'Balls, Boots and Players - celebrating 500 years of Nottingham High School in its communty

Lakeside is hosting an exhibition that "explores the relationship between Nottingham High School and its community, illustrated through the lives of the people who belong to it."

A series of free lunchtime talks to accompany the exhibition has also been organised:

• 'Pure and Constant' (Wednesday, 10 October, 1-2pm, in A09, Engineering & Science Learning Centre) - the life and work of Thomas Hawksley, engineer
• 'Ken Clark talks' (Friday, 9 November, 1-2pm in the Senate Chamber, Trent Building) - the High School's best known living old boy discusses his schooldays and career in politics
• 'Balls, boots and players' (Tuesday, 13 November, 1-2pm in the Senate Chamber, Trent Building) - Tony Palfreyman shares his passion for sport and sport in Nottinghamshire
• 'Karachi and the wilds of interior Sindh' (Tuesday, 4 December, 1-2pm,  in A09, Engineering & Science Learning Centre) - BBC journalist Aleem Maqbool discusses his work as a journalist in Pakistan

Further details are available on the Lakeside website.

Exhibition: “The many lives of DH Lawrence - memoir, legacy and biography revealed”

A new exhibition devoted to D H Lawrence has recently been opened at The Lakeside on the Nottingham University campus. The exhibition draws on the internationally important collection held by Nottingham University and "traces the origins and development of the biographical preoccupation with Lawrence" from the widely different accounts of his life published in the 1930s by his contemporaries to recent academic research based on recent discoveries that offer new perspectives.

Admission is free and a series of talks has been arranged to accompany the exhibition. Further information is available on The Lakeside website.

Nottingham Civic Society celebrates demolished hotel

Nottingham Civic Society has unveiled a plaque on the site of the long-demolished Nottingham landmark, The Black Boy Hotel. This impressive 1887 building was designed by the flamboyant architect Watson Fothergill and regrettably destroyed in 1970 to be replaced by a dismal Littlewoods store (now occupied by Primark).

Ken Brand of the Civic Society commented that "its demolition was considered by most to be the worst example of architectural vandalism of that era in Nottingham."

• BBC Nottingham news item

Searching for the grave of the 5th Duke of Portland

During a recent visit to London I spent a couple of hours wandering around the impressive monuments of Kensal Green Cemetery. Not only is it a superb example of an early Victorian cemetery but it also contains the grave of the eccentric 5th Duke of Portland, best known for being "The Underground Man" or "Mole Duke" who spent much of the family fortune constructing tunnels and underground rooms at Welbeck Abbey.

The Duke's monument is quite difficult to find*, despite being the largest plot in the cemetery, and is surprisingly plain (in stark contrast to those of many of his contemporaries). It consists of a pink Peterhead granite slab surrounded by grey granite kerbs and posts. The memorial was damaged by World War 2 bombing and bronze chains and fittings were stolen in the early 1950s. The inscription reads "SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE MOST NOBLE WILLIAM JOHN CAVENDISH BENTINCK SCOTT FIFTH DUKE OF PORTLAND. BORN 17TH SEPTEMBER 1800. DIED 6TH DECEMBER 1879."

• The eccentric Duke and his underground tunnels
• County Pedigrees
• Welbeck Abbey

* Thanks to John Clarke of Brookwood Cemetery for help with locating the monument.

New book on the Pierrepont family

Ashbracken of Radcliffe-on-Trent has recently published a lavishly-illustrated, comprehensive history of one of Nottinghamshire's most illustrious families, the Pierreponts. Their extensive estates were centred on Holme Pierrepont and Thoresby and members of the family were prominent in military, political and sporting fields. Amongst their strong-willed women were "a daughter whose broken marriage laid the way for modern divorce; another who introduced inoculation against smallpox; and a bigamous duchess."
Further information is available on the Ashbracken website.

Recent publications from Nottinghamshire County Council

The County Council has recently published the following:

• Turning Back the Pages on Nottinghamshire Canals by Ray and Joanne Bickel (see article in the Nottingham Evening Post)
• An outline history of the Railways of Nottinghamshire by Michael A. Vanns
• Map of Nottinghamshire from The English Counties Delineated by Thomas Moule, 1837
• Politics, Law and Society in Nottinghamshire: The Diaries of Godfrey Tallents of Newark 1829-1839, edited by Richard A Gaunt

See the local studies publications page on the County Council website for further details and an order form.

Durban House, Eastwood, under threat again

It is depressing to read that the future of Durban House in Eastwood, home to the D H Lawrence Heritage Centre, is under threat yet again. Broxtowe Borough Council, who owns and runs the building, is trying to save money in the face of severe cuts to its budgets. Prominent figures in the arts such as Salman Rushdie, Glenda Jackson, Martin Amis, Lord Putnam and Ken Russell have published an open letter arguing "DH Lawrence is one of the world's most important writers and that he has a unique place in British culture that should be celebrated" and expressing their disquiet at the council's proposal to close the DH Lawrence heritage centre in his home town of Eastwood.

• Open letter in the Guardian
• Editorial in the Guardian
• BBC Nottingham news story

Who do you think you are? Monty Don's Retford connections.

I was interested to see my old home town of Retford make an appearance on this week's edition of "Who do you think you are?" Monty Don's great-great-grandfather, the Reverend Charles Hodge, was vicar of St Saviour's church on Welham Road in the 1840s and 1850s. Monty found several of his printed sermons at Nottingham University manuscripts department, one of which was a "fire and brimstone" tirade against the poor of his parish for not being sufficiently pious!

Intriguingly, his wife Anne emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1850s, leaving Charles and their nine children behind. A few years later she came back to Retford and most of the family emigrated to New Zealand. However, in 1859 Charles left the family and headed back to England but tragically drowned when the steam clipper Royal Charter sank off the coast of Anglesey on its way to Liverpool. Anne remained in New Zealand and died there in 1890.

The programme can be viewed on the BBC's iPlayer site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tfpvn/Who_Do_You_Think_You_Are_Series_7_Monty_Don/

The Road to Fotheringhay, 21st - 29th July 2010

Wakefield Historical Society is organising a journey starting this week to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the death of Richard, Duke of York, at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. The journey will follow the route along which his body was later taken for reburial from Pontefract to Fotheringhay, staying each night at the places where the body rested. The Nottinghamshire section of the journey include the following events:

Friday 23^rd July 2010 at the Church of St Mary and St Martin, Blyth

6 pm Vespers of the Dead

6.30 pm Talk Seeing salvation and sacred imagery at Blyth Priory Church by Dr Jenny Alexander

Saturday 24th July 2010

Morning walk west of Retford

Two-mile walk led by local historian Joan Board, along a most atmospheric section of the route to the west of Retford, little altered by the developments of the last centuries but part of the main road to London at the period of Richard's funeral. Two ancient inns with a colourful history, now private houses, mark the start and finish of the walk. The walk is open to anyone, but please contact us in advance to arrange final times and place to meet on 01924 373658.

At the Church of St Nicholas, Tuxford le Clay

6 pm Vespers of the Dead

6.30 pm Talk Laxton - a medieval agricultural survival by Professor John Beckett

Sunday 25th July 2010

Afternoon walk at North Muskham

Walk led by local historian Madge Brown and the North Muskham History Group from North Muskham to South Muskham just north of Newark. The walk is open to anyone, but please contact us in advance to arrange final times and place to meet on 01924 373658.

At the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Newark

6 pm Vespers of the Dead

6.30 pm Talk Medieval Pilgrimage by Dr David Marcombe

See the Road to Fotheringhay website for further information.

Politics, Law and Society in Nottinghamshire: The Diaries of Godfrey Tallents of Newark, 1829-1839

An edition of the diaries of a Newark solicitor which throws light on the early days of the future Prime Minister, William Gladstone, when he was a local MP is being launched today.

Dr Richard Gaunt of Nottingham University has edited the diaries of Godfrey Tallents into one volume which mentions Tallent's friendship with Gladstone in the 1830s. "The diary also presents a vivid picture of local and national politics at the time of the Great Reform Act of 1832 and details some of the violently contested parliamentary elections in Newark."

Further information is available from the Nottinghamshire County Council website:

http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/prarticle.htm?id=133096&Leisure=t;

Robin Hood in The Guardian

There's an very interesting and entertaining article in today's Guardian newspaper about the Robin Hood legend. Among the several experts the journalist talks to is David Crook, editor of the Thoroton Society Record Series publications and former assistant keeper at The National Archives. David is currently writing a book about Robin Hood and thinks he has traced him to Yorkshire in 1225 (not music to the ears of Nottinghamshire's tourist industry!). He has discovered a character called Robert Hod (described as 'an outlaw and evildoer of our land') who may be the same person as Robert of Wetherby who was hunted down by the Sheriff of Nottingham and his men.

Fascinating stuff so I recommend you take a look at the whole article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/apr/14/robin-hood-russell-crowe

Blue plaques for Nottingham buildings

Nottingham Civic Society is starting a scheme to commemorate famous people and places in the city by erected Blue Plaques. The first two plaques will go up in the Spring on the Primark Store on Long Row (to commemorate the long-demolished Black Boy Hotel) and on a house on Manton Crescent in Lenton (marking the birthplace of Alan Sillitoe, author of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning).

The society is compiling a plaque list and asking for suggestions: please email hilarysilvester2002@yahoo.co.uk.

D H Lawrence on BBC1's One Show, 9 November

The 'A Place in a Book' feature on the next edition of BBC One's The One Show will focus on D H Lawrence's controversial novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover. Presenter Giles Brandreth will visit places associated with the novel in the author, including High Park wood at Moorgreen and the D H Lawrence Birthplace Museum on Victoria Street, Eastwood.

The One Show is broadcast on BBC1 at 7pm, 9 November 2009.

In the footsteps of Lord Byron

The actor Rupert Everett is presenting a two-part documentary on the travels of Lord Byron. The first episode is tonight (27 July) at 9pm.

The Channel 4 website describes Lord Byron as a "sex explorer, celebrity, and the original 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' hero of the Romantic movement" so it should arouse some interest!

Further information is available here:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-scandalous-adventures-of-lord-byron