Starry, starry night...

la di da, di da di da. Now, as yet, there is no evidence at all to suggest that Vincent ever took out his easel and stared through an absinthe-induced haze at the streets of Buxton*. But if he had, then surely he would have stood at the bottom of Hall Bank? On a cold, clear winter's night whichever way you look there is drama and intrigue. The light is fabulous and there are millions of stars. If an apocryphal Vincent plonked his easel immediately in front of himself - having descended Hall Bank (beware of wet and slippy pavements) - then he would have a perfect view of the Old Hall Hotel.

Famously, of course, Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at the Old Hall (some 300 years before Van Gogh might have done). We are anxious to avoid controversy in this blog though and so we'll pass her by. Less famously, but not infamously, the Buxton Festival Fringe committee also meets at the Old Hall. This explains our arrival at such an historic and noted a spot.

* We have scoured Vera Brittain's autobiography to see if she recalls meeting a Mr Van Gogh but she makes no mention. One of our research team quibbled that since she was not born until 1893 and since he died in 1890 a meeting was unlikely. Pedantry; Vera was a most precocious child. There is, of course, no other late Victorian Buxtonian of note who might have kept a diary recording a meeting with Vincent. So the jury may still be out on this one.

by Keith Savage - Published 05/04/2007