retiredmartin

March 2024. Derby.

I didn’t feel my usual bouncy Retired Martin self after that night in Cambridge; something in the beer I reckon, so I made Saturday a “Pub-free day” for cultural exploration with Mrs RM.

I guess Derby wasn’t the best place to taste my resilience, all that Bass and Pedi,

but sometimes you have to place temptation in front of yourself to prove you can conquer it. Or something.

So, does Derby have culture ? I’d never seen it, just an obsession with Florence Nightingale who was named after the Nightingale hospitals built during the Covid crisis. Memorials to her are everywhere in the city.

As are riot police, more than Mrs RM can ever recall, ahead of Derby County’s local(ish) 3pm kick-off at Pride Park. Where are those police when you need them for real trouble, like the riot over oversized glasses kicking off in Swale CAMRA.

To help me forget about pubs, I decided to pick a curry and mango lassi combo for lunch from Rikshaw Street food, a bit “buffet” but dead cheap and full of salad.

And that set us up for the “full cultural run-through” in Derby that afternoon. Starting with the excellent (free !) Museum and Art Gallery with its cheeky porcelain,

and celebrated carving of a medieval pub ticker carrying the weighty 1401 Good Beer Guide around the (then) town pubs on his shoulders.

It’s a quirky all-rounder of a places, from palaeontology to pottery to politics, only missing the more recent social history (beer and football) you get in the very best museums (e.g. Doncaster and Mansfield).

The cafe produced the longest ever wait for coffee and a slice of cake (25 minutes), but it bargain prices and served in a gorgeous setting so will let them off.

From there wandered down Sadlergate, the only really trendy street, to the cathedral, where we stopped to hear the rehearsals for the evening concert (press PLAY),

because we’re cultured.

So cultured that our trip inside the giant Spoons was only to admire the ceiling of the Standing Order (which was completely packed).

On a roll now, walking past the ornate façade of Ye Olde Dolphin (Bass, Pedi),

and into Derby’s second big museum, the modernised Making It with interactive displays on local industry, with just a nod to pubs (top) and a delightfully haphazard display of exhibits.

In a world of order, I love the Ikea style storage units where you’re invited to just wander round and pick up no context hats, girders and blow torches.

But most interest was on the Lego Lake District;

Two excellent free museums, some gorgeous old pubs (Old Bell, below),

gateway to the Peak and the micro pubs of Heanor. How does Derby not make more of itself as a tourist destination ?

Well, the TIC looks forlorn, as does the Market Square it lies in, and you have to poke around for the best architecture and history.

Sometimes, poking around looking for unsung gems is half the fun.

But visiting Derby and NOT stopping for a pint of Bass was no fun at all.