On a glorious June day in 2008 I went in search of Castles & Gold. Needless to say the gold had been already found by Time Team. This is Codnor Castle in Derbyshire a very well hidden castle, well off the beaten track. You can only get to it via foot & the quickest way is through a golf course, which you are forever watching out for the balls for - Four ! There are two longer routes to get to it, see web site. This castle had been on my to photograph list for years, as it is on private land & no access was permitted. But with the help of UK Coal Ltd, (landowners) for its consolidation in 2008 & Time Team having a dig around, the castle has now been made safe & access on certain days is now allowed. If I had gone before the restoration I would have been disappointed, so much has been done to remove trees & under growth to reveal the castle.
Built around the year 1200 & owned for 300 years by the De Grey family, a full account of the history of the castle & Time Team's visit can be found at this web site. b
http://www.codnorcastle.com/home.php
It was at the foot of this tower that Time Team found the Henry V Noble coin, which is now in Derby Museum.
Then in September 2010 after finding out that the Noble was in Derby Museum, off I went. I obtained permission to photograph it & here is the result. After battling to shield the camera from reflections on the glass case from the spot lights above, I was unable to do anything about getting my camera in shot, as the coin was on a stand with a piece of glass underneath for you to see the reverse of the coin.
Two pictures of the Noble taken from display sheets.
I have found that one of the metal detectorist on the dig is local to me, so here is the web site for the account of his time on the dig.
http://www.ashfield-mdclub.co.uk/summer2007.htm
I then went around the rest of the museum, which I found very interesting & in doing so I came across the Pinxton Porcelain display, something I had always wanted to see, but only had seen on TV antiques programmes. The photos are not great because of the glass refections, but they give you an insight of what there to see. Photographs of the porcelain have been taken with the permission of the museum.
I then went to visit Pickford's House belonging to Derby Museum. A townhouse set with rooms from the 1770's to the 1930's.
I can highly recommend a visit to Derby Museums & they are all free, so here is the link to their web site. www.derbymuseums.org
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