20 September 2013

New books on Worksop and East Midlands Canals

Amberley Publishing have sent me copies of two new titles in their attractively produced 'Through Time' series.

'Worksop through time' by Retford author and photographer, Sally Outram, includes a good selection of photographs showing how the town has changed over the past 130 years or so. She also includes images of the country houses in the neighbouring Dukeries, such as Clumber, Welbeck and Rufford.

Worksop's history tends to be overlooked so it is good to have reminders of its best built heritage: for example, the early 12th century priory church, the impressive 14th century priory gatehouse, the earthworks of the castle, Worksop Manor Lodge (dating from 1590), the railway station and Albion Mill. Unfortunately, some of the then-and-now images give a sadder impression of Worksop in the early 21st century. For example, the decline of the pub is exemplified by The French Horn on Potter Street, a splendid example of Edwardian exuberance with its distinctive green-glazed tiling and colourful architectural details, which closed in 2007 and now has boarded-up windows. Other photographs record architectural losses in the town, for example, the charming cottage hospital that stood on Memorial Avenue was demolished in 1996 and replaced by an undistinguished Farmfoods store and the fine Victorian Priorwell Brewery was pulled down in 1962; a dull red-brick archway and some office buildings are all that survive.

Ray Shill's contribution to the series is 'East Midlands Canals - Soar, Trent, Derby, Leicester & Nottingham - Through Time'. The author takes a chronological approach to the development of canals in the region and has chosen his images well. Nottinghamshire canals mentioned and illustrated are the Nottingham Canal, the Trent Navigation, the Chesterfield Canal and the Grantham Canal.

The Nottinghamshire Bibliography Online is launched

The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire held an event at Bromley House Library in Nottingham yesterday to launch The Nottinghamshire Bibliography Online. The Bibliography provides a single web-based means of access to bibliographic sources for the history of the city of Nottingham and county of Nottinghamshire.

23 July 2013

New book: East Coast Main Line Disasters

Nottinghamshire-based author, Adrian Gray, has recently published a fascinating book examining fatal disasters on one of Britain's premier rail routes, from Newham Bog (Northumberland) in 1847 to Great Heck near Selby in 2001. 

The East Coast Line has run through the east of Nottinghamshire since the mid-19th century and Adrian discusses several accidents along this stretch, including disasters in Retford in 1873 and 1923 and one south of Newark in 1870 that left 18 dead.

The official launch of the book will be held at The Well on Hospital Road, Retford on 16th Spetember at 7.30pm. Adrian will give an illustrated talk about the various key accidents on the route.

Heritage Open Days in Nottinghamshire, September 2013

Heritage Open Days celebrates England’s fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to places that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission. This September over 70 events and places can be seen, including:
  • Bromley House Library in Nottingham
  • Classic cars and buses at Bartons in Chilwell
  • Tour of Lilac Grove Sewage Treatment Works in Beeston (!)
  • The thatched dovecote at Thoroton, near Bingham
  • Guided walks around the timber-framed buildings of Newark and Civil War sites
  • Tour of the D10 factory at Boots and a chance to browse through the Boots archives
  • North Leverton windmill
  • Trinity Hospital, Retford (established in 1671)
  • Worksop Priory gatehouse
Full details are available on the Heritage Open Days website.

2 July 2013

Nottinghamshire Open Churches Weekends, July 2013

For the fourth year, churches across Nottinghamshire will be unlocked and welcoming visitors on the 13th - 14th July (northern half of the county) and the 20th - 21st July (southern half of the county).

This year over half of all churches across the county are taking part; either by simply opening their doors
and welcoming visitors, or by offering refreshments and staging additional activities and events.

14 June 2013

Nottinghamshire's Great War Roll of Honour

Nottinghamshire County Council has commissioned the county's first ever Great War Roll of Honour dedicated to the men and women of the county who died in World War I and will contain the names of 11,500 servicemen and women. The information is being compiled by a team of volunteers using war memorials, stained glass windows and plaques in buildings all over Nottinghamshire.

There will also be a Nottinghamshire Great War Centenary Exhibition at Nottingham Castle from July to November 2014. "Marking one hundred years since the outbreak of World War I, this exhibition will explore the experiences of Nottinghamshire people, at home and at war, whether by land, sea or in the air, through powerful visual images, artefacts and tours of city and county Great War landmarks."

The Roll of Honour and exhibition form part of 'From the Trent to the Trenches', a major programme of events and activities taking place in 2014 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

13 June 2013

Events and exhibitions at Nottinghamshire Archives

A varied programme of events and exhibitions over the summer has been announced by Nottinghamshire Archives:

Wednesday Workshops

19 June: Records of Royalty
17 July: Apprenticeship
21 August: Hospital and asylum records

Each workshop starts at 2.30pm and costs £4.

Archive Skills Workshops

30 July: Reading Parish Registers (English)
6 August: Reading Parish Registers (Latin)
13 August: Interpreting Dates

Summer Talk

9 July: Local, National & International – RAF Ancestral Research
This talk starts at 6.30pm and is free.

Nottinghamshire’s People: Ancestral Stories from the Archives

7 June – 1 September 2013 at the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre
Admission free

Lunchtime Talks (to accompany the exhibition)

(All talks are free and can be booked by contacting the Lakeside Arts Centre Box Office on 0115 846 7777)
26 June and 9 July: Students, Sinners and Surveys
3 July: Weaving My Family Tapestry
7 August: Unlocking the Parish Chest:
14 August: Kinship and Connectedness

For further information visit the Nottinghamshire Archives Events page.

17 May 2013

Archaeology at Rufford Abbey, July 2013

The Community Archaeologists at Nottingham County Council are organising a volunteer dig at Rufford from 1st to the 12th July.

The first week (1st-5th July) will be run as a field school and will examine the foundations of an ornamental gateway at the north end of the Broad Drive, near to the mill. It is intended that the week will be "ideal for people who want to get a proper introduction to professional excavation techniques."

The second week (8th-12th July) will see the excavation of a disused water channel and studying the former garden features in an attempt to understand their layout.

For further information or to book a place email (community.archaeology@nottscc.gov.uk) or phone on 0115 969 6525.

10 May 2013

Local History Fair at Mansfield Library, 19 May 2013

There is a FREE local history fair at Mansfield Library on Sunday 19 May, between 11am and 3 pm.

There will be local history displays, screenings of old films of Nottinghamshire, demonstration of conservation techniques for documents and books by specialist staff from Nottinghamshire Archives with practical advice on how to take care of your own family documents, craft demonstrations, free children's activities, displays of old photographs and local history books on sale.

Further information and directions are here: http://www.experiencenottinghamshire.com/whats-on/the-great-nottinghamshire-local-history-fair-2013-p550281

7 May 2013

Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire

The latest volume of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire has just been published. It includes the following articles:
  • The Origins of Nottingham: Archaeological Investigations in the Medieval Town from 1969 to 1980 by David Knight, Scott Lomax and Gordon Young
  • Community archaeology at Thynghowe, Birklands, Sherwood Forest by Lynda Mallett, Stuart Reddish, John Baker, Stuart Brookes and Andy Gaunt
  • Bingham Hall and the Porter Family: A New Interpretation of the 'Deserted Medieval Village' at Crow Close, Bingham, Nottinghamshire by Adrian Henstock & Peter Allen
  • Coal mining in medieval Nottinghamshire: consumers and producers in a nascent industry by Richard Goddard
  • Dr George Ridding: First Bishop of Southwell, 1884-1904 by J.V. Beckett
  • 'And many of the little ones died' Public health, sanitation and weather in early 20th century Nottingham by John Wilson
Further details are available on the Thoroton Society website.

23 April 2013

Annesley Hall and Church on BBC East Midlands Today, 23 April 2013

The east front of Annesley Hall in 2003.
Tonight's edition of BBC East Midlands Today on BBC1 at 6.30 will feature Annesley Hall and church.

17 April 2013

Nottinghamshire's People events

The Nottinghamshire Ancestral Tourism Partnership has organised a programme of genealogical events and activities in the county throughout 2013. Highlights include:
  • 7 June - 1 September: Exhibition by Nottinghamshire Archives and Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham
  • June-August: Lunchtime talks
  • April-October: Nottingham Central Library talks
  • 19 May: The Great Nottinghamshire Local History Fair at Mansfield Library
  • 15 June: Boots Archives event at Lenton House, University of Nottingham
  • 16 June and 30 June: Talks on the Pilgrim Fathers at Babworth Church and Scrooby Village Hall
  • 22 June: Nottinghamshire Family History Society Family History Day at the Galleries of Justice
  • June-September: Worksop Library exhibitions, talks and walks
  • 29-30 June: Bassetlaw Museum Farm Festival
  • 9 July: Newark Air Museum talk at Nottinghamshire Archives
  • July-August: Nottinghamshire Family History Society Monumental Inscription Recording at Mansfield Cemetery
Full details can be downloaded from the Experience Nottinghamshire website.

27 March 2013

Event: Transport and Trade on the Trent, 1850–1970

Transport and Trade on the Trent, 1850–1970 is a University of Nottingham day school, organised in association with the Friends of Newark Heritage Barge and the Railway & Canal Historical Society. It will take place on Saturday, 18th May 2013 at The Newark Academy on London Road, Newark.

The university has been awarded a substantial grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to undertake a one-year research project on the history of the Trent between the mid-19th century and the end of commercial carrying on the river around 1970. The day school is an opportunity for university staff to introduce the project and describe what is planned.

Conference: 'Archaeology and Landscape in the Trent Valley'

Archaeology and Landscape in the Trent Valley, the Fourth Trent Valley GeoArchaeology Conference, will take place on Wednesday 15th May 2013 at the British Geological Survey in Keyworth.

"This year’s conference provides a forum for discussion of a wide range of projects, including research on early hunter- gatherer communities, later prehistoric and Roman landscape change, cultural resource management and developments in site prospection techniques."

The conference programme and booking form are available on the Trent & Peak Archaeology website.