Getting up close to the world’s leading riders and their magnificent horses as they gallop around the cross country course winding through the stunning Chatsworth parkland is just one of draws at the Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth International Horse Trials (11-13 May 2018).

Have-a-go fun dog agility and displays; a fun dog show open to all; pony club games; the popular Rescue Bears and a hilarious Sheep Show ensure there is something for all the family to enjoy at this year’s event.  Around the Chatsworth parkland, the programme is packed with demos, shows, have-a-go activities and children’s entertainment on both Saturday (12) and Sunday (13) along with a quality food and shopping offer.

In the Arena British scurry and driving trials see ponies and their drivers tackle an obstacle course which is made from cones, barriers, flags, arches and ramps all against the clock. It’s loads of fun with miniature ponies taking on large cob ponies and single ponies pitted against multiple teams.

On Sunday, the popular Pony Club mounted games will see teams taking part in a competition which requires courage, determination and all-round riding ability. Young riders will also battle it out taking their ponies over the show jumps in the Pony Club show jumping competition.

Don’t miss the chance to have a bear hug with this very special group of canine lifesavers, the Newfoundland Rescue Bear Dogs. Originally bred as a water rescue dog, these gentle giants weigh in at 90kg and can to glide through the water with minimal effort. History is full of amazing stories about Newfoundlands who have saved the lives of people drowning.

Dog owners can put their canine friend to the test with the Autarky fun have-a-go dog agility. Your dog will love flying over jumps, racing through tunnels, up and over A-frames, and negotiating in and out of weave poles in this fun agility activity. Or enter your pet pooch into one of the Autarky Show Classes: Most Handsome Dog, Prettiest Bitch, Best Rescue, Best Veteran, Best Child Handler 7–12 years and Best in Show can all be signed up for on the day.

The Paws For Thought team, run by ex-police dog handler Stuart Brace, demonstrate entertaining tricks and games that can be done with dogs showing that real fun can be had training a dog, whatever the breed. For more insight into canine behaviour, the Mullinscote Gun Dog Display Team will give a fun show employing various training methods, human and dog psychology, featuring dogs of varying breeds and ages from a puppy to fully trained dogs.

The Sheep Show, featuring some real woolly characters, has captured the hearts and attention of many. New Zealander Richard Savory and his presenters Stuart and Warren entertain and educate with their fantastic sheep. Nobby, the Norfolk Horn, stands centre stage while others are introduced to their podiums, all to their own theme tunes. Learn about each breed’s attributes and how wool from the sheep’s back becomes a jumper to wear. The shearing demonstration will have the audience captivated. However, the highlight will be the ‘Sheep Show Hustle’ or dancing sheep!

For an insight into working animals, The Yorkshire Countryman will demonstrate how he trains his spaniels and birds of prey to work together, along with the chance to see his popular ferrets, known for their inquisitive nature and playful behaviour.

From face painting and pottery painting to a giant bouncy castle, there is something for all children and those young at heart. Learn how to juggle balls and clubs, diablos and devil sticks, master olympic ribbons and cups and balls. Walk on cups or fun stilts and pedal-go’s, spin a plate or a rope or hula hoop.

The drop in pottery painting offers lots of fun ways to get creative – draw, paint, stamp or sponge a piece of pottery to create a special piece to take home.

Sam Horrell, CEO at Dodson & Horrell, commented:-

“The setting at Chatsworth provides a wonderful backdrop to host an array of fun attractions for all the family. We are looking forward to an exciting weekend of competition and experiencing the unique atmosphere with competitors and spectators alike.”

Gail Dale, Chatsworth, said:-

“The Horse Trials are a wonderful family day out offering something for everyone. We’ve got loads going on all weekend alongside the equestrian sport, whether it’s browsing the shopping village and fine food walk or taking a picnic to enjoy by the river.”

Day tickets on the gate for Saturday and Sunday are £20 for adults and £5 for children aged 5-14. Children under the age of five are free. All tickets include free parking. Discounted tickets are available to buy online up until 6 May.

Anastacia will join Lionel Richie when he performs at the Proact on Thursday, June 21.

Special guest Anastacia will join the ‘All The Hits’ tour in Northampton, Perth, Lincoln, Shrewsbury and Chesterfield – making it the perfect opportunity to see her present her electric pop music live.

Anastacia burst onto the global music scene with her debut ‘Not That Kind’ and has since gone onto massive world renowned success achieving over 20 million worldwide sales, making her one of the fastest and biggest selling artists of the new millennium.

With over a dozen Top 40 entries to her name, spurred on by multi-platinum, global hits ‘I’m Outta Love’ and ‘Left Outside Alone’ and major hits ‘Sick and Tired.’ Anastacia has achieved number one hits in 19 countries, a shower of gold and platinum awards, more than 100 million YouTube views, three BRIT Award nominations and more.

These will be Lionel’s first UK shows since receiving glittering reviews for the ‘All The Hits’ tour which included three nights at London’s The O2. The dates followed a phenomenal Glastonbury performance which drew the biggest crowd of the weekend as over 200,000 people flocked to the Pyramid Stage.

Lionel’s incredible success continued as his album ‘The Definitive Collection’ topped the charts and provided his first UK Number 1 in 23 years.

The FA Women’s Premier League Cup Final will be staged at the Proact Stadium on Sunday, April 29.

Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers, second and fifth respectively in the Northern Division, will battle it out for supremacy.

Carol West, Chairman of the FA Women’s Premier League, said:-

“The Proact Stadium is a fitting platform for our showcase Cup Final.

“The FA Women’s Premier League Cup is an institution in its own right and I know that both Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City will more than do it justice on the day.

“Both clubs are worthy finalists after very hard-fought campaigns and I’m sure both will be determined to lift the Cup and have their name etched into this competition’s long and distinguished history.”

Gemma Donnelly, Blackburn manager, said:-

“This is the first senior league cup final that Blackburn Rovers have reached in the history of the ladies’ team.

“We are both extremely proud and excited to be involved in this competition. We look forward to the occasion and will enjoy the experience.”

Jonathan Morgan, Leicester boss, added:-

“To reach our first ever national final is a fantastic achievement for everyone at the club.

“Players, coaches, volunteers, sponsors and all our supporters should be proud of this milestone for Leicester City Women and should know that they have all played a big part in getting the team this far.

“We are thoroughly looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

The Proact is celebrating also being chosen as host of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament in May. Chesterfield will host the opening game, 2 groups games, a quarter final and a semi final match.

Chesterfield Pride returns to Chesterfield on July 22^nd to a new location at Stand Road Park.

This year marks the fourth anniversary of the event and it is growing from strength to strength. Last year over 4500 people attended the event and this year is set to be even bigger.

This year sees a star-studded line up of acts including MOBO award winning Big Brovas, who will be performing their hits “Nu Flow”, “Favourite Things”, and “Baby Boy”.

Also headlining the event are 00’s pop star Lolly (who had 5 top 20 hits) and International dance act Booty Luv. Joining them are a mix of X Factor stars, Pride favourites and local performers.

Dan Walker, Organiser of Chesterfield Pride, said:-

“We are really proud how far the event has come and how well it has been received. The event has a real buzz about it and it continues to grow. Everyone is welcome.”

At the event there will be food outlets, a licensed bar, children’s area and market stalls. The event will be donation only and VIP passes are also available on the day. For more information about the free event click here.

Chesterfield recently celebrated the LGBT+ community with an exhibition at the museum between February and April. The Other Stories exhibit was held in partnership with Derbyshire LGBT+, exploring the personal stories and social history of the LGBT+ community in Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are set to become cultural tourism destinations once again this spring, as season three of The Grand Tour opens on 24 March.

Four of the UK’s most respected cultural institutions unite again to host a varied programme of exhibitions – Nottingham Contemporary, Chatsworth, Derby Museums and The Harley Gallery Welbeck – the collaborative programme will give visitors the opportunity to view the existing classic art collections as well as exciting new work by leading contemporary artists, explore the rich architectural heritage of the area and enjoy the stunning landscapes, gardens, cities and towns of both counties.

The third season of The Grand Tour focuses on creation and discovery, exploring the region’s strong industrial heritage and legacy. The programme’s leading exhibitions invite visitors to use their senses to explore time, discovery and progress.

Chatsworth has been home to influential British artist Linder Sterling as its first artist-in-residence. During her six-month residency, Linder has immersed herself in estate life of today and of days gone by. An exhibition, ‘Linder, An Artist in Residency’ (24 March – 21 October) showcasing new pieces created during her stay, will invite visitors to use their senses to explore the past and present of Chatsworth, featuring incense created from the estate, images on textiles as well as recorded oral histories and musical compositions.

Linder’s residency has also informed a major new artist-curated exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary (24 March – 17 June) called ‘The House of Fame’. Linder’s largest retrospective in the UK sees some of her iconic photomontages and performances from over the last 40 years, accompanied by a collection of her influences and wide-ranging collaborators, collating art and architecture, fashion and theatre, music and design.

The Harley Gallery’s exhibition ‘Half in Shadow: Half in Light’ (24 March – 30 June), is a collaboration with the British artist Clare Twomey, exploring life on the historic Welbeck estate through a series of lithophanes. The lithophanes, inspired by a tea cup that the artist saw in the V&A Museum, will be lit from behind to reveal contemporary life on the estate, through the lens of the past, present and future.

Derby Museum & Art Gallery’s exhibition ‘The Art of Industry: From Joseph Wright to the 21^st Century’ (24 March – 30 June) will look back at the region’s industrial history and manufacturing landscape through both historic artefacts and contemporary artistic interpretation. Derby-born artist Joseph Wright’s ‘An Iron Forge’, painted in 1772 and now in the Tate collection, will return to the city for the first time since the 18^th century to be displayed alongside works by Ford Madox Brown, L. S. Lowry, Graham Sutherland and Sir Edwardo Paolozzi.

As in previous seasons, the Grand Tour will extend beyond these four venues with a host of fringe venues providing endless opportunities for the culture tourist to experience a broad range of art.

Jo Dilley, Managing Director, Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, the area’s official tourist board, said:

“The Grand Tour offers staying visitors the ideal opportunity to discover Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire’s wealth of classical and contemporary culture, built heritage and beautiful landscapes during short breaks to experience the best of both counties.

“Previous seasons have demonstrated that, when key venues collaborate, art and culture can be used as an effective catalyst to bring in more tourists and heighten both areas’ profiles as vibrant visitor destinations for the benefit of both the local and regional economy.”

Comfortable hotels abound in both city and country in the Peak District and Derbyshire. The Cathedral Quarter Hotel offers a four star boutique stay in Derby, while The Devonshire Arms Beeley or the Devonshire Arms Pilsley  are both situated in peaceful and picturesque villages on the Chatsworth estate. Experience the true spirit of The Grand Tour at The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow, also on the Chatsworth estate, which has a unique collection of more than 300 artworks from the Devonshire collection, from fine art to 20th century graffiti. All its luxuriously-appointed bedrooms have magnificent views over Chatsworth’s parkland.

Dining out is a gourmet delight. Highlights in Derby include Terroir Bistro, which won the accolade of Restaurant of the Year in the Derby Food and Drink Awards 2017, and The Old Bell Hotel, Derby’s oldest hotel, bar and restaurant. Further north is award-winning Fischer’s Baslow Hall at Baslow, on the fringe of the Chatsworth estate, famous for its Michelin-starred fine dining experience. Luxurious and stylish with impeccable service, the restaurant is renowned for head chef Rupert Rowley’s inventive modern British cuisine.

Wider tourist attractions in the Peak District and Derbyshire include historic houses such as Haddon Hall, Hardwick Hall near Chesterfield and Kedleston Hall near Derby, fascinating underground caverns in Castleton and Buxton and family attractions such as exhilarating cable car rides and much more at The Heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath and the pioneering industrial history of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Garden lovers should make a date in their diaries for the second annual RHS Chatsworth Flower Show (June 6 – 10).

More information is available on The Grand Tour website – www.thegrandtour.uk.com

The 10-year long programme, costing more than £32m, will see Chatsworth restored to its full glory, inside and out.

With its gold leaf and pale yellow stonework glinting in the spring sunshine, Chatsworth will reopen to visitors on 24 March, completing the biggest restoration and conservation of the house, garden and park since the 1820s.

A special exhibition, running between March and October this year and called ‘Chatsworth Renewed’, will highlight the work of those involved in the restoration process. From rebuilding the Belvedere turrets to replacing vast tracts of lead on the roof; carving the tiniest details in stone using dentistry tools to replacing huge blocks in the walls; careful restoration of priceless artworks to the renovation of famous water features in the garden; over the last decade Chatsworth has been fully restored and made ready for the next century.

Visitors will be able to hear the stories of the skilled people involved in the project, understand the challenges they met, and appreciate the quality of their work. As they peek below floors and behind walls they will be able to shine a light on hidden corners of the house and peel back the layers of craftsmanship and history.

In 2004, a comprehensive structural survey of the house and its many services was undertaken. This demonstrated that major work was necessary to renew the infrastructure of the building and ensure its preservation for the next 100 years, as it was deemed to be at significant risk from fire or flooding.

Weather damage and industrial pollution over hundreds of years meant cleaning and replacing gritstone across the whole exterior of the 300-room house. All the new stone used for repairs came from the same, specially reopened, quarry that provided the stone for the building of the North Wing in the 1820s by the 6th Duke of Devonshire.

The Duke of Devonshire:-

“The level of forensic research, expertise and craftsmanship applied by so many people has been absolutely inspiring. It has always been a thrilling moment to see the house come into view as you drive across the park and now that view has been made even more magical. With the years of blackened grime now removed from the stone, it looks truly magnificent.”

Traditional skills have been used throughout the restoration for both urgent repairs and to make Chatsworth ready for the future. The restoration of stonework, wood panelling, tapestries, flooring and other structures has revealed much about previous generations following the arrival of the Cavendish family in 1549, as well as how far the skills of masons, joiners, plumbers and weavers have changed, or remained, over centuries.

Among the most interesting finds have been objects and traces left behind by workmen over the centuries. As well as working sketches, newspaper cuttings and things that have been dropped, there are specific messages from the past to the future.

On one plank found in 2013 there are the names of those from nearby villages whose work and comment on the news of the day has become part of the fabric of the building: Mr John Taylor of Over Hodder, Mr Thomas Wright of Beeley and S Walker of Pilsley. “Chatsworth August 26th 1841. Parliament met on the 19th The Queen Victoria would not honour the Tories with her presence. The weather is very unfavourable for the harvest. Flour is 3/6 per stone. Joiner’s wages are 24s to 27 per week. Labourer’s wages 12s. Parliament was dissolved this summer on account of the Whigs bringing forward a measure to appeal the present system of the Corn Laws. The election is over. The Tories the majority. Trade is very dull. Many out of employ and starving. This winter will be a severe one. So down with the Tory rascals.”

Another joiner writing in the 1880’s about the 8th Duke, who was at that time leader of the Liberal Party, says: “God bless the Duke of Devonshire, the most liberal nobleman in the kingdom – he is now in his 51st year. May he live for ever for the sake of poor people.”

The joiners who found the plank have added their own inscription: Adam Clarke and Luke Thomas 15/01/2013.

Chatsworth Renewed is all about those men and women whose work, often unseen, transforms raw materials into the jewel that is Chatsworth today. During the season there will be opportunities to get hands-on with the materials they used, including stone, wood, metals and wool; as well as to discover what runs silently and invisibly in the pipes and conduits behind the walls and underneath the floors. Visitors will even be able to have a go at weaving to appreciate how the 17th century tapestries were made, and what it takes to care for them today.

Restoration of Chatsworth’s artworks has, at times, occupied most of the leading British conservation studios over the past decade. The extremely rare Mortlake Tapestries from the 1630s, based on Renaissance painter Raphael’s cartoons of Acts of the Apostles, represent the birth of the English tapestry industry. Although damaged by atmospheric pollution in the 19th and 20th centuries, they have now undergone significant restoration and will be hung together this year, covering 54 sq metres of the walls in the State Drawing Room.

Remodelling of the house has included the creation of new visitor routes and improved access. A new area, the North Sketch gallery, has been made from older, little used rooms. In 2014, in a ground-breaking fusion of art and architecture by Jacob van der Beugel, a representation of the DNA of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and their heirs became part of the fabric of the building. The entire North Sketch Gallery was lined with handmade ceramic panels. Each of the 659 ochre panels specifically corresponds to one particular slot on the wall, creating an artwork as individual as DNA itself.

Alongside this and other contemporary ceramic artworks, visitors will be able to see archaeological clay finds that have been unearthed during the process of digging new drains, including a rare fragment of the original Tudor house that Bess of Hardwick built.

Chatsworth has a long history of welcoming visitors. Since the first Duke’s time, people have been able to enjoy the park, the garden, the house and the collections. Having been closed during the Second World War, the house was reopened to the public in 1949 and in spite of petrol rationing 105,000 people visited that year. In the succeeding decades, the 11th Duke and Duchess successfully formed the foundations for the attraction that flourishes today, welcoming more than 600,000 visitors each year under the 12th Duke and Duchess.

In 1981, the charitable Chatsworth House Trust was set up by the 11th Duke to ensure the long-term survival of the house and collection. Since 1949 the entrance money paid by more than 25 million visitors has made a vital contribution to the maintenance of the house and garden and it is this income, rather than any public funding, that has enabled the current restoration works to be completed.