Video of Tim Shieff, freerunner on top of Buildings on Iron Gate, Derby.

I have to admit I've always been  a big fan of Parkour and FreeRunning. It takes a lot of skill, strength and control in order to perform the urban acrobatics. Tim Shieff who used to live in Littleover, Derby has lots of videos on YouTube that I've watched over the last few years, often in locations around Derby. His most recent video has had more attention that any other because of where it takes place. Namely on the rooftops of buildings along Iron Gate and the Assembly rooms. This video even ended up on East Midlands Today on Wednesday night !


This video Mirror's Edge In Real Life. Tim Shieff follows Matt Hart and George Burdell across Derby rooftops. When I first watched this video I was amazed being able to see Derby from a viewpoint that I doubt many people have seen before, but watching it again I can understand why its attracted lots of attention from the media as it could so easily have gone very wrong. What if the single brick wall that was run across had collapsed sending rubble onto unsuspected public on Iron Gate !

The video starts at the back of a building on Amen Alley, See HERE.

Watch the video and see what you think?

Here is the Derby FreeRunning video across the rooftops of buildings on Iron Gate, Derby :


What do you think?

Route map.
Here is an accurate map showing the exact route taken in this video.

View Route for "Mirrors Edge In Real Life" in a larger map

If your scared of heights and don't want to watch the video then here are some stills I've captured of the worst bits :

Thanks
Andy

2013 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football, Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th February.

Note videos of the game will appear on my YouTube channel, Subscribe to see them. or follow me on Twitter so you get notified : https://twitter.com/AndySavage1969

Its that time of year again when the maddest game of football in the world takes place in Ashbourne Derbyshire. Here are the details for 2013 :

The 2013 game takes place on the 12th and 13th February.
On Tuesday John Tomkinson, will be turning up the ball at 2.00pm. And on Ash Wednesday, Nigel Brown will have the honour.

Ashbourne in Derbyshire is host to one of the Oldest Shrovetide football games in England and this annual event is one not to be missed.

It was first recorded in 1682, though thought to date back to the 12th Century ,various attempts were made to suppress it over the years.

It has continued unabated ever since, and by 1928 it had become so respectable that the then Prince of Wales was invited to start the game. From that year on it was known as the Royal Shrovetide Football game.

The Game is played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, and consists of two teams, one from anyone born to the North of the River Henmore, and one from people born South of the river, these are known as Upards and Downards.

The Goals are on the sites of Old mills, one at Clifton and one at Sturston, these are three miles apart.
A goal is scored by a player striking the mill wheel three times with the Ball.

The ball may be kicked, carried or thrown, but generally proceeds in a series of hugs invisible to the spectator. The game can last for many hours, finishing well after dark.

The game starts at 2pm in the afternoon, when a specially prepared ball - larger than a football and filled with cork which weighs around 4lbs is thrown in by a visiting guest of honor. The balls used for the Shrovetide games are made by Ashbourne man John Harrison.
The hand sewn leather balls are filled with cork chippings.
The balls are a work of art and take a few weeks to paint.

The Rules
If the balls are goaled, then it will become the proud possession of the person who has goaled it. If no-one goals it, then the person that turned-up the ball gets to take it home.
The game starts in the Shawcroft Carpark (back of Waitrose supermarket), See my detailed map lower down. I have provided a detailed interactive Shrovetide map lower down in this post which will enable you to see all the key points of the playing field which 3 miles between the two goals at Sturston and Clifton.

Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football is something that you just have to see to believe your eyes.
Here is part one of four videos I made of the game last year to give you an idea of what its like :







I have lots of photographs and several videos from past games that you can view :

Photographs:
Photographs from the 2008 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game.

Photographs from the 2007 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game.

Photographs from the 2006 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game.

Photographs from the 2004 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game.

Photographs from the 2002 Ashbourne Shrovetide Footbal game.


Videos :
Video footage from the 2010 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football Game.

Video footage from the 2009 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football Game.

Video footage from the 2007 Ashbourne Shrovetide Footaball game.

Extra video footage from the 2007 Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game.

Time-lapse driving video from Derby to Ashbourne.

Time-lapse driving video from Derby to Ashbourne 2012.

Location Map:
Smartphone drop pin locator for Ashbourne Shrovetide Football,
If you own a smartphone (iPhone,HTC etc) then CLICK HERE and it will launch your mapping app with a "drop pin" which I have perfectly located above the turning up plinth, If you have never been to Ashbourne then you can use this to get walking directions to where the action will be at 2pm.
On an iPhone, once the map shows up there will be a red drop pin in the middle of the screen with the title "Ashbourne Shrovetide" above it. Touch "Directions" at the bottom and then "by foot" icon at the top of the screen to get detailed walking directions to the start of the game.


The town of Ashbourne is located in Derbyshire just off the A52, see my time-lapse driving video to Ashbourne Football.
I have created an interactive map which shows all the key points in the game such as the turning up plinth where the ball is thrown, the two goals and the Henmore which is what determines if you are an Upard or a Downard, Click the link below the map for a large view of all the points of interest :

View Ashbourne Shrovetide Football game map. in a larger map

Transport
If you are travelling from Derby then you could catch the Swift Bus from Derby Bus Station for £3.80 single/£7.50 return. This stops at Ashbourne Bus Station which is a two minute walk from the Shorecroft car park. Information on the Swift Bus Service.

Accommodation
If your looking for somewhere to stay over then there is the White Hart pub just down the road or the Station Hotel or Compton Guest House or a Travel Lodge at the other end of the town.

Thanks
Andy

Video of the violent Snowmelt flood at Belper Horseshoe weir January 2013

Here at Belper river Gardens in Derbyshire you can see the violent effect of all the snow melting suddenly has made to the River Derwent. This is the Horseshoe weir at Belper, Derbyshire on January 27th 2013.


Look at the sheer power of that water as it flies over the weirs and also below the sluice gate at 0:27 You would not last long if you fell in there!

This impressive weir was built by Jedidiah Strutt in 1797 and was Grade II* Listed in 1966 and is still holding back the power of the Derwent.

In the summer this area is very calm and people would be on the boating lake above the weirs, A boat is the last place you want to be now.
See my Belper, Derbyshire page :
http://www.derbyphotos.co.uk/areas_a_h/belper.htm

If you Love Derby and Derbyshire follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndySavage1969

Thanks
Andy

Ashbourne CAMRA Beer Festival at Ashbourne Town Hall, Friday 22nd March to Sunday 24th March 2013.

Here is another local beer festival for your diary and its a brand new one for the area!
Ashbourne CAMRA Beer Festival will take place at Ashbourne Town Hall from Friday 22nd March to Sunday 24th March 2013. This is the first time the town has hosted a beer festival and its going to be a Shrovetide-themed festival.

Location for this beer festival is :
Ashbourne Town Hall, Market Place Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1ES

This is located on Buxton Road (A515)

Ashbourne Town Hall was originally built as a Market Hall in 1861 but now serves as the Town Hall. Its a very distinctive building opposite the market place. Here is a photograph of it :


Google Street View of Ashbourne Town Hall, Venue for the 2013 Beer Festival.
Have a look around using the mouse, Click the fullscreen icon in the top right of the image below
to fill the screen with the view :


View Larger Map

The Beer and Cider list:
Castle Rock Black Gold 3.8%
Howard Town Milltown 3.5%
Howard Town Longdendale Lights 3.9%
Magpie Fledgling 3.8%
Ashover Poet’s Tipple 4.0%
Buxton Bitter 3.8%
Dancing Duck 22 (Twenty-Two) 4.3%
Raw JR Best Bitter 4.2%
Blue Monkey Sanctuary 4.1%
Buxton American Rye 4.3%
Abbeydale Moonshine 4.3%
Amber Derbyshire Gold 4.0%
Black Iris White Fang 4.2%
Blue Monkey Infinity 4.6%
Buxton Kinder Sunset 5.0%
Peakstones Alton Abbey 4.5%
Ashover Coffin Lane Stout 5.0%
Dancing Duck Dark Drake 4.5%
Black Iris Great Eastern Transatlantic Porter 4.6%
Redwillow Smokeless 5.7%
Amber Imperial IPA 6.5%
Front Row Collapsed 5.6%
Beartown Ginger Bear 4.0%

Cider/Perry
Gwynt Y Ddraig Farmhouse Scrumpy 5.3%
Gwynt Y Ddraig Haymaker 6.5%
Gwynt Y Ddraig Black Dragon 7.2%
Gwynt Y Ddraig Two Trees Perry 4.5%
Gwynt Y Ddraig Pyder 6.0%
Millwhites Rum Cask 7.5%
Millwhites Whisky Cask 7.5%

Smartphone mapping pin.
If you have a smart phone (iPhone,HTC,iPad etc) then you can use a navigation drop pin I have made for you. While viewing this blog on your phone tap the link below :

Smartphone push pin <-- Tap me on your smartphone to get exact location of the Ashbourne Beer Festival.

When you tap the link above, it will launch your mapping application and place a "push pin" onto the map with the exact location of the Beer Festival. You can then use this marker to get driving, walking or bus directions from your current location.
For example on an iPhone you tap the Directions button at the bottom and this will pre-fill in the start and end locations so just tap the Route button at the bottom and it will show you either the driving route or the walking route. If you tap the middle button at the top, this will even show you which bus number and when the next bus departs !

Location Map
Ashbourne Beer Festival Map.

Transport
If you are travelling from Derby then you could catch the Swift Bus from Derby Bus Station for £3.80 single/£7.50 return. This stops at Ashbourne Bus Station which is a six minute walk from the festival.
Information on the Swift Bus Service. It does not run on a Sunday though.

Accommodation
If your looking for somewhere to stay over then there is the White Hart pub just down the road or the Station Hotel or Compton Guest House or a Travel Lodge at the other end of the town.

For more information on this beer festival follow these links :
www.facebook.com/AshbourneBeerFestival

Hope it goes well for their first ever beer festival.

Thanks
Andy

The 2013 CAMRA Derby Winter Beer Festival : Weds 20th Feb to Sat 23rd Feb February.

Tweet

The 12th Derby Winterfest 2013 is coming soon.
Here is my complete guide to this Winter beer festival in Derby.

The 2013 CAMRA Derby Winter Beer Festival starts on Wednesday 20th February and runs until Saturday 23rd February. Here are all the details about this years winter beer festival.
This will take place the Derby Roundhouse on Pride Park, Derby.

Here is a short video I made of last years Derby Winter Beer Festival :


If you have never been to a beer festival before then you are missing an experience, there are not just beers on sale there are ciders and Perries.  You can get some hot or cold food too. T-shirts and glasses are available to buy and great live music to watch each day.

Its best to arrive by the free bus service from near The Quad.

There will be real ale on sale in the Carriage Room as well as the Main Hall of the Round House itself. This year there is a separate marquee for the live entertainment (last year you may remember it took place in the Carriage Room)

Dates and opening times:
Wednesday 20th February 4pm to 11pm
Thursday 21st February 11am to 11pm
Friday 22nd February 11am to 11pm
Saturday 23rd February 11am to 11pm

Entrance charges:
FREE to CAMRA Members at all times apart from after 5pm Fri/Sat when it will be £3.
Non-members will be charged as follows :

Wednesday 4pm - 11pm - £3
Thursday 11am - 5pm - £2, 5pm - 11pm - £5
Friday 11am - 5pm - £3, 5pm - 11pm - £6
Saturday 11am - 5pm - £3, 5pm - 11pm - £6

Travelling to the Derby Winter Beer Festival:
Where do I catch the free Beer festival shuttle bus?

In Derby this free shuttle bus "701" picks up at the times stated above from next to the Quad. It only takes 10 minutes to get to the Roundhouse.
The FREE Shuttle Bus between Derby Town Centre and the beer festival provided by Trent Barton (Yes its FREE there and back honest !) and travels as below :
I have created a very detail map for this free bus showing locations etc. - Free Derby Beer Festival Shuttle Bus Map.

This free bus shuttle will run at these times :

Wednesday 20th, Leaves Derby City Centre at these times :
14:20
Leaves the Roundhouse at these times :
ast bus is 22:50

Thursday 21st, Leaves Derby City Centre at these times :
11:00
Leaves the Roundhouse at these times :last bus is 22:50

Friday 22nd, Leaves Derby City Centre at these times :
11:00
Leaves the Roundhouse at these times :
last bus is 22:50

Saturday 23rd, Leaves Derby City Centre at these times :
11:00
Leaves the Roundhouse at these times :
last bus is 22:50






Live entertainment at the 2013 Derby Beer Festival :
Wednesday 20th Feb Acoustic Open Mic
Thursday 21st Feb The Modest (Mod classics and Northern Soul)
Friday 22nd Feb Hypermused (Muse tribute) with support from Verbal Warning (Old Skool Punk)
Saturday 23rd Feb Killerz (Killers tribute)

Venue
The Roundhouse
Roundhouse Road, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8JE

For those non-drinkers giving people a lift in your car, the SATNAV postcode for Derby Roundhouse is DE24 8JE
Its also a perfect location to get to by train as Derby railway station is less that 30 seconds walk away from this venue !
See when the next train to Derby station is here - Thetrainline.com

Google Streetview of Derby Roundhouse. (note this was captured by Google before the Derby College restoration was completed!)

Smartphone mapping pin for smartphone owners:
If you are a new visitor to Derby's winter beer festival then you will find my smartphone navigation pin of use. Simply view this blog on your smartphone and follow my instruction below.

Derby Winter Beer Festival drop pin <---- Tap this link on you smartphone.

When you tap the link above, it will launch your mapping application and place a "push pin" onto the map with the exact location of Derby Roundhouse beer festival. You can then use this marker to get walking directions.

For example on an iPhone you tap the "Directions" button at the bottom and this will pre-fill in the start location with your current location and the end location with the Roundhouse.

So all you need to do is just tap the "Route" button at the bottom then tap the walking icon and it will show you walking route. If you tap the bottom left icon 3 times then this will turn on follow mode, Centre mode and direction mode. What this means is that a blue flashing dot which represents you will stay in the centre of the screen and orientated in the direction that you travel in.

If you tap the middle button at the top, this will even show you which bus number and when the next bus to the Roundhouse is from your nearest location.
My push pins are far more accurate than any other map as its not based on the postcode which most maps are. My map is based on local knowledge of the location.

Here is the flyer (click to enlarge)  :

The 2013 Derby Winter Beer Festival Flyer.

Beer and Cider Lists:
The Complete Beer and Cider lists are here : (These are in .PDF format.)

2013 Beer list.

2013 Cider and Perry list

2013 Continental List.

Thanks
Andy Savage
www.derbyphotos.co.uk

I'm now on Twitter, Follow me !

I have decided to join Twitter as it seems to be the popular way to keep people informed of my latest projects without having to follow blogs and subscribe etc.

Follow @AndySavage1969

Follow me on Twitter :-  Andy Savage from Derby.


From now on when ever I post a video on my two video channels, or update one of my blogs, update one of my websites I will use Twitter to let people know.
Most of my tweets will be relating to Derby or Derbyshire but not always.

Feel free to follow if you find my stuff of interest.

Even though Twitter has been around a few years now, I am new to it so it will take a while for me to learn how to use it best.


Thanks
Andy

Video of people sledging in Derbyshire, The Chevin, Near Belper.

Here is a short video of people sledging down the large hill from Chevin Road, near Belper, Derbyshire, UK.
This was filmed from the large car park at the very end of Derwent Street, Belper. From where the green arrow on this map is :
http://goo.gl/maps/gYwDj



If you have filmed some people sledging in Derbyshire this winter, upload your video as a "video response".

Check out my Derby Sledging Guide

Thanks
Andy

Video of Snow at Duffield, Derbyshire, UK.

Its currently snowing in Duffield, Derbyshire. Here is a video I made of last time it snowed in Duffield.
All of the wintery scenes in my video are from Makeney Road and that field where the horned cows live across from Duffield Hall.

My Snowy video of Duffield:

or use this link : Winter snow in Duffield, Derbyshire, UK. February 2012 Enjoy the view at 1080p.

Would you like to see live snow webcams in Derbyshire? With my collection of Derby and Derbyshire webcams you can get an idea of where the worst snow falls are located.



Rumour has it that there will be more snow to fall in Derby this Friday 18th/Saturday 19th, I wonder if it will stop the local Derby between Derby and Forest on Saturday?

Thanks
Andy

Video of a clever cat that helps himself to Dreamies.

Here is a recent video I made of Boo Boo the cat from Derby who is very clever as he knows how to help himselft to Dreamies (cat treats). He really does love Dreamies as you can tell by the constant purring.




Does your cat love Dreamies?

You can buy them in multipacks from Amazon which works out cheaper than buying individual packs from your supermarket. They also sell the larger 110g bags :


Thanks
Andy

Old Video of Derby Buses from 1991, Amazing nostalgic view into public transport in Derby before pedestrianisation.

Here is an old video of Derby Buses from 1991, Amazing nostalgic view into public transport in Derby before pedestrianisation. I originally uploaded this video back in 2008 when YouTube was low resolution (240p) so decided to re-render the video at higher resolution. The original video had been viewed over 22,300 times since I uploaded it. (Note there is no sound on this video.)

This is a ten minute video of Buses around Derby City Centre was filmed in 1991.
I would like to thank Vanessa Robshaw for passing on the footage to share with the world. We all take these things for granted at the time but here we are privileged to be able to see a Nostalgic window on Derby.

Its odd, when you say 1991 it does not sound that long ago does it?, seems like just a few years ago as I can clearly remember it well, but then you work it out its actually 22 years ago!
My God that's amazing and somewhat worrying, I guess it depends how old you are as to how long ago 1991 feels to you.

What a Nostalgic trip this is, Before such things as Westfield and the Quad.

The footage here allows us to see a rare glimpse into the public transport that we all took for granted when we used it back then. As you probably know most of the bus services in Derby today are run and Arriva and Trent Barton.
In this video you can see a wide variety of bus operators.

Here is my video :


The video is mainly about the Buses, I'm sure there are Bus Spotters out there that will be able to reel-off the details about the many buses featured and if there are then feel free to post the details in the comments for those who are interested in such things.

My own personal interest in this video is the locations and how much they have changed.
The most significant change is the pedestrianisation of most of the roads where these buses can be seen navigating. It looks really chaotic and dangerous seeing bus after bus going down St Peters street (See video at 01:01 to see what I mean). You don't know you're born with today's pedestrian only areas!

Do you remember the "Blue and white" Derby taxis?, well you will see several of them in this video!
oh and look out for the dreadful haircuts, fashions and cars of the day.

Points of interest...
00:21 Corn Market from bottom of St Peters Street. The number 34 Bus to Blagreaves Lane waiting outside H. Samuels
00:49 Albert Street from bottom of St Peters Street.
01:01 St Peters Street looking towards East Street.
01:12 Corn Market near St James Street
01:33 Victoria Street
01:43 Corn Market
02:06 Albert Street
02:11 St Peters Street near M&S
02:22 Albert Street
02:39 Corn Market
03:19 St Peters Street
05:46 A Blue and White Taxi reversing
05:53 Look at that old red car! Isn't that a Maestro?
09:16 St James Street Corn Market end

Please rate and comment on this video if it stirs any memories. I'm sure it will do for some of you.
Even better still is if you spot YOURSELF in the video, you never know someone out there may recognise themselves!
For instance are you the lady at 08:46 seeing yourself 22 years in the past?


Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks
Andy