My Favourite Things: What did showbiz star Bernie Clifton buy in Chesterfield?

The Derbyshire based entertainer appeared on Crackerjack decades ago and later without Oswald on telly talent show The Voice where judge Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs said that Bernie and his ostrich defined his childhood.

Bernie started in showbiz as a boy singer and went on to rub shoulders with the great and the good including the Queen and Les Dawson.

He has lived in north Derbyshire for 60 years.

Bernie, 85, said: “How fortunate we are to be in this part of the country – Derbyshire is a beautiful county.”

His favourite view is Curbar Edge. Bernie said: “It’s great to be living in north Derbyshire and have that on your doorstep. You can see quite a lot of Chatsworth estate from there. You’re looking at the work of centuries ago – Capability Brown must have done a bit of viewing from up there to lay out the estate the way it is.”

Not surprisingly, Chesterfield’s Crooked Spire is Bernie’s favourite landmark in Derbyshire. He said: “It’s an ever present reminder of the town and you never get tired of looking at it. I remember the first time I saw it was in 1959 when I came to Chesterfield to sell vacuum cleaners door to door.”

Bernie stays close to home for his pick of the restaurants. “I live in Barlow and I’d have to say The Peacock. I always choose the special – they do this great steak and kidney pie with chips. Quite often I have family over and we go to The Peacock.”

The Peacock is also his favourite watering hole, although he admits that he’s not much of a drinker. He said: “If I go to a pub it's to have a meal which lands me on the doorstep of the Peacock again. If I was drinking, it would be a sparkling wine or a shandy.”

Bernie chuckled when asked about his favourite place to shop. "A shopper I’m not,” he said. “The last thing I shopped for in Chesterfield was thermal vests and a Peaky Blinders cap from Marks and Spencer and that was the winter before last!”

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