Derby is a city situated in the East Midlands and is set in the County of Derbyshire. The population census of Derby in 2001 was numbered at approx 234,000 making it the 18th biggest place to live in England.

Derby is home to the smallest Anglican Cathedral in the country. The Cathedral of All Saints is said to have originally been founded by King Edmund 1 in 943 as a Royal Collegiate Church but there is no evidence to currently back this up.

The Cathedral we see today dates from the Fourteenth Century but appears to be of an earlier medieval period. It is believed to have been modelled on a nearby building which was later pulled down due to structure problems. It received its cathedral status in 1927 by Royal Charter which was unusual because Derby at that time was still a town.

Despite being the smallest Anglican Cathedral it has the 3rd tallest tower, in which there is a family of Peregrine Falcons that return every year. In 2007 webcams were installed and Derby was able to witness the birth of two chicks that hatched on Thursday 10th May.

On the Cathedral green you will find a statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie who, in 1745, made camp in Derby on his way south in his failed attempt to seize the English Crown.

He stayed at Exeter house on Exeter St. The Derby Central Library in the City Centre still show a replica of the room where he held his “ Council of War “ and received false information that an army from Derby was on it’s way to challenge him.

On his journey south he led his army from the front on foot. The statue depicts Bonnie Prince Charlie on horseback as he rode north heading home with his weary and defeated army ahead of him.

To this day the Charles Edward Stuart Society of Derby lead a weekend of activities finishing with a parade through the city and a battle on Cathedral Green at the beginning of each December.

During the period of the industrial revolution, Derby & Derbyshire had its fair share of inventions. It’s most famous were its mills. John Loombe & George Sorocold built the first Water Powered Silk Mill in 1717 after Loombe had allegedly stolen the secrets of silk throwing from Piedmont, now known as Italy.

Jedediah Strutt patented and built the Derby Rib attachment in 1759 which completely revolutionised the manufacture of Hose. Rev Lee famously used this attachment on his framework knitting machine to produce ribbed hose better known today as stockings.

Cromford, Derbyshire is where Richard Arkwright, Jedediah Strutt and Samuel Need built the first water powered cotton spinning mill in 1771. This was to be a form of power that would be the catalyst for the industrial revolution.

Jedediah Strutt continued to build several more cotton spinning mills around Derbyshire. The Belper North Mill built by his son, William, is the only original Strutt Mill still standing today and is now a visitor centre.

Derby is not only famous for its cotton spinning mills as it also has connections with Dr Johnson, the creator of the English Dictionary. The painter Joseph Wright who was famous for his revolutionary use of light in his work. The grandfather of Charles Darwin, Eramus Darwin, lived in Derby even though his practice was in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

About the Author

D. Green Derby Business Derby News Derby Cinema

In harmony with its insularity, life in many of Cuban cities has been impressed by the sea. From the times of Cuban earliest inhabitants, right through the time of Spanish settlers, and up to present days, the presence of sea has marked Cuban character. Of the seven first townships, three remained on the seashore: Baracoa, Santiago de Cuba and Havana. Other cities and towns were born later on the coastline, but not to become less important for not being so ancient.

Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Caibarien, Gibara, Manzanillo, Nueva Gerona are worth a visit. They differ from each other, but they all have that same marine charm that shapes up a different way of life, either calm or full of spirit, depending on the rhythmic cadence of the sea.

Matanzas, rich in tradition and a cradle of poets and musicians, is simply enchanting. Cienfuegos, the South Pearl, with a perfect outline, once adopted a numerous French colony and today is one of most beautiful cities in Cuba. It is one of Cuban most important port cities, an architectural jewel of the XIX century.

Caibarien, a typical fishing village, is today’s departure gate to visit the virgin cays to the North of Villa Clara where you can visit Cayo Las Brujas, Cayo Santa Maria and Los Ensenachos, among others. They have a promising touristic present and future because of the unmatched beauty of their beaches and nature. Gibara, just beside the bay that the Great Admiral Cristofolo Colombo named Rio de Mares (River of Seas), with its fortifications, is the most outstanding architectural complex of the Holguin region.

Manzanillo, disputed by pirates and corsairs –and also present in Cuba’s first literary monument, Espejo de Paciencia, by Camaguey-born Silvestre de Balboa-, opens up to Gulf of Guacanayabo wwith the simple nature of its residents and the spell of its green landscape in the background. Nueva Gerona, the main city in the Island of Youth (formely Isle of Pines), throbs with the comings and goings between its port and the Island of Cuba.

What to visit here, in Cuban marine cities?

Havana: Old Havana, National Capitol, Paseo del Prado, Revolution Museum, Fine Arts Museum, Revolution Square and Jose Marti Memorial, Malecon Drive, Colon Cemetery, Botanical Garden and Maqueta de La Habana.

Matanzas: Sauto Theatre, Triolet Pharmacy Museum, Municipal Museum, Bellamar Cave, bay area and Monserrate Hermitage.

Cienfuegos: Parque Jose Marti, Paseo del Prado, Malecon, Palacio del Valle, Tomas Acea Cemetery, La Reina Cemetery, Punta Gorda area, Castillo de Jagua fortress, Terry Theatre and Botanical Garden.

Nueva Gerona and Isle of Youth: El Abra farmhouse, Old Model Prision Museum, Punta del Este Beach
Gibara: Bateria de Fernando VII gun emplacements, bay area

Manzanillo: Parque de la Glorieta

Santiago de Cuba: El Morro Castle, Diego Velazquez’s house, Catedral Metropolitana Church, Parque Cespedes, Padre Rico street, Heredia street, Bacardi Museum, Carnival Museum, Marte Square, city.

About the Author

Jose Ramon Castro is an expert in travel's industry in Cuba, runs the website http://www.hicuba.com related to tourism and travel in Cuba and works with a Cuban travel agency. In http://Hicuba.com you can find a lot of of informacion about Cuba and its tourism destinations.