Portland Hotel

Chesterfield-my home town

by DavyJB

"The Crooked Spire"

Chesterfield is mainly known by its landmark church The Crooked Spire or to give it its proper name St.Marys and All Saints Church, you can see it from all routes when you approach the town.
The town itself was made prosperous in the mid 1800's when the railway line was built by railway pioneer George Stephenson (who lived in the town until his death in 1848) and coal was found during the building of the Clay Cross tunnel and from there a thriving industry emerged not only in coal but in engineering as well, sadly little of this remains today.
It is the largest town in Derbyshire with around 100,000 inhabitants but it is not the county town, that honour belongs to Matlock.

"The market"

Chesterfield has one of the largest open air markets in the country, its market charter was granted in 1204 by King John and it is still thriving today with around 200 stalls every Monday, Friday and Saturday. In the centre of the market is the market hall with more shops and stalls that are open Monday to Saturday. It does have festivals throughout the year such as the Continental market where traders from Europe come to sell their goods and street entertainers come to add to the spectacle.

Chesterfield

by eurotravels

"The Crooked Spire"

Lots of shops, streets and even the local football team are named after the spire. The legend is that when a virgin bride was married in the church the spire was so surprised that it bent down to take a look. Apparently it will straighten back up next time another such bride marries there!