Walk and book release to honour life of Chesterfield LGBT+ pioneer Edward Carpenter

Ed Fordham and Luke Povey will release their book, The Chesterfield Letters of Edward Carpenter, on Sunday.

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On the same day, they will also take part in a 5.3-mile walk from Chesterfield to the rural Derbyshire village of Millthorpe – a route regularly taken by Edward himself – to fundraise for the Derbyshire LGBT+ centre on Rutland Road, Chesterfield.

The walk – taking place two days after Edward’s birthday – will be led by international human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell.

Born in Sussex in 1844, Edward lived in Chesterfield before moving to Millthorpe with his partner George Merrill.

Edward, a poet and philosopher, lived as an openly gay man at a time when it was illegal to be gay.

He was way ahead of his time and celebrated for being the ‘last gay man standing in Britain’ when most of gay London fled to Paris in the wake of Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment in 1895.

Ed and Luke’s book – which features a collection of previously unknown and unpublished letters written by Edward to Chesterfield architect William Martin Ashmore – can be bought from the Brockwell Books of Chesterfield Facebook group from Sunday.

Copies will also be on sale on Ed or Luke’s stall at Chesterfield Market on a Thursday or Saturday.

For more information about the walk and to sponsor those taking part, visit this JustGiving page.

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