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Derbyshire Villages

Hereby I would like to recommend a book about Derbyshire villages, edited by Derbyshire Federation of Women's Institute, and published by Countryside Books.

This book contains descriptions of over 100 villages written by the people who live in them - the local members of Derbyshire's Women's Institutes. Their entries record the history, architecture, atmosphere, anecdotes, people and events which make each village different from its neighbours.

Completing their text are 50 full-colour photographs taken by well-known landscape phptographer, Bill Meadows. They show Derbyshire at its best in all seasons and demonstrate the appeal  of its villages and countryside.

Their entries are arranged in an alphabetical order, rather than geographical one or other ways, this arrangement may give you an impression of a dictionary or encyclopedia, quite plain and a little bit boring. But it's really a good book for you to keep on bedside table,  read one or two pages before go to bed. 

Every village has it own characteristics. Although I was born and grown up in China,  and these Derbyshire villages have so many differences from a Chinese hamlet, but now live far away from my own hometown, it seems that there is always one or two shiny spots of the descriptions of every village can struck the deepest cord of my heart, which brings my nostalgia.

Now I have turned the last page of this book, in village  Willington, it mentions Egginton Brook, which runs through the village and it provided safe 'jam-jar' fishing for many generations of children. This brings back so much memories of my own childhood life when I took a glass bottle in a hottest summer afternoon to catch the loach or crab in the brook around my village far away in south China.
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