2021 Memorable year of lockdowns, jabs and cancelled events
For many people, 2021 was dominated by the pandemic and the restrictions and freedoms it brought us. But it has been a rollercoaster for Ashbourne too, with good news, bad – and bitter divides in the headlines. GARETH BUTTERFIELD takes a look back at the stories that mattered to News Telegraph readers during the past 12 months. Part one recaps the year’s events from January to June. JANUARY
FOR the people of Ashbourne, the new year usually gets off to a dramatic and soggy start, with the Mappleton Bridge Jump. But this time we were just easing into yet another lockdown, and all gatherings were cancelled, including the traditional bridge jump.
There was better news from the pandemic though, despite nonessential businesses being closed and case rates soaring, residents at Ashbourne Lodge became some of the first people in the country to receive the new Covid-19 vaccine. The first precious batches of the Pfizer-biontech jabs arrived in Derby Road and nurses set to work rolling up the sleeves of the 57 residents, much to the delight of staff who were watching and cheering.
And just a few days later, St Oswald’s Hospital took its first deliveries of Pfizer and Astra/zeneca and staff set to work administering the doses. The Southern Dales quickly became one of the most successful vaccination hubs in the country.
In other news, a call was put out for help to save the Ex-servicemen’s Club which had struggled through the pandemic and was facing an uncertain future, and more than £5,000 was raised to help ensure all children in the town had access to a laptop for remote learning.
A week of wild weather blew in, bringing heavy snow followed by significant floods to the area, and Derbyshire County Council waded into the ongoing debate over the Black’s Head by calling for a public consultation on its future.
And as January drew to a close, work finally started on a new pavilion for the town, beginning with the demolition of the crumbling Memorial Pavilion that had towered over the Recreation Ground for decades.
FEBRUARY
A SUNNY spring in 2020 and then the late arrival of frosts in the winter that followed created a “perfect storm” for thousands of ash trees in Dovedale, rangers said, as they began the grim task of cutting back specimens in the picturesque valley. Paths were closed while specialists got to work thinning diseased trees and taking branches away, heralding the start of a long project that threatens to change the appearance of many of the area’s beauty spots.
The first plans were unveiled by Ashbourne Town Council of what could become a replacement for the Elderly Person’s Rest Room, which was earmarked for demolition in the coming months. The wooden hut in St John Street could make way for some sort of lasting memorial to the town’s victims of Covid-19, councillors mooted.
With Shrove Tuesday looming, and Shrovetide cancelled due to the pandemic, the game’s committee put out a call urging people not to gather unofficially to mark what would have been the start of the match. It was obeyed.
D-day veteran Bill Milward turned 105 in February, and it was marked by a socially-distanced celebration by his house in Peak View Drive.
Early plans were being discussed to revamp Shrovetide Walk, and the town council once again agreed to foot the bill for hanging baskets in the summer, to save struggling traders from having to chip in.
And as February drew to a close, the number of new coronavirus cases being detected every day started to fall, offering hope that the winter lockdown would soon start to end.
MARCH
WITH Covid-19 infections on the wane, and the pressure on hospitals receding, March began with a warm air of optimism, as the government’s road map out of lockdown gave hope to organisers of some of the area’s big summer events. The Ashbourne Festival, Ashbourne Show and Ashbourne Soapbox Race were all indicating plans were being put in place.
Disruptions to bin services caused by the lockdown were still leading to missed collections in Ashbourne, it appeared, as one resident spoke out anonymously to point out the carcass of her Christmas turkey was still waiting to be picked up.
Derbyshire Dales District Council said it would not hand the decision over the future of the Black’s
Head sculpture to the people of Ashbourne. The town had been “stuffed” by the authority, blasted town councillor Denise Brown.
With 40% of people in the Derbyshire Dales now having received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, thanks to a stellar effort by local healthcare teams, attention started to turn to a second dose, with supplies and staff being prepared to roll out the next round of jabs.
Two big building projects were unveiled – a £2.3 million extension for the Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School site, and the ambitious linking scheme at Ashbourne Methodist Church.
Town councillors discussed the concept of replacing the town’s traditional free firework display with a laser show, as they looked at ways to reduce their carbon footprint, and plans were finally passed to turn the former Natwest bank branch in Church Street into a pub and hotel.
Ashbourne’s neighbourhood plan received praise from a government inspector and looked poised to reach its final hurdle, and people in Ashbourne joined a national moment of remembrance to mark the first anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
And March ended on an optimistic note, as a host of government restrictions were finally lifted and the stay-at-home order came to an end. Infection rates were now too low to measure in some parts of Ashbourne and there was a promise that restrictions would ease further in April, if the numbers stayed low.
APRIL
BUXTON Road and part of St John Street looked set to become an Air Quality Management Area after a study showed that readings of harmful exhaust gases and other
pollutants on two monitoring sites had been among the highest in the country.
A late dusting of snow landed on parts of the Ashbourne area as winter refused to release its grip and let spring’s warmer weather arrive, and rabbit farmer Phil Kerry refuted claims he was mistreating his animals at a site in Hognaston.
Carriage driver Rene Schoop joined local tributes to HRH Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April. Swiss-born Mr Schoop, from Calton, knew the prince very well and supplied him with carriages for driving events.
Although Derbyshire Dales District Council had dismissed plans to build a travellers’ site on a former coal yard at Clifton, much to the joy of surrounding villagers, residents once again found themselves with a costly battle on their hands, after the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison
Group submitted its own planning application for six pitches at Watery
Lane. The supply of coronavirus vaccines started to dry up, just as the nation was showing a strong immune response to the disease, and it wasn’t the only thing drying up - the weather was about to break records as barely any rain had fallen throughout the month of April.
Ashbourne’s mayor Sean Clayton led calls for the town’s “unsightly” social-distancing barriers to be removed, as restrictions eased further.
And an air ambulance was forced to make an emergency landing in fields near Hognaston after a crow burst through its windscreen midflight.
MAY
OPTIMISM continued unabated at the start of May as the organisers of Ashbourne’s Soapbox Race suggested the 2021 event could be the biggest gathering the town has ever seen. As many as 10,000 people could turn up to enjoy the spectacle, the committee said. Meanwhile Y Not Festival organisers started to announce headliners for the summer event, with the Manic Street Preachers among the big names.
As the construction of the town’s new Pavilion in the Park started to gather pace, the project was set back slightly by vandals who had broken into the site and kicked down some of the internal walls.
The vandalism at the pavilion was seen as a final straw by some, as it followed a series of similar incidents reported around the town. The police promised to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in general.
May saw the county council elections come and go, and it was a day to forget for Labour supporters in Derbyshire, as Conservatives tightened their grip on the authority, increasing their majority from 36 seats to 45.
Just as we were all starting to forget about the pandemic, news broke out of a new variant of concern being detected in India, and cases had been detected in the UK. By the end of May it had arrived in the Derbyshire Dales and led to a slight rise in the number of new infections. But cases did remain very low, and there appeared to be barely any impact on hospital admissions.
A row erupted between the Ashbourne Royal British Legion and Ashbourne Town Council over ornate painting work that was done to a steel poppy sculpture in the Memorial Gardens. The British Legion volunteers had painted it to look more realistic, free of charge, but the town council said they wanted it to be put back to its original galvanised bare steel colour.
Meanwhile Ashbourne saw the arrival of a new Mayor. Councillor Jane Harris took over the chains of office from Sean Clayton.
A sunny Bank Holiday to end the month led to traffic chaos around Thorpe, Dovedale and Ilam, as daytrippers joined two-mile queues to get to the Stepping Stones.
JUNE
Ashbourne Town Council revealed plans for a new seating area in St John Street, which had been drawn up by architects as a proposed replacement for the Elderly Person’s Rest Room.
With pressure mounting on some of the area’s beauty spots, as citydwellers chose to flock to the Peak District to enjoy their new-found freedom, plans emerged for a religious gathering in Dovedale of around 600 people to mark Mawlid, a birthday of a holy figure.
The National Trust said it had not been consulted by the Birminghambased organisers.
An outbreak of the new coronavirus variant of concern, which had by now been named the Delta variant, had been detected in Ashbourne’s neighbouring town of Leek.
Infection rates remained very low in Ashbourne itself by mid-june, but concern was mounting that the variant first detected in India could quickly start to dominate and even threaten our freedoms.
Uncertainty over new restrictions as the Delta variant started to sweep the nation led to organisers of the soap box race – tipped to bring in thousands of people by September – starting to get cold feet.
The event’s founder, Sean Clayton, suggested it might have to be “scaled back”, depending on how people responded to the new strain.
The final step towards properly unlocking the nation and releasing all Covid-19 restrictions, which had been dubbed “Freedom Day”, was put back one month in response to the Delta variant’s rapid rise in new cases.
The government warned that Delta could kick-start a substantial third wave, but the hospitality sector feared restrictions could add further pressure to their businesses if rules were not relaxed as planned.
An Ashbourne mountain biking enthusiast approached Ashbourne Town Council with a plan to set up a formal group to make the amateur trails being used by thrill-seekers in Bradley Wood into safer, managed routes and jumps. Stuart Mcleod had overseen similar projects in other areas, and he told the town council it could give councillors more control over the way the publicly-owned beauty spot is used.
The National Trust put a stop to plans to hold a religious festival for 600 people in Dovedale, as they said the valley had come under enough pressure during the spring and early summer, and fences were erected around Ashbourne’s fishpond to stop vandals smashing up benches and boardwalks.
Ashbourne Town Council snuffed out the debate over the painted poppy by “gifting” it to the Ashbourne branch of the Royal British Legion, and villagers united in opposition against plans to stage a huge dance music festival at Darley Moor Race Circuit.
Work was finally completed on the huge new roundabout on the A52, which linked the new section of the Airfield Industrial Estate to the main road, and as June came to an end, the Delta variant looked to be sparing the Derbyshire Dales, with just 35 new infections recorded across the district, and encouraging data from the area’s hospitals.