A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 15th August 1868

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.

 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

A Farm Journal continues :~

 

7 - 1st of 8th Mo[nth] Very hot indeed cut about 14 ac[res] of corn up to this, clear blue sky no rain or signs meers getting very low etc many dry on Cales land make 1 cheese a day at S.H. good 16in[ches] & 1 one day & 2 the other at Cales

 

2 day 3 Very hot B[akewe]ll market bo[ugh]t 6 pigs 35/- to Union as Guardian 1st time - cut[tin]g corn

 

3 - 4 Ditto

 

4 - 5 Ditto M[onthly] M[eetin]g Mary Shipley & Lydia, SJWright Uncle & Aunt Howitt & Mary John Crit[chlo]w [?] & Sam[ue]l Bradbourne to dine

 

5 - 5  S. Fox died 6 PM Nice showery aft[ernoo]n & night very refresh[in]g but fine & hot next day

 

7 - 8 Windy & like rain at times but none - cut[tin]g Ridge piece corn fair crop - sold cheese at Cales to Etches 65/6 120 ch- 7 pigs to J.C. & Tom B. 1 cheese per day at each place Very dry pastures shall to lead water to S.H. again soon - drawing at the wharf mine now

 

1 - 9 Fine

 

2 - 10 Fine day very sultry finish[e]d cut[tin]g corn

 

3 - 11 Showery day Thunder storm morn[in]g & even[in]g - Self to Nott[ingha]m to attend S. Fox's Funeral - in the Friends Cemetery - aged 86 - large funeral 14 carriages of relatives & very large assembly of people to witness - several friends spoke at the grave side & had a long meet[in]g in Friar lane after when several spoke - dined at the shop & to tea at Houndsgate off home in even[in]g 

 

4 - 12 Fine day sow[in]g turnips broad cast in Watricle again - lead[in]g coal etc

 

5 - 13 Very showery lead part of corn out Crags

 

6 - 14 scuffling Winkerley etc

 

7 - 15 Fine day lead Crags & some at S.H. 

 

 

There is more about Samuel Fox here 

Darley Dale Wildlife: Buzzard nesting activity

Some more excellent photos from Andy Butler ...

Darley Dale Wildlife: Buzzard nesting activity: The sunnier weather has prompted the local Buzzards to start the breeding cycle in earnest now with birds displaying and carrying nesting ma...

Who do I think I am ? [14] ~ are these two photographs of the same man ? An update !

Simple question really. 

Are these two photographs of the same man ?

 

I know the photo on the right is my great great grandfather Ebenezer Bowman who was born on the 18th December 1821. A Quaker, he lived at One Ash Grange, Monyash, though by 1891 according to the Census Return and aged 70, he was living at The Common, Brimington, near Chesterfield.

The photograph on the left has been scanned from a negative photograph and then I was able to make it a positive. On the back of the photograph it says "Ebenezer Bowman when he was an old man ?". It's the question mark that throws some doubt on this being Ebenezer. It's in my writing as well.

What do you think ? 


Added on the 29th March 2013 after 14 comments [including seven responses by me].

It occurred to me that the photo of the older Ebenezer [having been scanned from a negative] also needed to be reversed or flipped so as to show how he really looked. Here is that reversed image ...



This shows Ebenezer's parting on the right side of his head and usually a parting only works on one side doesn't it ? More importantly this shows not a cleft in his chin but a small scar. If you look at the younger photo it is more obvious. It is also just to the right of centre of his chin. Anyway, I tend to think I agree with everyone that this looks like the same man ... with perhaps 30 years or more between them.

A reminder of what the weather should be like at this time of year ...

A couple of years ago on the 1st April 2011 my grandson Benjamin and I did a short walk beside the River Derwent ten miles or so north of Darley Dale. The 1st April is just eight days away and two years ago this is what we saw. Note: there was no snow.

When I park near Curbar School and head north the first thing that invariably catches my eye is this 1930s roadsign ... 

  
How do I know it's a 1930s roadsign ? Am I an expert on roadsigns I hear you say ... well, no, the date is on the post ...

 

The River Derwent is always interesting hereabouts ...

 

Benjamin was fascinated ...

 

No, really ... he was.

One of the rewarding aspects of walking in this area is seeing the work that has been done on Calver Mill Weir during the last few years ...




  



The view downstream from New Bridge towards Curbar and Baslow Edges ...

  

After carefully crossing the road at New Bridge we continued up the eastern side of the River Derwent ...



... where the daffodils were in flower ...

 

We reached Froggatt Bridge with its distinctive arch ...

 

 Froggatt Edge rises above the village of Froggatt.



  We stopped for a coffee here ... me and my cool grandson ...



  Duly satisfied we started walking back to New Bridge and Calver ...



  The steps down off the bridge have had a lot of use over the years.



  We were now on the western side of the River Derwent ...



  On this side of the river there are open fields rather than a series of long gardens leading up to the pricey houses of Curbar ...



 Then we encountered a mystery, a small mystery, but a mystery all the same. It looks like some sort of fungus on a tree ...



  Any ideas what it is anyone ?

A Canada Goose swam towards us ...



  The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had been cutting willow and creating a number of habitat piles ...




  Having done a bit of voluntary work in the countryside over the years it gives me quite a thrill to see a habitat pile.

As we walked alongside the Derwent on our left a sign brought us back to earth ... "Better watch ourselves in this field Benjamin ..."



This walk was followed on the 1st April 2011
 
Length of stroll ~ 2.60 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 93.09 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 21st March 2011 ~ 621.14 miles

  21 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just 4.43 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

A Farm Journal ~ from the 16th to the 31st July 1868

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.

 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

A Farm Journal continues :~

5 - 16 Fine

6 - 17 to Middleton to tea  met F[ather] & M[other]

7 - 18 drizzly rain x 1 or 2 showers rain to now very much wanted all the mears are empty but 1 or 2 at S.H. pastures very dry & short give 1 1/2 lbs cake to cows at S.H. 1 cheese 1 day 2 the other - lead water for horse from Monyash & must lead for cows very shortly

1 - 19 Fine

2 - 20 Ditto hot no rain parted lambs put 54 W lambs on Rape

to 27 Very hot & dry occassional appearances of thunder & rain & then cooler but no rain to signify began to cut corn in Winkerley S.H. lead water from Fear meer Monyash lead 3 different days into the meers at S.H. nearly dry now is the Fear meer - preparing to draw water from the Knotlow shaft with buckets

These were obviously dry days in and around Summer Hill and Cales ... Monyash generally. I can't recall John ever writing about such a shortage of water before and certainly not of him having to lead any water from Fere Mere.

There were four or five meres in Monyash originally but Fere Mere is now the only one ...

 

At http://www.wirralcavinggroup.org.uk/trips/knotlow.html there's the description of a day trip by Wirral Caving Group to Knotlow Mine on the 21st June 2009. A series of interesting photographs includes one image of the coffin level in the old mine which is particularly worth looking at. The coffin level was all worked by hand.

 

Hardwick Hall ~ my favourite National Trust property.

A couple of years ago I walked around Hardwick Hall. I'd just gone part time and now I could explore places like this without having to take other people into consideration. This was a novelty. Here are some of the photographs I took that day ...

Very late 16th century plasterwork towards the beginning of the tour ...

The Muniment Room ~  "This unique and fascinating room contained 'muniments' relating to the Hardwick estates. Legally, muniments are the title deeds and other documentary evidence relating to who owns land." The room is small and rather dark and the use of flash is forbidden. The walls are made up of these boxes from floor to ceiling ... 



 The High Great Chamber ... again no flash can be used so the images could have been sharper ...



The frieze is late 16th century and impressive in detail. Are these three men putting on pattens over their indoor shoes ?



  The Long Gallery with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I at the far end ...



  The portrait of Queen Elizabeth I is dated 1592 and is over five feet by seven feet. There is more information here and you should be able to click on the image of the portrait for an enlarged version and see all the flowers and creatures embroidered on the Queen's dress. In the meantime here's my photograph ...



Next up was the Green Velvet Room, described as the Best Bedchamber in a 1601 inventory. The bed is 18th century and the tapestries are late 16th century ...

 

I moved from room to room, sometimes forgetting to note the name of the room, as here ...

 

I didn't need any signage for the next few rooms ...



 



The Dining Room, with "the Elizabethan overmantel of 1597" ...



... an Elizabethan overmantel which contains these words ...



In a room nearby one piece of furniture had this notice on it ...



After wandering around for an hour or more I adjourned to the old kitchen and partook of some good food ...



The restaurant is now in the old stableyard ~ this meal was in the original kitchen with pewter plates and dishes on the walls.

Outside I walked through the garden and took a number of views of the hall ...



 




 In the garden the hellebores were in flower ...



In the photo below you can pick out the initials 'ES' on the roof of the hall. 'ES' standing for Elizabeth Shrewsbury [otherwise Bess of Hardwick] ...



 On the green near the old stableyard, a couple of carved benches ...





Before heading back to the car I grabbed a few final shots of the hall [as if you haven't seen enough] and garden ...









  This year the car park has been moved from one side of Hardwick Hall to the other. I wonder whether they will move the memorial in respect of the British Airborne Forces from the old car park ?




We have a number of National Trust properties in Derbyshire but Hardwick Hall is the one I enjoy going back to time after time.