Some fifty Civic Society members and guests joined the Mayor of Chesterfield, Coun. Maureen Davenport, and the Mayoress, Mrs Liz Archer, at the Ringwood Hall Hotel in Brimington on Wednesday 17 January for a ceremony to mark the unveiling of a plaque commemorating Charles Paxton Markham, who lived at Ringwood between 1908 and his death in 1926.

Among the guests were Mr Toby Markham, a descendant of C.P. Markham’s brother, Sir Arthur Markham Bt MP, and his wife, and Mrs Halcyon Palmer, a great niece of C.P. Markham’s sister Geraldine. The Leader of the Borough Council, Coun. Mrs Tricia Gilby, Coun. Terry Gilby and Coun. Barry Bingham were also present.

Ringwood Hall was built in 1829–30 by George Hodgkinson Barrow, the owner of Staveley Ironworks, and was later occupied by his son Richard Barrow. After C.P. Markham died, the House became a social club for Staveley staff. Having stood empty for some time, it has been restored in recent years as a luxury hotel.

After the Mayor unveiled the plaque, the owners of Ringwood Hall, Mr and Mrs Heyer, entertained the party to an excellent lunch. The event concluded with a short speech of thanks to the hotel by the Civic Society chairman, Philip Riden.

In the spring, the society hopes to install a plaque at 55 West Bars, the first large store built by Chesterfield and District Co-operative Society, which opened in 1903.