The next stop on the way was Derby home of some ancestors and also the home of a friend I made in China. She picked me up from my hotel soon after my arrival and gave me the grand walking tour of Derby. It didn’t seem like 4+ years since we’d seen each other and we were soon having lots of laughs which was just as well so I didn’t notice the distance the tour actually took. The photos here were taken then or on a subsequent visit to the city centre. One of our first sights was the 1912 building below with its sculptures of famous people. One included Florence Nightingale and when I researched her to determine her association with Derby I discovered her father had not been born a “Nightingale” but had changed his name to receive an inheritance via his wifes side of the family.

St Werburgh’s Church
now decommissioned as a church. One set of ancestors were married there a very long time ago.
See http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.ie/p/our-webcams.html for more on the birds.

This building isn’t that old but I liked the owls. I was also fascinated with its bicoloured arches, also found on several other buildings in the area and similar to those in the church, previously a mosque, in Cordova in Spain. St Pancreas Station in London also has such arches.

Said to be the Babington coat of arms and baboons on a keg. Guess the Derby stonemasons didn’t get to see real baboons before being required to carve them

The Old Silk Mill, the oldest factory in the world built in the early 1700s to twist silk int thread using water power, machinery and human misery.

The Dolphin Inn, the oldest pub in Derby although it did receive some work in the 1800s. We had a drink and chat until it was time to repair to a restaurant for tea.