The county has an area of 2,625 km2 (1,014 sq mi) and a population of 1,066,954 in 2022. The eastern half of the county is more densely populated than the west contains its largest settlements: Derby in the south-east, Chesterfield in the north-east, and Swadlincote in the south. For local government purposes Derbyshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eight districts, and the Derby unitary authority area. The East Midlands Combined County Authority includes Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council.
The north and centre of Derbyshire are hilly and contain the southern end of the Pennines, most of which are part of the Peak DistrictNational Park. They include Kinder Scout, at 636 m (2,087 ft) the highest point in the county. The River Derwent is the longest in the county, at 66 miles (106 km), and flows south until it meets the River Trent just south of Derby. Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms, near Swadlincote, is the furthest point from the sea in the UK. (Full article...)
Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive in 1974 and was closed in 1989. In 1994 a new independent school called Derby Grammar School for boys was founded.
The school was re-founded in the 12th century by a local magnate, Walkelin de Derby (also called Walkelin de Ferrieres, or de Ferrers) and his wife, Goda de Toeni, who gave their own house to an Augustinianpriory called Darley Abbey to be used for the school. Local legend has it that it was the second oldest school in England. However, there is no firm information as to the site of the original school.
While Derby School was in existence almost continuously for more than eight centuries, it was closed for a few years as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Following the extinction of Darley Abbey, on 21 May1554, Queen Mary I by a Royal Charter, and in return for a payment of £260 13s 4d, granted the corporation of Derby several properties and endowments which had belonged to Darley Abbey, the College of All Saints, St Michael's Church, and some other suppressed chantries and gilds, for the foundation of "a Free Grammar School, for the instruction and education of boys and youths in the said town of Derby for ever to be maintained by the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the same town.
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Image 2At the Rhodeswood reservoir dam, we see the outflow canal from the Torside Reservoir dam, alongside the Rhodeswood Reservoir. The Torside dam can be seen in the distance. To the right is Shining Clough Moss and Bleaklow. To the left Bareholm Moss and Black Hill (from Longdendale Chain)
... that in 1855 three passengers, believing they had arrived at their destination, fell to their deaths when they stepped from a train that had halted on Dinting Viaduct?