|
|
|
|
SHADOWS OF THE PAST
A PAST STUDENT'S TOUR OF
THE CASTLE
You all know of EIvaston Castle and,
more than likely, the running battle to decide
its future, the furore and public feeling it has
stirred up against the Derbyshire County Council,
willing to let one of the few national, historic
edifices close to the capital of the county
(Derby), be desecrated and sacrificed to satisfy
the whims of a monied minority to spend their
extended leisure, basking in up-market hotel
luxury. |
| more.... |
|
WHO SAYS WE HADN'T A
GHOST?
Roy Christian, writing in a
Derbyshire magazine some years ago called
Elvaston "the strangest castle of all
Derbyshire stately homes"! He continues,
"Everything about it is unexpected, almost
weird, so the absence of a ghost is in itself
surprising." Well, firstly I'd take issue
with the label 'strange'. I've heard many say
that when you've seen one stately home, you've
seen them all and I can agree to a point that
there is a certain sameness about many, but that
remark of Christian's re the 'unexpected' is what
makes Elvaston not Weird but Unique. |
| more.... |
|
MY ELVASTON CASTLE DREAM
The war had waged for six long years
but, tis an ill wind blows no good,
Thus, we found ourselves resited, where usually
gentry stood.
The house was castellated, with a lovely lake in
view,
Bedecked with isles and willows, backed by rocks
and woodland, too. |
| more.... |
|
ELVASTON CASTLE PRAYER
I stand here, in retiring years
baying to the moon,
To save our precious Elvaston, whose fate is
sealed e'er soon!
How could they betray you so? I cry out in my
pain;
To cast aside, in one fell blow, All we stand to
gain. |
| more.... |
|
RECOLLECTIONS
My earliest recollection of Elvaston
Castle is standing in one of the stable doorways
watching the gentry partaking of the stirrup cup,
prior to riding out on the hunt. This would be
the mid 1930's. Years later, 1973 to 1978, I had
the privilege of working here as a Derbyshire
County Council Countryside Ranger. |
| more.... |
|
ELVASTON CASTLE
For two years was my home; I love its
every feature.
Every stick and stone I love the grounds around
it,
The lake, the rocks, the trees;
Its shrubs, pagoda, hedges, They all, do me, much
please. |
| more.... |
|
FROM MY CASTLE BALCONY
In the cold night air and gathering
gloom,
The dark mist swirled from it's watery tomb;
Gyrating towards, then receding and taunting,
As if holding some creature, pleadingly haunting.
|
| more.... |
| |
|
