I had planned on visiting a couple of nearby churches but the first (St Werburgh's) was shut and the second was in the grounds of Kedleston Hall.
I am not a great fan of stately homes as the majority are raised on the bones of slaves, miners or dispossessed farmers but I was knocked out by the sight of Kedleston Hall as I drove towards it across the park. It was magnificent.
The nearby church contains a tomb of great beauty:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_Church,_Kedleston
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The tomb was behind iron bars, which were only just wide enough to poke a lens through. I was unable to use a tripod so had to bump up the ISO and risk noise disfiguring the result. Then I was not sure whether to be affronted or impressed when the National Trust official asked if I was a professional photographer and if so I would require a permit.
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I also use an Olympus E410 which Helen left behind on one of her trips home from Brussels. It's very light, being largely made of plastic, and is a welcome change from the heavyweight Sony SLRs and battery grips that I use most of the time.
I took it on a recent trip to Hardwick Hall to celebrate Lucy's birthday. This is the ruin of the old hall that was destroyed by fire just prior to the building of the grand new hall.
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I also took it on a walk that Brenda and I did round Stocksbridge, starting at the disused gas works and ending at the entrance to the steel works. These are still going and currently owned by Tata, an Indian company, but still known locally as Sammy Fox's and this was one of the original, splendid buildings.
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There are several signs around the site which seem to be designed to guide illiterate or non English speaking drivers. But what do they mean?
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