Celebrations Coronations, Jubilees, Royal Weddings and all sorts of major events have been celebrated in the Peak. Some of the greatest celebrations ever seen were held for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. Villages had their own ideas of how to mark the occasion. Earl Sterndale wanted a free tea for the whole community and a bonfire on High Wheeldon; Darley Dale suggested lighting the parish with gas or building a lychgate for the churchyard, through which all parishioners would come eventually ‘whether they liked it or not’; the landlord of the Grouse Inn at North Darley promised 36 gallons (160 litres) of beer for the Jubilee party; Tideswell decided to erect proper street names and an ornamental lamp and fountain. Two committees were formed at Great Longstone to organise dinners, teas, sports and a bonfire. The chairman, Mr Wright, bought a Jubilee thimble for each local woman and a pipe bearing a likeness of the Queen for any man who smoked. Read More >> More Pictures Community Life