Jacksdale & Westwood - Part 02 - Memorials
w/e 08 August 2010
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
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.
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".
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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.
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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.
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But
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.
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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.
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From 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.
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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.
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A 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.
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.
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