I have always been inspired by the local landscape near to my home town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire UK. The watercolour of a mature oak tree on Sturston Mill Lane (shown below) is one of my favourite places where I often stop to admire the view of Ashbourne and beyond (whilst out walking with our pet dog). This picture was painted when I was in my late teens; I am pleased to say the scene is still the same nearly fifty years later. It is less than a mile away from my childhood home where I spent the first part of my life (until I moved Norwich as an art student in 1981). In 2011 my family and I moved back to live in a 1950’s former council house on the same familiar road.
Living in such a beautiful area of the UK has given me a lot of inspiration for my work. It has a magnetic attraction for me personally, I don’t think there’s any place in the UK (or the possibly the world) that could match the unique character and subtle beauty of the Peak District National Park, the southern boundary being just five miles up the road from Ashbourne.
I think it was the main reason I returned home after studying graphic design for three years in Norfolk, despite the possibility of moving to London to study design at a higher level. There was no match for the familiar landscape of the Derbyshire Dales, Staffordshire Moorlands or the High Peak. Both sides of my parents families have deeply rooted links to the area. My late father’s family can trace their ancestry back to the 18th century, working as farmers in the surrounding villages of Ashbourne; eventually running a farm in Bradley where they settled for many years.
Some Local History
Ashbourne is a very attractive market town with a long and interesting history. It is thought that Roman legions may have ‘camped’ in an area south of the main town, after mining lead ore a few miles to the north, resting here on their way south to the nearby Roman settlement of Rocester and beyond (there is a wide street south of the town’s brook called ‘Compton’ which was once seperate district to Ashbourne itself and its name may have been derived from ‘camptown’).
Ashbourne’s past livelihood is mainly associated with agriculture. Way back in time, livestock market day took place on the medieval triangular market place where there were separate areas for different species of farm animal to be sold. In the mid 19th century all the ‘smelly’ livestock were moved (by the wishes of a certain Victorian industrialist called Francis Wright – whose family owned Butterly Ironworks near Ripley, Derbyshire, famous for supplying the huge ironwork for the glazed roof of St Pancras railway station in London) to a specific cattle market area behind the newly built St John’s Church (built by the Wright family after a disagreement with the vicar of the main parish church of St Oswald’s).
The cattle market closed in 1981 due to not conforming with animal welfare standards (it had quite a slope which didn’t help large cattle that could easily slip over on wet cobble stones) and the site later became one of many ubiquitous housing developments that expanded the town from the 1980’s onwards. Following the closure many farming families stopped attending the Thursday food market on the old market place which eventually dwindled to the point that it was moved to a smaller space elsewhere. Currently regular ‘artisan’ markets are held on Saturdays on the recently improved traditional market place where people can buy quality hand made products direct from the makers.
There are several limestone quarries in the nearby Peak District landscape north of the town that provide extensive employment. My late mother’s grandfather owned a small quarry above the nearby village of Kniveton before moving on to start another larger quarry at Ballidon with a new business partner. My late father worked in the latter quarry for many years (long after the family shares in the quarry had been sold to the partner). Dad initially travelled many miles to Midland farms on a bumpy red ‘Massey Ferguson’ tractor to spread lime dust to fields for land owners such as the late Phil Drabble and Ted Moult (who were well known on British TV at the time). He eventually ended up driving huge ‘dumper’ trucks in the quarry itself and missed the freedom of the open roads and fields; especially since he started his working life farming with his father on a rented farm on the outskirts of Ashbourne.
In the last century Ashbourne had its own large factory mill building producing women’s corsets under the product name ‘Excelsior’. There is still a mill factory operating near the town, situated by the River Dove at Mayfield, two miles west of the centre. This iconic river defines the border between the counties of Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The famous geological features of Dovedale are only a few short miles upstream. The Henmore Brook that courses through Ashbourne, east to west, confluences with the River Dove down stream from the aforementioned yarn mill.
Ashbourne is often referred to as the ‘gateway’ to the Peak District National Park and is popular with tourists during the summer, now having many independent shops and several art galleries following recent work to upgrade and widen the pavements. The parish church of St Oswald is likened to a little cathedral in my opinion, in terms of its size and gothic splendour. Its 14th century spire (212 feet high) is a waymarker that can be seen from many miles away.
Samual Johnson (famed for compiling the first English language dictionary) was a regular visitor to the town in the 18th century and legend has it that early on in his career he applied for a head teaching position at the old Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, but was not successful(!?). He often stayed with his friend Dr John Taylor at The Mansion and no doubt enjoyed the gentrified company in the fine Georgian houses on Church Street (and in the many inns and taverns!).
The great musician and composer George Fridric Handel was also familiar with the area while he resided in the UK. He donated manuscripts of his music to the Granville family of nearby Calwich Abbey for their library and played/composed music on the organ in the same room (which Handel himself commissioned along with the supervision of its installation, although the original building of this era was replaced in Victorian times).
Jean Jacque Rousseau, the eminent philosopher and writer stayed at nearby Wootton Hall for 14 months from March 1766 having escaped from the European continent after the publication of ‘The Social Contract’ that provoked condemnation amongst the ruling classes. Napoleonic soldiers and their officers were later held/imprisoned in Ashbourne and would have been culturally influential to the upper classes of the town I would imagine.
Bonnie Prince Charlie and his rebel army stayed in the town during their march south to try and retrieve the throne for the Jacobites (their journey was to continue only as far as Swarkestone, by the River Trent, before turning back after apparently hearing false news of a large English force on its way to meet them).
Ashbourne also has a very strong sporting tradition – having its own ancient ‘Royal Shrovetide Football’ game dating back many centuries – held on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday each year. The two millstone ‘goals’ are three miles apart and are built into the northfacing bank of the Henmore Brook – at Sturston for the ‘Up’ards’ side and at Clifton for the ‘Down’ards’ side – with the town itself roughly in the middle where ball play often takes place in the streets until there is a break to one of goals, usually after nightfall. My watercolour below shows the streets full of players and spectators.
The finely hand painted ball (handmade with a cork interior and leather exterior) is scored by being tapped against the millstone by an individual team player three times – supported by other team players whilst in the brook. It becomes a valuable family heirloom for the lucky player. The ball is ‘turned’ up at the start of play at 2pm on each day (and also each time after a goal is scored before 6 pm – play can go on until 10 pm – but as soon as a goal is scored after 6pm play ends) by either a distinguished (‘retired’) player or a local dignitary (previously turned up by two former Princes of Wales – Edward VIII and Charles III).
My father’s older brother goaled a ball for the Up’ards side in 1954. Similar versions of this game were once played in many towns throughout the UK centuries ago, the ancestor of the modern rugby football game. All the shop windows of Ashbourne are protected by wooden posts and boards during the two days of play, it looks as if there’s a bull run or some other wild event is about to take place!
Education
I was educated at the newly formed comprehensive school in Ashbourne, ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School’ (previously there were two separate senior schools in the town; a ‘secondary’ and a ‘grammar’) before completing a Foundation Course in Art & Design at the former Derby College of Higher Education. I then spent three wonderfully creative years studying for a honours degree in graphic design at Norwich School of Art (1981-84) where I achieved a 1st.
In 1985, with the support of my parents and the MSC Enterprise Allowance Scheme, I started out as a self-employed visual artist and furniture designer/maker. From 1986 to 2006 I also worked as a part-time adult education tutor for Derbyshire County Council teaching painting and drawing skills. I did some private painting classes at my home in Ashbourne for a number of years just before the Covid 19 pandemic. During the ‘lock down’ periods of the pandemic I produced a number of watercolour painting tutorial videos to send to some of my students; they are still available for any interested parties.
Global heating and climate change are issues that concern me greatly in terms of its increasingly negative effect on the safety and security of my family, humanity and above all the diverse flora and fauna of our beautiful planet. We have been supplied with renewable electricity by ‘Good Energy’ (one of the original green energy suppliers in the UK) for many years now and we have recently bought a small second hand ev to use for local journeys greater than 1-2 miles; this is helpful to us, to feel we are supporting the need for humanity to decarbonise and try our best to stall the exponential rising temperature on planet Earth and prevent it returning to levels not experienced since the pliocene geological period over 5 million years ago.
As an art student in the early 1980’s and throughout my life I have been always been a huge admirer of the late Labour politician Tony Benn, who, as a humanist and socialist, had enormous integrity and was an inspirational politician in so many ways – calling out injustices and promoting peace and unity. I also have huge respect for Jeremy Corbyn who was a friend and alli of the former statesman.
Foreground
I currently live on the edge of Ashbourne (as mentioned earlier) with my wife, Mel, who is a teacher and musician and our collie cross rescue dog ‘Star Kiara’. Our lovely daughter, Kerryn, is studying for a science degree in Physical Geography at the U of S near Brighton – not that far from her brother John who also lives in Brighton – but still thinks of Ashbourne as her home town.
We both enjoy listening to music from all over the world but we especially appreciate contemporary traditional Irish music. 
We like to play traditional tunes ourselves (having originally met at a trad. music session) attending an open instrumental session twice a month in a lovely old Ashbourne pub called the ‘Smiths Tavern’ (3rd Sunday from 2.30pm> and 4th Monday from 7.30pm>). We have also started to hold regular ‘ceilidh’ dance sessions in nearby village halls with live music and callers.
I still enjoy listening to new wave music that dates back to my early 1980’s art school days (esp. Cocteau Twins). I also enjoy listening to contemporary and classic indie rock/dub reggae/ska/old hip hop/electro bands and all genres of good music (inc new sounds played on BBC 6music; always good to be educated in new sounds!).
I always have music playing in the background when I’m working in the studio and have recently been listening to more classical music (esp. Beethoven’s piano pieces) and jazz music (Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis etc) either on the radio, CD or online.
When time allows, we enjoy Friday walks in the Peak District (with my sketch pad or camera to hand) with our dog Star.
As a sideline (in terms of extra paid work), since 2020 I have been doing contract work for Railway Paths Ltd (a charity in connection to Sustrans – the cycling network charity) annually inspecting/photographing approx 140 bridges, viaducts and culverts on several disused railway lines spread over the East Midlands during April and May.
I hope you enjoy viewing my work on this site, any comments you would like to make about my work would be very much appreciated. neilclarke.artist@btinternet.com.
