Folklore in Ilkeston and beyond tells of the joys of Grass Hill. This is a short, steep slope at the entrance to Hermit’s Wood. Children from miles around would walk to Dale with a tray and a pop bottle of water, and spend a happy day sliding down the hill. Since the 1990s this simple pleasure has ceased, and the slope is now growing a good crop of birch saplings. Dale has always been a place for visitors, and there has been the odd accident: the Ilkeston Pioneer of 27th October 1905 tells the story of a child rescued from a 15 foot deep fish pond by Miss Lucy Bacon aged 22, helped by a young man; this sounds like Furnace Pond, which I doubt is so deep these days.

Dale and the abbey have continued to be a focus of Christian worship. In St Thomas’ Roman Catholic church in Ilkeston there is a side chapel dedicated in 1889 to Our Lady of Dale, and occasional pilgrimages from Ilkeston to the abbey site have taken place, the first having been organised by Father McCarthy on Whit Monday 1891. High Mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Nottingham, with a temporary altar under the east window; the Chapter House was used as a reception room for clergy and choir, and Mr Gregory of Nottingham Cathedral played the organ – presumably a portable one. People attended from some distance, even from London, and the sermon notes for this occasion have survived. On Friday 18th May 1894 100 pilgrims from Stockport arrived in Ilkeston by train (which they could not do nowadays as we have lost our station); they processed to Dale led by a brass band, sang at the Hermitage, and celebrated Mass in the church. It is on record that the Whit Pilgrimage in June 1908 was sufficient of an event to occasion the setting up of sweet stalls in the village.

The pilgrimage was revived in 1957 when over 200 pilgrims gathered at the crossroads. The event was organised by Father J. Murdoch, and a very Marian sermon was preached in the abbey field by Father A. Parisotti. In the mid 1980s Mass was again celebrated in the abbey; the heavens opened and torrential rain came from nowhere, which caused the very Protestant incumbent of All Saints’ church to remark that this was a sign of God’s disapproval. I don’t think so.

Also in the 1980s, a performance of the musical Father and Son was performed by the drama arm of Youth with a Mission. Again, the weather was unhelpful, but for many of the large audience this was a profound spiritual experience they will never forget.

Politically, Dale has a Parish Council, which meets monthly in the Gateway. This body also serves part of Kirk Hallam estate, which is a marriage of differences; the marriage dates from 1934.