The Hucknall Byron Festival, 28 June - 6 July 2014

The Byron Festival in Hucknall has only just come to my attention - not sure how that managed to fly under the radar! The programme is interesting and varied, including a 'Byron Afternoon Tea' at Colwick Hall (with a lecture by Prof John Beckett on Mary Chaworth and Colwick Hall), and various tours, lectures and performances.
The full programme is available on the International Association of Byron Societies' website.

CBA Festival of Archaeology in Nottinghamshire, 12-27 July 2014

Co-ordinated by the Council for British Archaeology, the Festival of Archaeology 2014 offers over 1,000 events nationwide, organised by museums, heritage organisations, national and country parks, universities, local societies, and community archaeologists.

There are a few events running in Nottinghamshire over the period:

• Iron Age Roundhouse Open Day in Calverton (27th July)
• WW1 commemoration display at Worksop Priory (2-3 August)
• Display of glass from the Mansfield Woodhouse Roman villa at Mansfield Museum (5-26 July)
• Dig and exhibition held by The Friends of Moor Pond Wood at Grange Cottage Wood, Papplewick (12-13 July)
• Ice age journeys - guided tours of excavation and display at Fandon
• Rufford Abbey excavation viewing days (14-18 July)

BBC TV programme on Chilwell Shell Filling Factory in World War I

'The Killing Factories', part of BBC's 'World War I at Home' series, is a fascinating look at the story of the Chilwell Shell Filling Factory and those that worked there. The factory produced more than 19 million shells: over half of all the shells fired by the British in the war. The factory was also the site of the worst single disaster on the Home Front when, in July 1918, a massive explosion wrecked it and killed 139 people.
The programme can be watched on BBC iPlayer for another 6 days:

• www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b045ghmj/world-war-i-at-home-the-killing-factories

Project to investigate Newark's Civil War siegeworks

The Archaeology Department at Sheffield University is working on a project with the National Civil War Centre at Newark to study the 17th-century siegeworks that surround the town. The earthworks were the subject of a comprehensive Royal Commission on Historic Monuments publication back in 1964 and the Newark Civil War Project 'will review this report in the light of subsequent archaeological research and will assess the potential of modern geophysical and topographical survey techniques to locate and record both upstanding and destroyed remains.'

• Newark Civil War Project page on the Sheffield University website
• Article on the project on the Newark Advertiser website.

Local history programme on Notts TV

Our new local TV channel, Notts TV, is broadcasting a new series on local history. The series is called 'Nottingham: Now and Then' and the first programme covers Nottingham's trams and the historic Lace Market district. See the Notts TV schedule for when it is being broadcast: www.nottstv.com/schedule

Transactions of the Thoroton Society, Volume 117 (2013)

The latest volume of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire has just been published. It includes the following articles:

• Archaeology in Nottinghamshire by Keith Challis (editor)
• A romantic royal retreat, and an idealised forest in miniature: the designed landscape of medieval Clipstone, at the heart of Sherwood Forest by Andy Gaunt and James Wright
• The interpretation of field walking finds from Bingham in the post-medieval to modern periods by Peter Allen and Geoff Ashton
• The Soke of Dunham and its Liberties in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries by David Crook
• Annual History Lecture: The emotional landscape of Sir Thomas Parkyns of Bunny by Lizbeth Powell
• Fee trees and rogue verderers in early eighteenth century Sherwood Forest by Sara Morrison
• The Newark Navigation 1740-c1850 by Stanley Chapman
• The much lamented late Lord Byron: Nottinghamshire Visitors to St Mary's, Hucknall 1825-1834 by Ralph Lloyd-Jones
• 'Hanging For Sheep Hanging's Sake?' Convicted Murderers and the Nottingham Press 1850-1880 by Matthew Grogan

Further details are available on the Thoroton Society website.

New books (May 2014)

Amberley Publishing have just sent me a copy of Nottingham from old photographs to review. It is yet another book in their attractive series of pictorial local history books. The author, Joseph Earp, is Team Leader of the Nottingham Hidden History Team and a large number of the photographs in the book come from the collection of the late Paul Nix who was a founder member of the team back in 1965.

The book aims to provide a 'new side to Nottingham's ever changing history' by making good use of this collection and it is interesting to see a wide range of hitherto unseen views of the city, particularly those from the destructive 1960s. The photographs of Maid Marian Way under construction and the demolition of the Black Boy Hotel and Victoria Station are a sad reminder of what we've lost.

• Amberley Publishing website

Southwell & District Local History Society have just published Southwell at War: 1914-1919, an account of Southwell during World War I. It contains biographical details of the 650 Southwell men who served in the war and includes a list of over 550 men from the surrounding villages. Other chapters include the news stories covered by the Newark Advertiser, the 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters on the Western Front, the South Notts Hussars in the Middle East, life on the home front and individual stories of tragedy and heroism.

• Southwell & District Local History Society website

Archaeological news (May 2014)

Several archaeological projects are taking place in Nottinghamshire this year.

'Toton Unearthed' is a community archaeology project between the Friends of Toton Fields Group and Broxtowe Borough Council, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The archaeological work is being carried out by Trent & Peak Archaeology who are based in nearby Chilwell. The project aims to locate the mills and manor house in Toton by carrying out non-intrusive surveys, digging of test pits, and excavation over three phases. Further details from the Toton Unearthed website.

Attenborough & Erewash Heritage Rescue: In partnership with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, TPA are also working on a new community archaeology project based at the Attenborough Nature Reserve. Volunteer 'explorers' are tracking down 'lost' artefacts that were extracted from the reserve during quarrying activity over the last century and are now scattered across various museums and collections. "By creating a photographic catalogue and working with maps and records, they will weave the artefacts into an accessible narrative detailing Attenborough's past that will be presented in an exhibition as part of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s 50 year celebrations". The exhibition will be held on the 10th-11th May at the Attenborough Nature Centre. Anyone wishing to take part should contact Genevieve Carter at TPA.

Mercian Archaeological Services are organising a week long Training Field School at King John's palace, Kings Clipstone, 25th-29th August 2014 or 1st - 5th September 2014. Participants will learn about all aspects of archaeological excavation and receive hands on training and learning from archaeological professionals. To book a place visit and for more information:  http://www.mercian-as.co.uk/fieldschool.html

Mercian AS are also running the Robin Hood's Village Dig in July. This forms part of the Festival of British Archaeology and the dig will run from the 14th - 26th of July with an open day on Saturday the 26th.

The free volunteer dig is being run in conjunction with the Edwinstowe Historical Society and will investigate the development of the village through test- pitting.

Free guided walk: 'In the Footsteps of the Chartists', 1 June 2014

Exhibition: The First World War in The University of Nottingham’s Historic Collections

A new exhibition at the University of Nottingham's Weston Gallery 'looks at the war through the eyes of the people who experienced it - from the soldier on the battlefield to the worker in the munitions factory, from the volunteer nurse to the wife and mother, and from the British ‘Tommy’ to the German ‘Fritz’'.

The exhibition runs from on the 9th May to 17th August and a series of talks will be held to accompany it. Admission is free. More information is available on the Nottingham University website.

Contemporary Biographies (1901)

I've just added 341 biographies of the leading inhabitants of the county in 1901 to my Nottinghamshire History website. The profiles and photographs were originally published in a lavishly produced book called Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire at the Opening of the Twentieth Century; [and] Contemporary Biographies and provide a fascinating insight into the movers and shakers of Nottinghamshire in the final year of Queen Victoria's reign.
The biographies start with what the book's editors considered to be the elite members of county society (the 6th Duke of Portland, the Bishop of Southwell, the High Sherriff, the Mayor of Nottingham and Members of Parliament) and includes the nobility and gentry, the professions (military, clergy, doctors and dentists, lawyers, architects, engineers, stockbrokers and accountants), businessmen and industrialists, and sportsmen.
Facial hair was extremely fashionable at the time and the portraits show an impressively wide range of styles!

• Nottinghamshire History website

New historical guides to walking and cycling in Nottingham

Chris Matthews has designed and written two historical guides to walking and cycling in the Nottingham suburbs of Aspley and Bilborough. These well produced and informative guides are freely available from most public libraries in the city or can be downloaded from his website (where you can also find Blog entries to accompany the guides):

• A New World: Blog & Booklet
• Garden City: Blog & Booklet

There is also a launch event at St John's Church in Bilborough on Saturday, 5th April (6-8pm), which will include a talk about the history of the area with 'specially sourced archive film footage'.

'I worked at Raleigh' website launched

Nottingham University and Excavate (formerly Hanby & Barratt) have collaborated on a new website that aims to capture 'the voices and stories of local people who worked at Raleigh.' The Raleigh bicycle factory on Triumph Road in Radford closed in 2002 and the website holds a range of audio recordings and short films that provide a comprehensive overview of what it was like to work at one of Nottingham's most important companies.

• I worked at Raleigh website
• Nottingham Evening Post article

"Community Archaeology in the East Midlands" conference, 5th April 2014

Mercian Archaeological Services CIC are holding a Spring Conference, "Community Archaeology in the East Midlands," on the 5th April at Nottingham University Museum conference room.

 

The day begins at 9.30am with talks beginning from 10am. The museum will be open throughout the day and there will be displays of community archaeology around the site.

 

For further information see the Mercian Archaeology website.

Nottinghamshire Local History Association Spring Day School, 'A river runs through it: the Trent and its communities since c.1750', 22nd March 2014

The Nottinghamshire Local History Association's Spring Day School is entitled 'A river runs through it. The Trent and its communities since c.1750' and will take place at the Village Hall, Ravenshead on Saturday 22nd March 2014.

The cost is £7 for NLHA members and £8 for non-members. Booking is not required but you can secure a place by contacting David Anderson (treasurer@nlha.org.uk).
Speakers:

• Philip Riden - Trade and traffic on the Trent since 1850: an overview. 
• Hywel Maslen - New sources for the recent history of the Trent at the Waterways Archives. 
• Wendy Freer - Life on board boats on the Trent in the 19th and 20th centuries. 
• Hes Kapur and Les Reid - The Newark Heritage Barge: achievements and plans.