire, England. Originally an obscure locality on the edge of Derby, rapid urbanisation and population growth in the 19th century led to it briefly existing as a separately governed local authority between 1860 and 1888, prior to once again being... , Pride Park Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, UK. It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines.-History:... , Wilmorton Wilmorton Wilmorton is a suburb of the city of Derby, England. It is situated between Alvaston and Osmaston, to the south of the city centre on the A6. It was given the name Wilmorton in 1897. In the late 1990s, a new section of the A6 was built from here to "The Cockpitt" roundabout, passing through Pride... and Allenton (Part of) |
| Arboretum | City Centre, Pear Tree Pear Tree Pear Tree is an inner city suburb of Derby, England. It is situated next to the areas of Normanton, Rose Hill and Osmaston. Pear Tree could be described as a suburb within a suburb because the people of Derby would identify it as an area in its own right, but it could also be described as forming... and Rose Hill |
| Blagreaves | Sunny Hill and Littleover Littleover Littleover is a large suburb of Derby, England situated between Rose Hill, Normanton, Sunny Hill, South Derbyshire and Mickleover about three miles south west of Derby city centre.-History:The history of the name of Littleover is simple... (part of) |
| Boulton | Boulton Boulton, Derby Boulton is a suburb and local government ward of the city of Derby, England, and is located about four miles to the south-east of Derby city centre. It is closely associated with the neighbouring suburb of Alvaston with which it shares its postal code and postal area address... and Allenton (part of) |
| Chaddesden | Chaddesden Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chad, is a large suburb of Derby, United Kingdom, formerly known as Cedesdene.-Cedesene village:The old village of Cedesene is situated two and a half miles east of the city... (older part of) |
| Chellaston | Chellaston Chellaston Chellaston is a suburb of the City of Derby, which is in the East Midlands in England in the United Kingdom. It is on a natural hill, and has recently expanded due to several new housing estates.... and Shelton Lock Shelton Lock Shelton Lock is a small suburb in the south of the city of Derby, England, United Kingdom, located between Chellaston and Allenton.The area gets its name from the lock on the Derby Canal that once ran through the area. The only traces of the canal's existence are seen in the form of a road bridge,... |
| Darley | Darley Abbey Darley Abbey Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. The village is located on the River Derwent and is associated with the world heritage site of Derwent Valley Mills.- History :... , Five Lamps, Little Chester Little Chester Little Chester, or Chester Green as it is often referred to by locals, is a suburb of the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England, located directly north of the city centre... (also known as Chester Green), Strutt's Park and West End |
| Derwent | Breadsall Hilltop and Chaddesden Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chad, is a large suburb of Derby, United Kingdom, formerly known as Cedesdene.-Cedesene village:The old village of Cedesene is situated two and a half miles east of the city... (newer part of) |
| Littleover | Littleover Littleover Littleover is a large suburb of Derby, England situated between Rose Hill, Normanton, Sunny Hill, South Derbyshire and Mickleover about three miles south west of Derby city centre.-History:The history of the name of Littleover is simple... (most of) and Heatherton Village Heatherton Village Heatherton Village is a residential housing development located at the southern tip of Littleover, Derby, England. It comprises modern housing, several public amenity parks, shops, a school and a nursery... |
| Mackworth | Mackworth Mackworth Estate Mackworth Estate is a large council estate situated to the north-west of Derby near to Markeaton Park and the suburb of Mickleover and also the village of the same name but which is linked by no other means.... and Morley Estate |
| Mickleover | Mickleover Mickleover Mickleover is a suburb located two miles west of the city centre and is the most westerly suburb of the City of Derby in the United Kingdom.-History:... |
| Normanton | Normanton (most of) and Austin Estate |
| Oakwood | Oakwood and Chaddesden Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chad, is a large suburb of Derby, United Kingdom, formerly known as Cedesdene.-Cedesene village:The old village of Cedesene is situated two and a half miles east of the city... (part of) |
| Sinfin | Sinfin Sinfin Sinfin is a southern suburb of Derby, England, historically it was a separate village. It contained the main centre of Rolls-Royce, on Nightingale Road... , Osmaston Osmaston, Derby Osmaston is a suburb of the city of Derby, England. It is situated about 4 km south of the city centre, it is written in the Domesday Book as Osmundestune. In 1307 the manor of Osmaston was granted to Robert Holland. It was the location of Osmaston Hall the residence of the Wilmots Baronets... and Stenson Fields (part of) |
| Spondon | Spondon Spondon Spondon is a ward within the city of Derby. Prior to this, Spondon was a separate village which dated from before the Domesday Book of 1086.-Description:The name Spondon is Anglo-Saxon and describes a gravelly hill.... |
Nearby settlements
Industry
Derby's two biggest employers, Rolls-Royce plcRolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
and the Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation
, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...
are engaged in engineering manufacturing. Egg
Egg Banking plc
Egg Banking plc is a British internet bank owned by Citigroup, with headquarters in Derby and London, England. Egg was born out of Prudential's initial banking arm , that had been established in 1996...
, the Internet and telephone bank, has its national base in Derby. Other companies of note include Railway systems engineering
Railway systems engineering
Railway systems engineering is a multi-faceted engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and operation of all types of railway systems....
firm Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
who manufacture railway rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
at the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...
, and Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
who manufacture large power plant boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s and heat exchangers.
Derby was for many years a railway centre, being the former headquarters of the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
, with both British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
workshops and research facilities in the town. Although much less important than in years gone by, train manufacture continues in Derby and Derby railway station retains an important position in the railway network. The city is favoured as a site for a national railway centre.
From 1922 Sinfin Lane was the home of the 62 acres (250,905.3 m²) site of International Combustion
International Combustion
International Combustion Limited was a major manufacturing business based in Derby offering products for the nuclear engineering industry. International Combustion Australia Limited was a separate non-affiliated company.-History:...
, originally manufacturers of machinery for the automatic delivery of pulverized fuel to furnaces and boilers, and later producing steam-generating boilers for use in electrical generating plant such as used in power stations. In the 1990s the firm was bought by Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
and then sold on again to ABB Group.
Derby was the home of Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
, who developed the computer game Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
with its heroine Lara Croft
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
, part of the newly opened inner ring road is named Lara Croft Way in recognition of this.
Landmarks
Derby CathedralDerby Cathedral
The Cathedral of All Saints , is a cathedral church in the City of Derby, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Derby, and with an area of around is the smallest Anglican cathedral in England.-History:...
tower is 212 feet (68.6 meters) tall to the tip of the pinnacles. This has been home to a pair of breeding peregrine falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
s since 2006. Three webcams monitor the falcons here.
Derby Gaol
Derby Gaol
The term Derby Gaol historically refers to the five gaols in Derby, England. Today, the term usually refers to one of two tourist attractions, the gaol which stood on Friar Gate from 1756 to 1846 and the cells of which still exist and are open to the public as a museum, and the 1843 to 1929 Vernon...
is a visitor attraction based in the dungeons of the Derbyshire County Gaol which dates back to 1756.
Derby Industrial Museum
Derby Industrial Museum
Derby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is housed in Lombe's Mill, a historic former silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Between 1717 and 1721 George Sorocold...
is situated in Derby Silk Mill
Derby Industrial Museum
Derby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is housed in Lombe's Mill, a historic former silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Between 1717 and 1721 George Sorocold...
and shows the industrial heritage and technological achievement of Derby, including Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
aero engines, railways, mining, quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
ing and foundries. Currently closed due to council cuts.
Pickford's House Museum
Pickford's House Museum of Georgian Life and Costume is in Derby, England-History:Pickford's House is at No 41 Friar Gate Derby,is an elegant Georgian town house built by the prominent architect Joseph Pickford in 1770 for his own family....
was built by architect Joseph Pickford
Joseph Pickford
Joseph Pickford was an English architect, one of the leading provincial architects in the reign of George III.-Biography:Pickford was born in Warwickshire in 1734 but he moved as child to London when his father died. Pickford's initial training was undertaken under the stonemason and sculptor...
in 1770. It was his home and business headquarters. Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
shows paintings by Joseph Wright
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
, as well as fine Royal Crown Derby
Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is a porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750...
porcelain, natural history, local regiments and archaeology. Pickford also designed St Helen's House
St Helen's House, Derby
St Helen's House is a Grade I listed building situated in King Street, Derby, England. It has been used in the past as a private residence and as an educational establishment...
in King Street.
The skyline of the inner city changed in 1968 when the inner ring road with its two new crossings of the River Derwent
River Derwent, Derbyshire
The Derwent is a river in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is 66 miles long and is a tributary of the River Trent which it joins south of Derby. For half its course, the river flows through the Peak District....
was built. The route of the ring road went through the St. Alkmund's Church
St Alkmund's Church, Derby
Saint Alkmund's Church was a Victorian Church, which stood in a Georgian square between Bridgegate and Queen Street in Derby; this was the only Georgian square in the city.-History:...
and its Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
churchyard
Churchyard
A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
, the only Georgian square in Derby. Both were demolished to make way for the road, a move still criticised today. Thus the editor (Elizabeth Williamson) of the 2nd edition of Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
for Derbyshire wrote:- '...the character and cohesion of the centre has been completely altered by the replacement of a large number of C18 houses in the centre by a multi-lane road. As a traffic scheme this road is said to be a triumph; as townscape it is a disaster.'
The newer buildings along Ford Street and St Alkmund's Way include the Friargate Studios, The Joseph Wright Centre (a campus of Derby College
Derby College
Derby College is a further education centre with sites located within Derbyshire , England and the surrounding area...
) and the Jurys Inn. The hotel dominates the skyline, demoting nearby St Mary's and, indeed, the Cathedral (silhouettes which formerly described the character of the city). The building of the Jurys Inn has altered well liked approach views of the city such as those from the top of Green Lane, Nottingham Road and from Darley Park.
Places of interest
- Cathedral QuarterCathedral Quarter, DerbyThe Cathedral Quarter is one of five areas within Derby city centre, based around the name of the Cathedral.It is bound by St Alkmund's Way and Ford Street to the north and west, the River Derwent to the east, and Albert Street, Victoria Street, Wardwick and Friargate to the south.It is a shopping,...
- Darley AbbeyDarley AbbeyDarley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. The village is located on the River Derwent and is associated with the world heritage site of Derwent Valley Mills.- History :...
- Derby ArboretumDerby ArboretumDerby Arboretum is a public arboretum and park in the city of Derby in England. It was the first publicly owned, landscaped, urban, recreational park in England. It is located in the Rose Hill area, about a mile south of Derby city centre. After many years of neglect, the Arboretum has recently...
- Derby CanalDerby CanalThe Derby Canal ran from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, Derbyshire, England. The canal gained its Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 1796...
- Derby CathedralDerby CathedralThe Cathedral of All Saints , is a cathedral church in the City of Derby, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Derby, and with an area of around is the smallest Anglican cathedral in England.-History:...
- Derby Industrial MuseumDerby Industrial MuseumDerby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is housed in Lombe's Mill, a historic former silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Between 1717 and 1721 George Sorocold...
(Silk Mill) - St Mary's Church, DerbySt Mary's Church, DerbySt Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Derby, England. A Grade II* listed building, it stands on Bridge Gate overlooking St Alkmund's Way. The church was designed by architect A. W. N. Pugin-History:...
- Derby Friargate Station (of which all that remains is Handyside's bridge across Friargate)
- Markeaton Park Light RailwayMarkeaton Park Light RailwayThe Markeaton Park Light Railway operates within Markeaton Park adjacent to what remains of Markeaton Village, in Derby in the East Midlands of England....
, a heritage railwayHeritage railwaythumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and... - Pride Park StadiumPride Park StadiumPride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium located on the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby, England. It is the current home of Football League Championship club Derby County, who moved to the stadium from the Baseball Ground upon its opening in 1997...
(Derby County F.C.Derby County F.C.Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
) and its predecessor the Baseball GroundBaseball GroundThe Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. It was commonly referred to as the "BBG".As the name suggests, the stadium was...
(now demolished) - River DerwentRiver Derwent, DerbyshireThe Derwent is a river in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is 66 miles long and is a tributary of the River Trent which it joins south of Derby. For half its course, the river flows through the Peak District....
- St Helen's House, DerbySt Helen's House, DerbySt Helen's House is a Grade I listed building situated in King Street, Derby, England. It has been used in the past as a private residence and as an educational establishment...
Roads
The city has extensive transport links with other areas of the country. The M1 motorwayM1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
passes about ten miles (16 km) to the east of the city, linking Derby southwards to the London area and northwards to Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. Other major roads passing through or near Derby include the A6 (historically the main route from London to Carlisle, also linking to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
), A38 (Bodmin
Bodmin
Bodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...
to Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
via Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
), A50 (Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
via Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
), A52 (Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
to Mablethorpe
Mablethorpe
Mablethorpe is a small seaside town in East Lindsey on the coast of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Several small caravan parks exist around Mablethorpe. The town is administered with Sutton-on-Sea and Trusthorpe, as the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton...
, including Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
Way linking Derby to Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
) and A61 (Derby to Thirsk
Thirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
via Sheffield and Leeds).
On 16 March 2011, Mercian Way, the final section of the city's inner ring road, was opened to traffic. This new section connects Burton Road with Uttoxeter New Road, and crosses Abbey Street. Abbey Street is the only road between the two ends from which Mercian Way can be accessed.
Railways
Derby has been served by railways since 1840 with the opening of the North Midland RailwayNorth Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
to Leeds, with a route to London via Rugby provided by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
. At the same time, a route to Nottingham and Leicester was opened by the Midland Counties Railway
Midland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1832 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR system connected with the North Midland Railway and the...
. In 1844, these three companies merged to form the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
who subsequently opened a direct route to London St Pancras station. The present day station, Derby Midland
Derby Midland railway station
Derby railway station , also known as Derby Midland Station, is a main line railway station serving the city of Derby in England. Owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains, the station is also used by CrossCountry services and one Northern Rail service...
is on the same site as 1840 and the original platform visibly forms the sub-structure of the modern Platform 1. The Midland Railway frontage was replaced in 1985, and during 2008 and 2009 the 1950s concrete platform canopies were replaced with steel and glass structures.
Derby station is operated by East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
and the city is served by expresses to London, the North East and South West, provided by East Midlands Trains and CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
. There also remain local stations at Peartree
Peartree railway station
Peartree railway station is a railway station serving the districts of Pear Tree, Normanton and Osmaston in the city of Derby, England. It is one of only two stations remaining open in the city other than the main Derby Midland Station, and is situated about one mile south of there on the main line...
and Spondon
Spondon railway station
Spondon railway station serves Spondon in Derby, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains train operating company . Spondon is a penalty fare station if travelling with EMT...
, although services are limited, especially at the former.
The Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
's "Derbyshire and North Staffordshire Extension" formerly ran through Derby Friargate Station, from Colwick
Colwick
Colwick is a suburb in the east of Greater Nottingham in England. It forms part of the Nottinghamshire borough of Gedling, although Colwick Country Park is actually within the city boundary. It lies between the River Trent and the railway line, with nearby places being Netherfield , Bakersfield ,...
and Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
to Egginton
Egginton
Egginton is a village in the local government district of South Derbyshire, England. It is located just off Ryknild Street, otherwise known as the A38, between Derby and Stretton, Burton upon Trent. It is historically a farming community...
Junction. After closure, part of the route west of Derby was used by British Rail as a test track. Today, the trackbed either side of Derby is blocked only by road development and has been converted to a Sustrans
Sustrans
Sustrans is a British charity to promote sustainable transport. The charity is currently working on a number of practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport, to give people the choice of "travelling in ways that benefit their health and the environment"...
cycle track. The ornate cast iron bridge by Andrew Handyside
Andrew Handyside
Andrew Handyside and Company was an iron founder in Derby, England in the nineteenth century.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1805, Handyside worked in his uncle Charles Baird's engineering business in St. Petersburg before taking over the Brittania Foundry in 1848...
across Friargate is still in place, as is his bridge over the river.
Railway Engineering
As a consequence of the Midland Railway basing their headquarters in Derby, along with their LocomotiveDerby Works
The Midland Railway Locomotive Works, known locally as "the loco" comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities in Derby building locomotives and, initially, rolling stock in Derby, UK.-Early days:...
and Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...
, the railways had been a major influence on the development of the town during the Victorian period.
However, as described above, during the twentieth century, railway manufacturing developed elsewhere, while in Derby the emphasis shifted to other industries. Even though It had pioneered the introduction of diesel locomotives, new production finished in 1966. Repair work gradually diminished until, finally the locomotive works closed, the land being redeveloped as Pride Park. The only buildings remaining are those visible from Platform 6 of the station.
The Carriage and Wagon Works continues to build trains under Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
. The Railway Technical Centre
Railway Technical Centre
The Railway Technical Centre in London Road, Derby, UK, was built by the British Railways Board in the early 1960s to be its technical headquarters....
continues to house railway businesses, including the headquarters of DeltaRail Group
DeltaRail Group
DeltaRail Group Limited is a British railway software, technology and services company.The company was formed from Rail business of AEA Technology plc which was acquired as part of a secondary private equity portfolio sale to Vision Capital Limited in 2006...
, formerly the British Rail Research Division
British Rail Research Division
The British Rail Research Division came into being in 1964 directly under the control of the British Railways Board, moving into purpose-built premises at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. The intention was to improve railway reliability and efficiency, while reducing costs and improving revenue...
.
Air
East Midlands Airport is situated about fifteen miles (24 km) from Derby city centre. Its proximity to Derby, the fact that the airport is in LeicestershireLeicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, and the traditional rivalry between the three cities (Derby, Leicester and Nottingham), meant that there was controversy concerning the airport's decision to prefix its name with Nottingham in 2004. In 2006, Nottingham East Midlands Airport reverted to its previous name. The airport is served by budget airlines, including Bmibaby
Bmibaby
Bmibaby Limited is a small British low-cost airline and a subsidiary of British Midland International. It flies to destinations in the UK and Europe from its bases at Belfast-City, Birmingham and East Midlands airports....
(for which East Midlands is a main base), Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
and Jet2, with services to domestic and European destinations.
Derby Airfield
Derby Airfield
Derby Airfield is located southwest of Derby, East Midlands, England.Derby Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence that allows flights for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee...
, located approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) southeast of the city centre has grass runways targeted at general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
.
Bus and coach
Derby Bus Station
Derby Bus Station serves the city of Derby, Derbyshire, England.The original bus station was the first purpose-built bus station in the United Kingdom. Designed by Charles Herbert Aslin, the Borough Architect, it opened in 1933. It was the first of its kind in the world, with railway-style platforms...
was an art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
design by borough architect C.H. Aslin. Built in 1933, it was closed in 2005 and later demolished, despite the protests of environmentalists and conservationists. The unique cafe building is planned to be rebuilt at Crich Tramway Museum. A new bus station has been built on the site as part of the Riverlights development which was opened on Sunday the 28 March 2010. Since the closure of the old bus station, services have been using temporary stops on streets around the Morledge area. Most services in Derby now terminate at the bus station. The new bus station is modern, with 28 bays, 4 for coaches and 24 for general bus services. First, the concourse area where passengers board and alight was completed. The remainder of the building has been developed as a Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
and a Hilton Hotel
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
as well as a convenience store which opened in late 2010.
Local bus services in and around Derby are run by a number of companies, but principally Trent Barton
Trent Barton
Trent Barton is one of the very small number of significant independent bus operators in the United Kingdom. It was formed as the result of merging Derbyshire's Trent Buses with Nottinghamshire's Barton Transport....
and Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands is a division of Arriva. It operates bus services around the Midlands area of England and is made up of various previous bus operators.-Arriva Midlands North:...
. The city is on National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
's London to Manchester and Yorkshire to the South West routes. Additionally a regional route between Manchester and Nottingham is run by Trent Barton via its TransPeak and Red Arrow services. A whole list of them can be viewed on the List of bus routes in Derby page.
Between 1932 and 1967, Derby Corporation operated the Derby trolleybus system
Trolleybuses in Derby
The Derby trolleybus system once served Derby, the county town of Derbyshire in central England. The trolleybus service started in 1932 and ran until 1967.-History:The Derby trolleybus system opened on , and it gradually replaced the Derby tramway network...
. The last trolleybus ran on 9 September 1967. Several Derby vehicles have been preserved at Sandtoft
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a transport museum which specialises in the preservation of trolleybuses. It is located by the village of Sandtoft, near Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire.-Description:...
and the East Anglia Transport Museum
East Anglia Transport Museum
The East Anglia Transport Museum is an open air transport museum, with numerous historic public transport vehicles . It is located in Carlton Colville a suburb of Lowestoft, Suffolk...
.
Music
The annual open-air concert at Darley Park is one of the biggest free concerts of its kind. It is one of many performances given throughout the year by Sinfonia VivaSinfonia ViVA
Sinfonia ViVA is a British orchestra based in Derby, United Kingdom, a professional orchestra in the East Midlands. Sinfonia ViVA gives concerts in a number of cities and venues, including the following:* Cleethorpes * Derby...
, a professional chamber orchestra
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
based in Derby. The Derby Jazz group caters for the jazz interest in the city and is regarded as one of the UK's leading live jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
organisations.
In rock music, the blues singer-songwriter Kevin Coyne
Kevin Coyne
Kevin Coyne was a musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The former "anti-star" was born on 27 January 1944 in Derby, UK, and died in his adopted home of Nuremberg, Germany, on 2 December 2004....
comes from Derby, as does the three piece rock band LostAlone
LostAlone
LostAlone are a British rock band from Derby, Derbyshire and have been active since 2005. The band currently consists of Steven Battelle , Alan Williamson , and Mark Gibson ....
, who are signed to Warner Brothers Records. The ska punk band Lightyear
Lightyear (band)
Lightyear were a UK 7-piece ska punk band. They formed in 1997 in Derby, England.They signed to Household Name Records in 2001, and the band released two full-length albums via the label...
also hail from the city, naming their second album Chris Gentlemens Hairdresser and Railway Book Shop
Chris Gentlemens Hairdresser and Railway Book Shop
Chris Gentlemen's Hairdresser and Railway Book Shop is the second full-length album recorded by the band Lightyear.The album was released by Household Name Records on July 7, 2003 on compact disc...
after a shop in Macklin street.
The pop act White Town
White Town
White Town is a musical act from the United Kingdom, and is the work of one man, Jyoti Prakash Mishra.-Career:Mishra was born in Rourkela, Orissa, India on 30 July 1966 and has lived in England since the age of three...
is from Derby, and the video "Your Woman" features many scenes from Derby City Centre.
A full-scale programme of orchestral and other concerts is presented at the Assembly Rooms. A thriving amateur classical music scene includes two choral societies, Derby Bach Choir and Derby Choral Union
Derby Choral Union
Derby Choral Union is one of the UK’s longest standing choral societies having been formed in 1866. The choir was established to perform choral music of the highest quality, a tradition it strives to maintain to this day. The repertoire includes traditional choral works as well as music by...
, smaller choirs, including the Derwent Singers and Sitwell Singers, and Derby Concert Orchestra. Derby Chamber Music presents an annual series of chamber music concerts at Derby University's Multifaith
Multifaith
To be multifaith is to feel an affinity with aspects of more than one religion, philosophy or world-view, and to believe that no one is superior to the others...
Centre. A series of organ recitals is presented every summer at Derby Cathedral
Derby Cathedral
The Cathedral of All Saints , is a cathedral church in the City of Derby, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Derby, and with an area of around is the smallest Anglican cathedral in England.-History:...
, featuring leading international performers.
An active folk-music scene includes the annual Derby Folk Festival.
Music venues in the city include the Assembly Rooms, Ryans Bar in the St Peters Quarter and The Victoria Inn.
Theatre and arts
Derby PlayhouseDerby Playhouse
Derby Theatre is a theatre situated in Derby, England. Formerly known as the Derby Playhouse, it was operated by Derby Playhouse Ltd from its opening in 1975 until 2008, when the company ceased operating after a period in administration...
regularly received acclaim in the national press
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
for its productions, particularly, in recent years, for its staging of shows by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. After a lengthy period of financial uncertainty, the theatre closed in February 2008. It was resurrected in September of that year after a new financing package was put together but forced to close again just two months later because of further financial problems. The lease was later bought by Derby University. Renamed Derby Theatre, it has joined the Assembly Rooms and Guildhall Theatre as one of the venues operated by Derby LIVE, the cultural arm of Derby City Council. The theatre annually hosts the Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company
Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company
Derby Gilbert & Sullivan Company, based in Derby, England, produces the works of Gilbert & Sullivan. The company have won the amateur competition at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival an unprecedented six times and have been called "one of the most highly acclaimed nonprofessional...
.
QUAD (See Derby QUAD
Derby QUAD
Derby QUAD also referred to as QUAD Derby is an arts centre in Derby, United Kingdom, first opened on 26 September 2008. It has a steel and glass design by Bath architects Feilden Clegg Bradley. When it was chosen over competing designs by Derby council cabinet in 2004 it was considered...
) is a centre for art and film which opened on in 2008. The building has two cinema screens showing independent and mainstream cinema, two gallery spaces housing contemporary visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
, a digital studio, participation spaces, digital editing suites, artists studio and the BFI
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
Mediatheque.
The Robert Ludlam Theatre is a 270 seat venue with a programme of entertainment including dance, drama, art, music, theatre in the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
, comedy, films, family entertainment, rock and pop events, workshops and provides a home for many of Derbyshire's amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
production groups.
Among Derby's many amateur theatre groups, Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company has received critical acclaim for its often innovative productions, and is regularly invited to appear at the Minack Theatre
Minack Theatre
The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea...
in Cornwall.
Derby Festé is a spectacular weekend street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
s festival held every September.
John Dexter
John Dexter
John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
the theatre director and the actor Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
were from Derby.
The FORMAT international photography festival, the largest photography festival in the UK is held every two years in Derby and is organised by QUAD.
Sport
Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
, the city's football team, were FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winners in 1946, Football League champions in 1972 and again in 1975. They are members of the Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
. They have played at Pride Park Stadium
Pride Park Stadium
Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium located on the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby, England. It is the current home of Football League Championship club Derby County, who moved to the stadium from the Baseball Ground upon its opening in 1997...
since 1997, having been previously based at the Baseball Ground
Baseball Ground
The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. It was commonly referred to as the "BBG".As the name suggests, the stadium was...
, a stadium originally built in 1890 to house Derby's short-lived baseball team (one notable baseball player and famous footballer was the Derby legend Steve Bloomer
Steve Bloomer
Steve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...
). Derby County moved there in 1895 after the baseball team folded. Former Derby County managers include Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
, Arthur Cox
Arthur Cox
Arthur Cox , is a British actor of television and film.His most regular role was as George, the driver of Jim Hacker in the comedy Yes Minister. His other television credits include The Avengers, Terry and June, and Harbour Lights...
, Jim Smith
Jim Smith (footballer)
James Michael "Jim" Smith is a retired English footballer and manager. As a player, he made 249 appearances in the Fourth Division of The Football League, representing Aldershot, Halifax Town, Lincoln City and Colchester United, and played for three-and-a-half years for Boston United of the...
, John Gregory and George Burley
George Burley
George Elder Burley is a Scottish football manager and former player and manager, formerly the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club. Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player making 628 appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps...
. Former players include Colin Todd
Colin Todd
Colin Todd is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, Everton, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Oxford United and Luton Town, and also played in the North American Soccer League...
, Roy McFarland
Roy McFarland
Roy Leslie McFarland is an English football manager who was also a player, notably at Derby County where he played 434 league games helping him to earn 28 caps for England.-Playing career:...
(who both later had brief and unsuccessful stints as manager at the club), Dave Mackay
Dave Mackay
David Craig Mackay is a Scottish former football player and manager. Mackay is best remembered for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961, and winning the league with Derby County as a manager. He also represented Scotland 22...
, Peter Shilton
Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton OBE is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for England than anyone else, earning 125 caps....
, Dean Saunders
Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....
, Craig Short
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short is a former football player who played as a central-defender...
, Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini is an English former footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He totalled nearly £3 million in transfer fees and played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.-York City:...
, Horacio Carbonari
Horacio Carbonari
Horacio Carbonari is a former Argentine footballer who played as a defender.Born in Santa Teresa, a town in the southern end of Santa Fe Province, Carbonari began his career at Rosario Central. His debut at the first division was in 1993. In the Argentinian club, he won the Copa Conmebol in 1995...
, Steve Bloomer
Steve Bloomer
Steve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...
and Tom Huddlestone
Tom Huddlestone
Thomas Andrew Huddlestone is an English footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team.-Derby County:...
. The club's most recent spell as a top division (FA Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
) club ended in May 2008 after just one season
2007-08 in English football
The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool...
, during which the club won just one out of 38 league games and finished with just 11 points, the lowest in the history of the Premier League.
There are three senior non-league football clubs based in the city. Mickleover Sports
Mickleover Sports F.C.
Mickleover Sports F.C. is a football club based in the Mickleover suburb of Derby, England. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division...
play at Station Road, Mickleover
Mickleover
Mickleover is a suburb located two miles west of the city centre and is the most westerly suburb of the City of Derby in the United Kingdom.-History:...
and are members of the EvoStik Northern Premier League
Northern Premier League Premier Division
The Premier Division is the top division of the Northern Premier League. It is at Step 3 of the National League System, placing it six divisions below the Premier League...
(the seventh level of the English football league system
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
). Graham Street Prims
Graham Street Prims F.C.
Graham Street Prims Football Club is a football club based in Derby, England. They currently play in the East Midlands Counties League, having joined from the Central Midlands League at the end of the 2007-08 season....
and Borrowash Victoria
Borrowash Victoria A.F.C.
Borrowash Victoria Association Football Club is an English football club. Although originating in and deriving their name from the village of Borrowash, near Derby, Derbyshire, since 1983 the club has been based just across the boundary in the adjacent Derby suburb of Spondon...
are both members of the East Midlands Counties League
East Midlands Counties Football League
The East Midlands Counties Football League is a football league at level 10 of the football league system in England. It commenced at the start of the 2008–09 season, drawing clubs from the Central Midlands League, Leicestershire Senior League and two teams from the Northern Counties East League.On...
(level ten) and play on adjacent grounds at the Asterdale complex in Spondon
Spondon
Spondon is a ward within the city of Derby. Prior to this, Spondon was a separate village which dated from before the Domesday Book of 1086.-Description:The name Spondon is Anglo-Saxon and describes a gravelly hill....
.
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
are based at the County Ground
County Cricket Ground, Derby
The County Cricket Ground, usually shortened to County Ground and also known as the Racecourse Ground, is a cricket ground in Derby and has been the home of Derbyshire County Cricket Club since at least 1871. As the name implies it originally hosted horse racing.It also held the games of Derby...
in Derby and play almost all home matches there, although matches at Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
were re-introduced in 2006. One of the designated first class county sides, they have won the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
once, in 1936.
Derby has clubs in both codes of rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
. In rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, Derby RFC play in Midlands Division One East (the sixth level of English rugby union) at their Haslams Lane ground. Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team Derby City RLFC
Derby City RLFC
Derby City RLFC are an amateur rugby league club based in Derby, England. They were founded in 1990 and currently compete in the Midlands Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference. They have been ground sharing with Derby RFC at Haslams Lane since 2008....
were formed in 1990 and compete in the Midlands Premier Division of the National Rugby League Conference. From 2008 they are ground sharing with Derby RFC at Haslams Lane.
The city is represented in the English Basketball League
English Basketball League
The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....
Division One by Derby Trailblazers
Derby Trailblazers
Derby Trailblazers is a semi-professional basketball team from Derby, who compete in the English Basketball League Men's Division 1. The team was founded in 2002 from the feeder club of Derby Storm, the professional outfit competing in the British Basketball League, who went out of business during...
, who play at the Moorways Sports Centre. They were formed in 2002 following the demise of British Basketball League
British Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
side Derby Storm
Derby Storm
Derby Storm was a former British Basketball League franchise from the city of Derby, Derbyshire. The team took the decision to sit out the 2002-03 season after failing to find a suitable venue for home games...
.
Local industrialist Francis Ley
Francis Ley
Sir Francis Ley, 1st Baronet created Ley's Malleable Castings Vulcan Ironworks in Derby. He owned Ley's Baseball Ground from 1890 to 1924 which was the home to Derby County F.C. He introduced baseball into the United Kingdom with the Derby County Baseball Club. In 1905, Ley was created a Baronet,...
introduced baseball to the town in the late 19th century, and built a stadium
Baseball Ground
The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. It was commonly referred to as the "BBG".As the name suggests, the stadium was...
near the town centre. The attempt to establish baseball in Derby was unsuccessful, but the stadium survived for some 100 years afterwards as the home of Derby County Football Club. It was demolished in 2003, six years after County's move to Pride Park
Pride Park
Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, UK. It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines.-History:...
.
Arthur Keily the marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
runner
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
and Olympian was born in Derbyshire in 1921 and has lived his whole life in Derby. In Rome in 1960
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
he broke the English Olympic record, recording a time of 2hours 27mins.
Recreation
Derby Arboretum
Derby Arboretum is a public arboretum and park in the city of Derby in England. It was the first publicly owned, landscaped, urban, recreational park in England. It is located in the Rose Hill area, about a mile south of Derby city centre. After many years of neglect, the Arboretum has recently...
was the first public park in the country and is thought to have been one of the inspirations for Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in New York. Although it suffered from neglect in the 1990s, it has been renovated.
Markeaton Park is Derby's most used leisure facility. It is the venue for the city council's annual Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in England. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding...
firework display and contains its own light railway
Markeaton Park Light Railway
The Markeaton Park Light Railway operates within Markeaton Park adjacent to what remains of Markeaton Village, in Derby in the East Midlands of England....
. Other major parks in the city include Allestree Park
Allestree
-Climate:Due to its location in southern Derbyshire, Allestree has a temperate climate with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range of 11.4 °C to 21.3 °C, and the coolest month is January, with a range of...
, Darley Park
Darley Abbey
Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. The village is located on the River Derwent and is associated with the world heritage site of Derwent Valley Mills.- History :...
, Chaddesden Park
Chaddesden
Chaddesden, also known locally as Chad, is a large suburb of Derby, United Kingdom, formerly known as Cedesdene.-Cedesene village:The old village of Cedesene is situated two and a half miles east of the city...
, Alvaston Park
Alvaston
Alvaston is a suburb and ward of Derby, England. Alvaston is situated on the A6, three miles south-east of Derby city centre. It is bordered to the north by the wards of Derwent, Chaddesden and Spondon, to the east is the City Centre, to the south are Sinfin and Chellaston and to the west the...
, Normanton Park and Osmaston Park
Osmaston, Derby
Osmaston is a suburb of the city of Derby, England. It is situated about 4 km south of the city centre, it is written in the Domesday Book as Osmundestune. In 1307 the manor of Osmaston was granted to Robert Holland. It was the location of Osmaston Hall the residence of the Wilmots Baronets...
.
Derby has a number of public parks, many Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
in origin. Darley
Darley Abbey
Darley Abbey is a village on the outskirts of Derby, England. The village is located on the River Derwent and is associated with the world heritage site of Derwent Valley Mills.- History :...
and Derwent parks lie immediately north of the city centre and are home to owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s, kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
s and other wildlife. Derby Rowing Club and Derwent Rowing Club are located on the banks of the river. There is also a riverside walk and cycle path from Darley Park south to two other parks. West of the city centre is Markeaton Park
Markeaton
Markeaton is a village within Derby in the East Midlands of England.The name possibly means Boundary - Island Village, which had stood at this site since Medieval times....
, while to the north is Allestree Park
Allestree
-Climate:Due to its location in southern Derbyshire, Allestree has a temperate climate with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range of 11.4 °C to 21.3 °C, and the coolest month is January, with a range of...
and its lake.
Derby has the first public recreational park in the country to have an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
(Derby Arboretum
Derby Arboretum
Derby Arboretum is a public arboretum and park in the city of Derby in England. It was the first publicly owned, landscaped, urban, recreational park in England. It is located in the Rose Hill area, about a mile south of Derby city centre. After many years of neglect, the Arboretum has recently...
), which lies to the south of the city centre. The arboretum was set up by the philanthropic landowner and industrialist Joseph Strutt
Joseph Strutt (philanthropist)
Joseph Strutt was an English philanthropist. He got his wealth from family textile business. The Strutt brothers were radical social reformers who gave significant donations and founded several important institutions in their native Derby area....
in 1840. The arboretum's website states that the arboretum's design was the inspiration for the vision of great urban parks in the USA, notably Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in New York City.
There are four museums: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
; Pickford's House Museum
Pickford's House Museum
Pickford's House Museum of Georgian Life and Costume is in Derby, England-History:Pickford's House is at No 41 Friar Gate Derby,is an elegant Georgian town house built by the prominent architect Joseph Pickford in 1770 for his own family....
; The Silk Mill
Derby Industrial Museum
Derby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is housed in Lombe's Mill, a historic former silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Between 1717 and 1721 George Sorocold...
and The Royal Crown Derby Museum.
Shopping and nightlife
Shopping in Derby is divided into three main areas. These are the Cathedral Quarter, DerbyCathedral Quarter, Derby
The Cathedral Quarter is one of five areas within Derby city centre, based around the name of the Cathedral.It is bound by St Alkmund's Way and Ford Street to the north and west, the River Derwent to the east, and Albert Street, Victoria Street, Wardwick and Friargate to the south.It is a shopping,...
, the St Peters Quarter and Westfield Shopping Centre, the latter controlled by the Westfield Group. The Cathedral Quarter was Derby's first BID (Business Improvement District), and includes a large range of shops, boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
s, coffee shop
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
s and restaurants. It is focused around the Cathedral and the area around Irongate and Sadler Gate. It includes the Market place, the Guildhall and Assembly rooms along with the City Museum and the Silk Mill industrial museum.
The St Peters Quarter is Derby's second Business Improvement district brought into effect in the summer of 2011. Its boundary with the Cathedral Quarter follows Victoria Street, the ancient course of Markeaton Brook. The quarter boasts a diverse range of retail shops many of them, in Green Lane, Babington Lane, Osmaston Road and elsewhere, independent traders. St Peters Street, London Road and East Street also includes a large choice of National retailers along with pubs, restaurants, banks and offices. The quarter includes the historic St Peters church and, on St Peters Churchyard, the Ancient Derby School
Derby School
Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive in 1974 and was closed in 1989...
building. Nearby also is the Old Courthouse and several other notable buildings. At the eastern end of the quarter is the bus station along with the Hilton Hotel and Holiday Inn, part of the prestigious Riverlights Development on the banks of the Derwent.
Westfield Derby (incorporating the former Eagle Centre) is the city's main indoor shopping centre. It opened in 2007 after extension work costing £340 million. It contains a food court and a 12-screen cinema (Showcase – Cinema De Lux
Showcase Cinemas
Showcase Cinemas is a movie theater chain owned and operated by National Amusements. Operating more than 1,354 indoor screens in the United States, United Kingdom and Latin America.-USA:* Connecticut* Massachusetts* Ohio* New Jersey* Rhode Island...
) which was opened in May 2008. The development was controversial and local opponents accuse it of drawing trade away from the older parts of the city centre where independent shops are located. Some of these experienced a downturn in trade and some have ceased trading since the development opened leading to the "Lanes" project which eventually became the second BID and the formation of St Peters Quarter. In Westfield itself, a combination of high rents and rising rates have made things difficult for smaller traders.
The Friar Gate area contains clubs and bars, making it the centre of Derby's nightlife
Nightlife
Nightlife is the collective term for any entertainment that is available and more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning...
. Derby is also well provided with pubs.
Education
Like most of the UK, Derby operates a non-selective primary and secondary education system with no middle schoolMiddle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
s. Pupils attend infant and junior school (often in a combined primary school) before moving onto a comprehensive
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
secondary school. Many secondaries also have sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
s, allowing pupils to optionally continue their education by taking A Levels after the end of compulsory education at age 16. For those who want to stay in education but leave school, the large Derby College
Derby College
Derby College is a further education centre with sites located within Derbyshire , England and the surrounding area...
works in partnership with schools across the county to provide vocational training opportunities from the age of 14 upwards, it is one of the largest and most successful colleges in the country, providing post-16 courses for school leavers, apprentices and employer related training both on the college premises and on the employer's own site. Training for companies is undertaken through its Corporate College.
Outside the state sector, there are four fee-paying independent schools. Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School
Derby Grammar School is an independent and selective grammar school at Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded as a school for boys in 1995, it takes boys from the age of seven and currently has around three hundred pupils...
was founded in 1994 and was for boys only, until 2007, when they accepted girls into the sixth form for the first time, who aim to continue the work and traditions of the former Derby School
Derby School
Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive in 1974 and was closed in 1989...
, closed in 1989, one of the oldest schools in England; Derby High School
Derby High School, Derby
Derby High School, Derby, is an independent secondary school with a junior department at Littleover, Derby, England. The senior school is for girls only, but the kindergarten and junior school are co-educational.-Overview:...
is for girls-only at secondary level and for boys at primary level; and Ockbrook School
Ockbrook
Ockbrook is an ancient village in Derbyshire, England. It is almost contiguous with the village of Borrowash, the two only separated by the A52. Ockbrook lies about east of Derby.-History:...
is an independent school for girls aged 3–18) and boys aged 3–11). Trent College
Trent College
Trent College is a co-educational, HMC independent day and boarding school. There are 760 pupils in the Senior School and 330 pupils in the Junior School, The Elms School...
and The Elms School
Elms School
The Elms School is the Nursery, Junior and Preparatory School for Trent College, a co-educational, HMC independent day and boarding school. The campus is located in grounds situated in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, between Nottingham and Derby. The Elms opened in 1999 as the Prep School of Trent College...
are at Long Eaton
Long Eaton
Long Eaton is a town in Derbyshire, England. It lies just north of the River Trent about southwest of Nottingham and is part of the Nottingham Urban Area...
and cater for 3–18 year olds. Michael House Steiner School can be found in Shipley
Shipley, Derbyshire
Shipley is a village in the south-east of Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. Since 1974 it has been part of the Borough of Amber Valley.Shipley separates the Ilkeston and Heanor urban areas, which are linked by the main A6007 road...
, Heanor
Heanor
Heanor is a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. It is northeast of Derby. According to the census of 2001 the town's population was 22,620.-History:...
and caters for pupils from kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
age through to 16.
Derby College
Derby College
Derby College is a further education centre with sites located within Derbyshire , England and the surrounding area...
has its vocational and A'level academies based in the Derby City Centre, the Joseph Wright Centre
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
is named after local painter, and is the centre for A'levels. The historical Derby Roundhouse was bought full circle when it became the College's vocational training hub, providing a centre for apprenticeships, engineering, catering, hair & beauty.
Derby has two academies, Landau Forte College, partially state-funded, but also with business backing, and Chellaston Academy. Landau Forte College was one of fifteen City Technology College
City Technology College
In England, a City Technology College is a state-funded all-ability secondary school that charges no fees but is independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education....
s set up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which was converted into a City Academy in September 2006. Chellaston Academy, formerly Chellaston Foundation School, became an academy in December 2010.
Derby has special needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
establishments including Ivy House School located at Derby Moor Coumunity Sports College (which takes pupils from nursery to sixth form) and the Light House which is a respite
Respite care
Respite care is the provision of short-term, temporary relief to those who are caring for family members who might otherwise require permanent placement in a facility outside the home....
facility for children and parents.
The University of Derby
University of Derby
The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
has its main campus on Kedleston Road. There is another campus in north Derbyshire at Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
.
In 2003 the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
opened a graduate entry medical school
University of Nottingham Medical School at Derby
The University of Nottingham Medical School at Derby was opened in September 2003 by Dr John Reid, then Secretary of State for Health. It is part of the University of Nottingham and is located in the nearby city of Derby in the East Midlands of England...
based at Royal Derby Hospital. The University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
also has it's School of Nursing and Midwifery, which is still located at London Road Community Hospital - this however will relocate to the Royal Derby Hospital mid 2012.
Media
The Derby Telegraph (formerly the Derby Evening Telegraph) is the city's daily newspaper. In addition, a free newspaper, the Derby Express, is delivered to households weekly. The Derby Trader, another free weekly newspaper, is no longer in print. A local edition of the daily national freesheet Metro is distributed in the city centre every morning, although this only has a very small amount of local content.BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby is the BBC Local Radio station for the English county of Derbyshire, covering all but the northern tip of the county, and also serves eastern Staffordshire, mainly Uttoxeter and Burton upon Trent. The station broadcasts from its studios in Derby on 104.5, 95.3 and 96.0 FM and 1116...
, the BBC's local station for Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
and East Staffordshire
East Staffordshire
East Staffordshire is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire in England. It has two main towns, Burton upon Trent, famous for its breweries, and Uttoxeter, for its racecourse....
, is based on St. Helen's Street in the city and offers local, national and international news, features, music and sports commentaries. It has around 150,000 weekly listeners and is available on 104.5 FM and 1116 AM, on 95.3 FM in North and Mid Derbyshire and on 96.0 FM in the Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
area, as well as being streamed on the internet. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in Derby have their own local website for the area which provides news, travel and weather information, as well as other features. Since July 2007, the BBC has managed Big Screen Derby in the Market Place in conjunction with Derby City Council and the University of Derby
University of Derby
The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
, as part of the BBC Big Screen
BBC Big Screen
The Big Screens are a project involving the BBC, LOCOG , and local councils. 25m LED screens with sound systems are situated in prominent locations in city centres...
project.
Capital East Midlands
Capital East Midlands
Capital East Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the East Midlands. The station, owned and operated by Global Radio, forms part of the nine-station Capital radio network...
, is the biggest commercial radio station in the city, broadcasting to Derby on 102.8 FM from the transmitter at Drum Hill, just outside the city. It broadcasts a Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) format, with Top 40 chart hits aimed at the city's under 35s. According to the latest audience figures, the station has around 530,000 weekly listeners.
Capital FM is the media partner for Cancer Research UK's Race For Life events in the city, the Derby City Bonfire and Fireworks at Markeaton Park, and the Derby Christmas Lights switch on.
As well as broadasting on FM, Capital also streams its output on the website, and is available to listen to as an app for iPhones/blackberry/smartphones
The city emblem
- Derby's emblem is the Derby Ram, about which there is a folk song entitled "The Derby RamThe Derby Ram (song)The Derby Ram or As I was Going to Derby is a traditional comic English folk song that tells the story of a ram of gargantuan proportions and the difficulties involved in butchering and otherwise processing its carcass.-Commentary:...
". It is found in a number of places, most notably serving as the nickname of Derby County F.C.Derby County F.C.Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
. The logo of the City Council's services is a stylized ram, while a ram provided by the Duke of DevonshireDuke of DevonshireDuke of Devonshire is a title in the peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and have been rivalled in political influence perhaps only...
is the mascot of the Mercian RegimentMercian RegimentThe Mercian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of three existing regiments on 1 September 2007.The regiment has three regular army battalion's and one Territorial Army or reserve battalion...
formally the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, deriving from the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of FootThe 95th Regiment of Foot was formed when the 95th Rifles were redesignated as The Rifle Brigade . In 1881, during the Childers Reforms, it was united with the 45th Regiment of Foot to form the Sherwood Foresters .-History:...
. - Bold Lane Car ParkBold LaneBold Lane is a multi-storey car park in Derby, Derbyshire, England named after the road on which it lies. A 10-floor building with 440 parking bays, it is open 24 hours a day. Operated by Parksafe Systems, it has been listed as one of the most secure places in the world in a general interest news...
in Derby has been cited as one of the ten most secure places in the world.
Notable people
- Alan BatesAlan BatesSir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
(1934–2003), actor - Freda BediFreda BediFreda Bedi sometimes spelled Frida Bedi also named Sister Palmo, or Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo, was a British woman born in Austria or in Derby, England, who became famous as the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism.- Early life :Freda Bedi was born Freda Swan in Austria or...
(1911–1977), social worker, writer and GelongmaGelongmaGelongma or Gelong is the Tibetan word for a fully ordained monastic observing the entire vinaya....
. - Ronald BingeRonald BingeRonald Binge was a British composer and arranger of light music.-Biography:He was born in a working-class neighbourhood in Derby in the English Midlands. In his childhood he was a chorister at Saint Andrews Church , London Road, Derby - 'the railwaymens church'...
(1910–1979), composer, light classical music - David Brailsford (b 1964), cycling administrator
- Lee Camp (b 1984), footballer, Nottingham Forest
- John Carewe (b 1933), principal conductor with BBC National Orchestra of WalesBBC National Orchestra of WalesThe BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both a broadcasting orchestra and national orchestra.The BBC NOW has its...
- Maxwell CaulfieldMaxwell CaulfieldMaxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...
(b 1959), actor - Henry CavendishHenry CavendishHenry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
(1731–1810), scientist - William John CoffeeW. J. CoffeeWilliam John Coffee was an internationally renowned English artist and sculptor who worked in porcelain, plaster, and terra cotta. He also worked in oil paint, although this was not the medium for which he became famous. His early career was as a modeller for Duesbury at the china factory on...
(1774–1846), artist and sculptor - Daniel Parker CokeDaniel CokeDaniel Parker Coke , was an English barrister and member of parliament.-Early life:Coke was the only son of Thomas Coke , a barrister, and his wife, Matilda Goodwin . He belonged to an old Derbyshire family, the Cokes of Trusley...
(1745–1825), barrister and Member of Parliament - Kevin CoyneKevin CoyneKevin Coyne was a musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The former "anti-star" was born on 27 January 1944 in Derby, UK, and died in his adopted home of Nuremberg, Germany, on 2 December 2004....
(1944–2004), singer-songwriter - Erasmus DarwinErasmus DarwinErasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
(1731–1802), physician and philosopher - John DexterJohn DexterJohn Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
(1925–1990), theatre director - Ralph DownesRalph DownesRalph William Downes CBE was an English organist, organ designer, teacher and music director, and was formerly Professor of Organ of the Royal College of Music....
(1904–1993), organist, designer of the organ in the Royal Festival HallRoyal Festival HallThe Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, London - John FlamsteedJohn FlamsteedSir John Flamsteed FRS was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. He catalogued over 3000 stars.- Life :Flamsteed was born in Denby, Derbyshire, England, the only son of Stephen Flamsteed...
(1646–1719), first Astronomer RoyalAstronomer RoyalAstronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.... - James FoxJames Fox (engineer)James Fox,fl 1780-1830, machine tool maker, was originally a butler in the service of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, of Foxhall Lodge, Staffordshire. He had a strong interest in handicraft and his employer not only encouraged him, but enabled him to set up in business on his own account.The growth and...
(1780–1830), engineer - Georgia GroomeGeorgia Groome-Career:Groome was one of the eight young adventurers on Serious Amazon in 2006 for CBBC. Groome had a well received starring role in the 2008 film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging....
(1992), actor - Peter HammillPeter HammillPeter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
(b 1948), singer-songwriter and founding member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf GeneratorVan der Graaf GeneratorVan der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester. They were the first act signed to Charisma Records. The band achieved considerable success in Italy during the 1970s... - Bobby HassellBobby HassellRobert John Francis "Bobby" Hassell is an English footballer who plays for Barnsley as a defender.-Career:Born in Derby, Derbyshire, Barnsley boss Paul Hart continued his rebuilding by signing full back Hassell in the summer of 2004. He failed to negotiate a new contract with Mansfield Town at the...
(b 1980), footballer - Andrew HandysideAndrew HandysideAndrew Handyside and Company was an iron founder in Derby, England in the nineteenth century.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1805, Handyside worked in his uncle Charles Baird's engineering business in St. Petersburg before taking over the Brittania Foundry in 1848...
(1806–1887), iron founder - Geoff HoonGeoff HoonGeoffrey "Geoff" William Hoon is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Ashfield from 1992 to 2010...
MP (born 1953), politician - William Hutton (1723–1815) historian, poet and bookseller
- Samuel Jones (1902–1991) boxing manager and trainer
- Michael Knowles, actor
- Stephen LaytonStephen LaytonStephen Layton is an English conductor.Layton was raised in Derby, where his father was a church organist. Layton learned the piano as a youth. He was a chorister at Winchester Cathedral, and subsequently won scholarships to Eton College and then King's College, Cambridge as an organ...
(born 1966), choral conductor - Duncan LloydDuncan LloydDuncan Lloyd is a guitarist, songwriter and backing vocalist for Maxïmo Park. He is also in the experimental band Res Band from Derby.-Biography:...
, musician - Kevin LloydKevin LloydKevin Reardon Lloyd was a British actor, born in Derby, and trained at East 15 Acting School, London. Best known for his part of DC Alfred "Tosh" Lines in Thames Television's The Bill....
(1949–1998) actor, (Tosh Lines in The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
TV series). - Terry LloydTerry LloydTerence Ellis Lloyd was a British television journalist well-known for his reporting from the Middle East. He was killed by U.S. troops while covering the 2003 invasion of Iraq for ITN...
(1952–2003), television journalist - John LombeJohn LombeJohn Lombe was a silk spinner in the 18th century Derby, England.-Biography:Lombe was born in Norwich in approximately 1693, the son of a worsted weaver...
(1693–1722), industrial pioneer - Stephen MarleyStephen Marley (writer)Stephen Marley is a British author and video game designer, best known for his Chia Black Dragon series. He was born in Derby of Irish parents and was educated in Bemrose School in Derby and at Nottingham. He graduated in Social Anthropology in 1971 in London, gained an M.Sc in the Sociology of...
(born 1946), novelist - Florence NightingaleFlorence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
(1820–1910), pioneer of modern nursing - Jack O'Connell (actor)Jack O'Connell (actor)Jack O'Connell , is a British actor, from Alvaston, Derby, England. He went to St Benedict Catholic School and Performing Arts College...
(born 1990), actor - Colin OsborneColin OsborneColin Osborne is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.-Darts career:Osborne has won two PDC Pro Tour events and he also managed to hit two perfect nine dart finishes in 2005...
(born 1975), PDCProfessional Darts CorporationThe Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
darts player - Chris Palmer (born 1983), footballer
- George Edward Perry ('Ted') (1931–2003), founder of Hyperion RecordsHyperion RecordsHyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by...
- Samuel PlimsollSamuel PlimsollSamuel Plimsoll was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line .-Early life:Plimsoll was born in Bristol and soon moved to Whiteley Wood...
(1825–98), politician, LiberalLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament for Derby (1868–80), inventor of the Plimsoll line, 'The Sailors Friend' - Samuel RichardsonSamuel RichardsonSamuel Richardson was an 18th-century English writer and printer. He is best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded , Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady and The History of Sir Charles Grandison...
(1689–1761), novelist - Chris RiggottChris RiggottChristopher Mark "Chris" Riggott is an English footballer. He is a defender and has recently re-signed for his first professional club Derby County after spending the 2011-2012 pre-season with the squad....
(b 1980), footballer - Sir Henry RoyceHenry RoyceSir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, OBE was a pioneering car manufacturer, who with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls-Royce company.-Early life:...
(1863–1933), co-founder of Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce LimitedRolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904.... - Sir Nigel Rudd (b 1946), industrialist
- Lauren SochaLauren SochaLauren Marie Socha is a BAFTA award winning English actress, best known for her starring role in the E4 comedy-drama television series Misfits and a co-starring role in the Channel 4 drama The Unloved. She attended St. George's RC Primary School, Burton College and Saint Benedict School and...
(b 1990), star of E4's television series MisfitsMisfits (TV series)Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The first series started broadcasting on 12 November 2009 on E4, and was... - Michael SochaMichael SochaMichael Socha is an English actor, best known for his roles in the critically acclaimed films This Is England and Summer, and the television series This Is England '86 and Being Human.-Early life:...
(b 1987), actor - George SorocoldGeorge SorocoldGeorge Sorocold was an engineer in Derby, England in the eighteenth century.- Biography :He was born in Derby some time around 1668, the son of James Sorocold who had moved to the town from Lancashire...
(1668?–1738?), first non-military person to be described as an engineer - Herbert SpencerHerbert SpencerHerbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
(1820–1903), philosopher - Jedediah StruttJedediah StruttJedediah Strutt or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelt it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England.Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed the production of ribbed stockings...
(1726–1797), industrial pioneer - Gwen TaylorGwen TaylorGwen Taylor is an actress who has appeared in many British television programmes, including Z-Cars, Murder Most Horrid, Yes, Prime Minister, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders and Belonging...
(b.1939), actress - Damien WaltersDamien WaltersDamien Walters is a former British gymnast of Derbyshire specialising in tumbling. He participated in four Trampoline World Championships. In 2003, he was one of four members of the British team winning the World Title in the team competition. In the years 2001 and 2007 he ranked 4th with the...
(b 1982), stuntmanStuntmanA stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
, gymnast and free runner - John WhitehurstJohn WhitehurstJohn Whitehurst FRS , of Cheshire, England, was a clockmaker and scientist, and made significant early contributions to geology. He was an influential member of the Lunar Society.- Life and work :...
(1713–1788), clockmakerClockmakerA clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches...
and scientist - Dafydd WigleyDafydd WigleyDafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as an Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of the Plaid Cymru party from 1991 to 2000...
(b 1943), Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
(Welsh Nationalist) politician - Sir Henry Wilmot (1831–1901), Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
recipient - Joseph WrightJoseph Wright of DerbyJoseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
(1734–1797), artist
Twin towns
Derby is twinned with OsnabrückOsnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
in Germany. The partnership treaty between the two cities was signed on 17 February 1976.
The twinning agreement with Derby was signed in 1976 in the historical Hall of Peace in Osnabrück's Rathaus (town hall).
Every year, Derby and Osnabrück each appoint an envoy who spends twelve months in the twin city. The envoy promotes the exchange of ideas between the two cities and acts as an educational and information officer to increase awareness of the twinning scheme. The envoy gives talks to local societies and schools, finds pen friends and short term host families during work placements, works to assist groups who want to get involved in twinning by identifying and approaching possible counterparts and plans the annual mayweek trip.
There is an annual exchange between the wind bands of John Port School
John Port School
John Port Specialist Technology, Mathematics and Computing College is a very large academy in the village of Etwall, Derbyshire, England.-Admissions:...
, Etwall and its twin school Gymnasium Melle in Melle
Melle
-Places:Belgium* Melle, Belgium, a gemeente in East Flanders, FlandersFrance* Melle, Deux-Sèvres, a commune in Poitou-Charentes* Mellé, Ille-et-Vilaine, a commune in BrittanyGermany* Melle, Germany, a Stadt in Osnabrück Landkreis, Lower Saxony...
, Germany, District
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
of Osnabrücker Land.
From 2009 on there is also an exchange between Woodlands Community School
Woodlands Community School
Woodlands Community School is a mixed comprehensive school on Blenheim Drive in Allestree, Derby in the East Midlands of England.-Admissions:...
, Allestree and the Gymnasium Angelaschule in Osnabrück.
This exchange is based on a drama-project of both schools in June 2009, which contained performances in both cities with over 1600 visitors.
The exchange of envoys between two cities is very unusual. The envoy in Osnabrück changes every year and Osnabrück also sends envoys to Derby, Angers and Çanakkale. No other city in Germany participates in this exchange of envoys, and in Britain, only one other town, Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
, receives and sends an envoy.
List of international links
– OsnabrückOsnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
, Germany
– Kapurthala
Kapurthala
Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...
, India (friendship link) – Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, Netherlands (friendship link) – Foncquevillers
Foncquevillers
Foncquevillers is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming village situated south of Arras, at the junction of the D3, D6 and the D28 roads.-Population:-World War I:...
, France (friendship link) – Toyota City, Japan – Changzhi
Changzhi
Changzhi is a prefecture-level city in Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. It lies between the city of Huozhou in Shanxi and the city of Hebi in Henan....
, People's Republic of China (Memorandum of Understanding)
External links
- Online Guide to Derby
- Bygone Derbyshire website
- Twinning link with OsnabrückOsnabrückOsnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
- Derby City Council website
- artsderbyshire.org.uk – Derby and Derbyshire arts guide