Jacksdale & Westwood - Part 02 - Memorials
w/e 08 August 2010
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
Jacksdale & Westwood title panel

We returned to Jacksdale for this second part on a day of "sunny intervals" but the cloud cover whilst we were there did little to enhance the images although the atmosphere is probably much healthier today that when the area was shrouded with the dust, grime and smoke from the mining and associated industries.

Three Items Of Note

I've titled this second part "Memorials" as the villages not only stand as memorials to the mining industry but there are also several places within them that are memorials in their own right. We begin again at the Community Centre but this time at the rear of the building which has been transformed into a Memorial Garden. There are three items of note on the building which are from right to left a mosaic street map of Jacksdale and Westwood; a small plaque telling that the mosaic was designed and made by the local community in partnership with Zantium Mosaics in September 2003 and an information board titled "Jacksdale's Unknown Soldier".
Unknown Soldier

The board contains a poem written by Eddie Wilbraham to commemorate the Jacksdale Memorial which is situated nearby. The poem tells in amusing fashion how the statue that once stood on top of the Memorial fell to the ground and was smashed.
Memorial Garden

A new statue now stands on top and was installed just over a year ago. It can be seen from the Memorial Garden as can a half winding wheel. Similar wheels have become a common sight throughout the area where they have been erected as lasting memorials to the mining industry. Towards the end of our circuit of the two villages we shall return the the centre of Jacksdale for a closer look at the War Memorial.
Sedgwick Street

Main Shopping AreaJacksdale Social ClubBut leaving the Community Centre our walk takes us through the main shopping area (left) of the village where there is also another reminder of the mining community in the Jacksdale Social Club (right). Turning into Sedgwick Street and looking back from the top towards the hills of Derbyshire, it is easy to imagine miners trudging back and forth to their terraced homes.
The Orchards

I wonder how many ex-miners though now inhabit The Orchards, a small enclosed rectangular Council development of bungalows for the elderly at the top of Sedgwick Street. It is a veritable community within the wider community.
Jacksdale School

Windows and MosaicsCentenary MosaicFrom the elderly we return to Main Road and back through the age gap to schoolchildren as the next place of interest is the Jacksdale Primary School with the attached Nursery section. The Nursery building is a modern extension to the right but between the windows of the old school are a number of mosaics depicting modes of dress and uniforms for different decades of the school's existence culminating in a centenary display (right) which bears the dates 1908 - 2008.
Church Hill

A lane next to the school says there is no vehicular access to Dale Farm Estate but Church Hill does lead to St Mary's Church which doubles as the village's cinema with regular presentations on Saturday evenings. And how's this for a bargain. Forthcoming attractions include "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button", "Robin Hood", and "Sherlock Holmes" with suggested contributions of only £2.50 per film. Not exactly a memorial but film titles and prices to evoke memories of times past.
St Mary's Church

Welcome PlaqueA welcome plaque (left) at the church invites visitors to treat the churchyard reverently and to enjoy the flowers and borders. The site on which St Mary's Church stands was donated by Lord Cowper and the building was erected at a cost of £2,000 with money raised by the community plus donations from local businesses. It was consecrated on September 9th, 1899. Jacksdale (or Jack's Dale as it was previously known) and Westwood were originally two separate hamlets but the expansion of both resulted in the gap between them becoming eroded so that although the church is in Westwood, it's address is Church Hill Jacksdale.
Headstone
As we began this part with a memorial to Jacksdale's unknown soldier so we'll end it with another memorial (right) but this is to a named soldier. Among the weathered headstones in the churchyard one stands out as it appears to be a fairly recent addition but it records the death on December 15th 1919 of Gunner W. Willmott of the Royal Field Artillery at the age of just twenty. It also serves as a sombre reminder that young men today in the armed forces are still laying down their lives in conflicts around the globe.
Back to Part 01
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