My heart goes out to those couples whose wedding plans have been ruined by Riber Hall's closure. Planning a wedding is supposed to be pleasurable but in reality it can be one of the most stressful things you can do. I remember when I was planning my own wedding a couple of years ago I was overwhelmed by the pressure it put on me. Not only were there seating plans and squabbling family members to contend with (best to leave that in the past) but also the wedding venues themselves proved to be nightmarish.

Riber Hall was one of my choices but whenever I tried to ring them to find out pricing they were unable to help me. They were in the middle of changing ownership at the time and after a couple of weeks trying to get a quote from them I gave up and looked elsewhere. Makeney Hall was another choice of mine, My fiance and I fell in love with the property and had our credit card ready to pay a deposit on the place when the wedding coordinator happened to mention off-hand that whilst we were enjoying our wedding breakfast in the conservatory overlooking the beautiful gardens there would be another wedding party right behind us having their pictures taken. That might be fine for some brides but (call me Bridezilla) I wanted to feel like I was the only woman to ever get married on my wedding day, so we quickly cancelled the booking and looked elsewhere again.

The next choice was East Lodge. It was a bit pricey but by this stage we were getting a little desperate. The grounds and hotel were delightful and they only cater for one wedding party at a time so there was an instant attraction for us. We were shown around by the deputy manager at the time (if I recall correctly). He attempted to sell the venue to us by telling us that he too was getting married there soon and continued to talk of how happy he was and how much he loved his wife-to-be, whilst the entire time trying to look down my top (I feel the need to mention I was respectfully dressed without even the slightest hint of cleavage on show). Sleaziness aside we decided East Lodge would do fine for us and went to book it, but were shocked to find that although we were booking out of peak season they would not take our booking unless we hired the whole venue for both day and night reception. This was a blow as we had previously agreed with them that we could just book the day and it was too small to accommodate our guests in the night. Needless to say my husband had some choice words for them, none of which were of any help.

This left me feeling somewhat deflated and miserable - a bride without a wedding - until like a night in shining armour Baslow Hall appeared. The country house hotel may cater for the social elite but there was nothing snobby in their treatment of us. They didn't try and up sell us anything and were understanding of our budget. All-in-all they were a true class act and I'm happy to report they day went wonderfully smooth, with some truly magnificent do dancing undertaken in the County Offices on the night.

I may be over-simplifying things with regards to £1million redevelopment of our beloved Crown Square but I’m afraid I’m struggling to see the point of spending all that money on a scheme which by all accounts may well make traffic problems in Matlock worse. They’re widening the footpaths, adding ‘heritage bollards’ and planting trees. Well that all sounds rather pleasant for the pedestrians as they skip merrily past the stationary queues of traffic trying to make it through our small town centre, but what about the poor people in the cars? According to our Head of Planning, Paul Wilson, giving more space to pedestrians will mean we will lose traffic capacity. It begs the question what is the point then? The only problem I’ve encountered in Matlock centre has been the traffic, as a pedestrian I have never struggled to get around the place. Why then are we spending £1million to fix something that isn’t broken? It seems the plans have been put together hastily without the confidence of the councillors out of fear that they will lose funding.

And then there’s the timing, it is due to start within a month. Not to sound to negative (heaven forbid), but aren’t the Easter holidays coming up soon? And who comes here in the holidays? Tourists. And what do tourists come in?... CARS! This is somewhat reminiscent of the time they decided to start work on the Sainsbury’s roundabout at the height of summer – oh so many queues.

The Pavilion may finally be getting its much needed makeover if the Dales District Council can decide what to do with it. There’s been plenty of speculation as to what should be done with the landmark property including suggestions that it be turned into a live music venue or a cinema. I even heard one person suggest it be turned into a swimming pool - an upstairs swimming pool, what a thought. But rather sensibly our friendly local councillors seem to be keen on the idea of the Pav becoming a community centre. It’s a nice multipurpose idea; I only hope that if it does go ahead the building isn’t cheated of its full potential.

Most of us remember the Pav in its glory days as Derbyshire’s grottiest venue – it was confirmed as that in my mind several years ago when I saw a heavily pregnant girl attempting to pole dance in the place. But now that we’ve managed to snatch the old Pavilion from the clutches of depravity, might we not finally do something with it that makes the most of its history and advantageous location? Let’s give the tourists as well as the locals something really special, instead of another run down old community hall.