New Bolsover

As a resident of the industrial village of Saltaire, I was interested to discover that Bolsover has its equivalent: New Bolsover model village. Most of Saltaire was built between 1850 and 1870, so New Bolsover, constructed in the 1890s, was perhaps inspired by the mill villages further north. Set below the ridge on which the Castle sits, the village was built by the Bolsover Colliery Company to house the coal miners and their families. It consists of about two hundred houses arranged in two rows, in a U-shape around a central village green. The houses, as in Saltaire, were built in different sizes to accommodate both large and small families, and the colliery officials.  The village also had a miners institute, school, co-operative store, orphanage for children of fathers killed in the employ of the company, allotment gardens, Methodist and Anglican churches and a large assembly hall and bandstand on the village green.

It also had an addition that Saltaire lacked... a small railway that ran from the colliery right round the village in a loop. This was used to deliver the miners' free coal for their homes' fires and to take away the 'night spoil' from the lavatories for disposal.

The former Co-operative store

The village is in good repair and is still inhabited, though the coal mine closed twenty years ago.  The houses are now either in private ownership or rented out by the local Council.

Cavaliers

One wing of Bolsover Castle forms the 'Riding House', one of the largest and finest historical indoor riding schools and stables in this country. Built in the 1630s, it was here that William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, indulged his passion for horses, importing fine, elegant horses from as far away as Turkey and North Africa and training them in the complex art of dressage. He is credited with being 'the father of the modern art of dressage', teaching his horses to perform breathtaking leaps, turns and circles. William was also the royal horsemaster to Charles I and riding master to the future king Charles II.

Displays of dressage are now regularly performed in the restored riding house, with expert horsemen, dressed in period costume (oh, the romance of the cavaliers!), recreating the advanced techniques devised and perfected by William Cavendish. Unfortunately I was too late to get a ticket for any of the performances on the day I visited, so I was unable to go inside, but one of the costumed 'cavaliers' chivalrously agreed to pose for me.

Bolsover Castle

Bolsover Castle, now in the care of English Heritage, started life as a medieval fortress built by the Peverel family. The wealthy nobleman, Sir Charles Cavendish, bought it in 1612 and started his 'Little Castle' project, which was continued by his son, William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle. Assisted by the architect John Smythson, he finished the imposing keep, which inside contains tiers of staterooms, each level being more astonishing, richly decorated and luxurious than the one below. They have ornate fireplaces and richly painted and gilded panelling, murals and ceilings, which become more fantastic the higher up you go. On the top floor, on either side of the Duke's bedchamber, are two small anterooms, one depicting spiritual heaven and the other depicting an erotic paradise. (I suppose he sat in one or the other, depending on his mood!)
By all accounts the Cavalier Duke was a bit of a playboy. He had other main residences and primarily used Bolsover as a playground: a place to indulge himself, with his wife and mistresses, and as a place to entertain and make a statement about his wealth, power and erudition. Hoping to impress the king, he staged a huge masque in 1634, written by Ben Johnson and performed in the castle garden in front of King Charles I and his court.

Bolsover

This is the magnificent edifice of Bolsover Castle, standing proudly on a ridge, not far from the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border.

Bolsover was where my maternal grandfather was born.... sadly, not in the castle! His family was, as far as I can tell, dirt-poor. According to his birth certificate, he was born in 1899 in 'The Huts, Underhill, Bolsover', which I suspect was a bit of a shanty town, probably situated below the castle. I scouted round to see if I could find any reference to it in the present day street/area names but I couldn't. One day (when I retire!) I will have to do some proper research.

When my grandad was a child, the town of Bolsover was developing fast as a coal-mining area. The Bolsover Colliery Company was set up in 1889 and secured leases to extract coal from land belonging to the Duke of Portland. My grandad himself became a miner. The local mine finally closed in 1993.

The castle itself harks back to a more elegant time .....