Bonsall, Derbyshire

Infobox UK place
country = England
latitude = 53.121
longitude = -1.584
static_

static_image_caption= Bonsall village.
map_type = Derbyshire
official_name = Bonsall
population =
shire_district = Derbyshire Dales
shire_county = Derbyshire
region = East Midlands
constituency_westminster =
post_town = Matlock
postcode_district = DE4
postcode_area = DE
dial_code = 01629
os_grid_reference = SK279582

Bonsall is a village in the Derbyshire Dales on the edge of the Peak District.

Geography

It is five miles from Matlock and 18 miles from Derby. Bonsall has a long history of lead mining, along with its neighbouring town of Wirksworth probably going back to Roman times, and is even mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The village lies on the Limestone Way, at the head of its branch to Matlock. The village lies on the edge of the Peak District National Park, the border of which bisects the 'Uppertown' suburb. Approaching the village is done via a very steep 1:5 hill, which leads down to Via Gellia (A5012) and nearby Cromford. This road is known as the 'Clatterway', or occasionally the 'Col du Bonsall'.

The village [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/29099 church] is dedicated to St James. There is a C of E primary school.

A market cross lies in the village centre, probably dating from the Mediaeval period. Bonsall applied for a market charter some three hundred years ago, but was rejected. [Neville T. Sharpe, "Crosses of the Peak District" (Landmark Collectors Library, 2002)]

History

Textiles and lead mines

Bonsall inhabitants have been involved in the textile industry, pre- and post-Arkwright. In around 1850, Bonsall was a farming village surrounded by lead mines and busy outworker frame-knitting workshops. Many people also worked in the cotton spinning mills at Cromford and the Via Gellia [ [http://www.cascadesgardens.com/SEFS/ID.732/SEFE/ViewItem.asp Bonsall Village] , retrieved September 19, 2007] . In early modern times it was on an important salters' route, and was a staging post on the road between Derby and Manchester.

Contemporary period

Bonsall is still a working village, involved in agriculture, heavy goods transport and a range of forms of information technology. However, most people in the village travel to larger conurbations such as Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield for work.

Extraterrestrial visits

For two years after October 2000, there were 19 sightings of UFOs in the area. On October 5 2000, Sharon Rowlands caught one sighting of a circular object on film. The circular object showed a similarity to a circular object seen on the STS-75 Columbia Space Shuttle mission in early 1996 Fact|date=February 2007.

Since 2002, the landlord of the " [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/848835 Barley Mow] " pub conducts UFO walks every Bank Holiday, and this has featured on BBC's 'Country File'.

References

External links

* [http://www.bonsallvillage.org Village web site]
* [http://www.bonsall.derbyshire.sch.uk Primary school]
* [http://www.bonsallfilmsociety.org.uk Bonsall and District Film Society]
* [http://www.bonsallhistory.org.uk/index.html The Bonsall History Project]
* [http://ufocasebook.com/sharonrowlands.html The Bonsall UFO]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1363000/1363848.stm BBC News item on the 'Bonsall UFO']
* [http://www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/bonsall.htm Discover Derbyshire]
* [http://www.barleymowbonsall.co.uk The Barley Mow pub]
* [http://www.bonsallfieldbarnproject.org The Bonsall Field Barn Project]