The county has an area of 2,625km2 (1,014sqmi) and a population of 1,053,316. The east of the county is more densely populated than the west, and contains the county's largest settlements: Derby (261,400), Chesterfield (88,483), and Swadlincote (45,000). For local government purposes Derbyshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eight districts, and the Derby unitary authority area. The East Midlands Combined County Authority includes Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council.
The north of Derbyshire is hilly and contains the southern end of the Pennines, most of which are part of the Peak DistrictNational Park. They include Kinder Scout, at 636m (2,087ft) the highest point in the county. The River Derwent is the longest in the county, at 66mi (106km), and flows south until it meets the River Trent just south of Derby. Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms, near Swadlincote, is the furthest point from the sea in the UK. (Full article...)
Andrew Handyside and Company was an iron founder in Derby, England in the nineteenth century.
Handyside worked in his uncle Charles Baird's engineering business in Saint Petersburg before taking over the Brittania Foundry in 1848. It had first been opened around 1820 by Weatherhead and Glover to cast ornamental ironwork, and had achieved a high reputation from the skill of the workers and the quality of its moulding sand.
By the 1840s it was diversifying into railway components. Among the early customers were the Midland Railway's Derby Works for which it supplied cylinder blocks and other castings.
Handyside's output ranged from garden ornaments to railway bridges. He produced lamp posts for the new gas street lighting (one of which still exists in the Wardwick in Derby) and was one of the first to produce the new standard Post Office letterboxes. The company also supplied a dome for Henry Bessemer's conservatory.
Image 51 High Peak 2 Derbyshire Dales 3 South Derbyshire 4 Erewash 5 Amber Valley 6 North East Derbyshire 7 Chesterfield 8 Bolsover 9 Derby (from History of Derbyshire)
Image 21From Thorpe Cloud looking to the left of Bunster Hill with the Car Park in the middle (from Thorpe Cloud)
Image 22At the Rhodeswood reservoir dam, we see the outflow canal from the Torside Reservoir dam, alongside the Rhodeswood Reservoir. The Torside dam can be seen in the distance. To the right is Shining Clough Moss and Bleaklow. To the left Bareholm Moss and Black Hill (from Longdendale Chain)
Image 23Exposed Blue John in situ within the Witch's Cave (from Treak Cliff Cavern)