Welcome to May … when the countryside literally bursts into life!
This month, we head back to May 2013, with our cover story featuring John Hill, a shepherd on the Haddon Estate at busy lambing time. Rob Bannister spent a night at Haddon, witnessing a dramatic birth as John helped a ewe in distress to safely deliver her lamb.
He also shared an insight into the 24-hour monitoring of sheep over the 3,500 acres of parkland during lambing season – and the tender care given to lambs born weak or rejected by their mothers.
From farming, we turned to fashion with a feature on Chesterfield’s Zebra Menswear, whose summer 2013 stock reflected the influences of London Fashion Week.
Zebra is also in the news in May 2026 as it prepares to close its doors at the end of the month, with owner Stuart Smith retiring after 40 years of designer style on Holywell Street.
In the Peak District, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Rowsley to Buxton railway line. Controversial at the time, it involved blasting through some of the country’s most unforgiving terrain – with a series of tunnels and viaducts needed to complete the stretch of line.
Poet and conservationist John Ruskin famously condemned the route, part of which now forms the popular Monsal Trail.
Meanwhile, James Butler and Alistair Hood captured some of Derbyshire’s most impressive birds on camera, with James sharing his knowledge of migrating birds and the magic of the dawn chorus.
