Robert Mee can present a number of illustrated talks for your group.  Robert is a qualified trainer and is on the Derbyshire Directory Speakers List;  holds an M.A. in English Local History from the University of Leicester (2014);  has conducted several research projects around Heanor, and is a volunteer research assistant at Leicester University;  writes for local magazines and newsletters, as well as managing the website for the Heanor & District Local History Society; and  has written two books on the Heanor/Langley Mill area.

Presentations currently available include:

• Nottinghamshire Castles (from January 2017): 11 definite castle sites, and a few more besides!
• A Derbyshire Railway Outing (from February 2017): Snippets of history from around the county, during a railway tour using a 1920s timetable.
• Aldercar and Langley Mill – 1000 Years in 60 Minutes (from November 2016): A look at all aspects of the village (not just its industry!)
• Derbyshire Associations for the Prosecution of Felons, 1703-2014: virtually every parish had one, but who were they, and what did they do?
• Policing in 19th-Century Derbyshire: the establishment and early days of the county and borough constabularies.
• Bradshaw’s, and an Early Railway Tour: the famous railway timetable, and a mystery tour!
• Derbyshire’s Castles: you can probably name two or three of them, but what about the rest?
• Vic Hallam – One Man and his Company: from the 1920s to the 1990s, the leading producer of pre-fabricated buildings (and much more) in the country.
• Crime in Langley Mill 1891 – 1930: not just the crimes, but an interpretation of changes in the pattern of crime, applicable to any community in this period.
• Morlestan – South East Derbyshire before the Norman Conquest: the administrative and landscape history of the early medieval period.
• A History of Smalley: from medieval times to modern open-casting.
• Wheels of Industry – Langley Mill: reportedly the “most industrialised village” in the country – what didn’t Langley Mill produce?
• History along the Erewash Valley Trail: The Erewash Valley Trail is a 30 mile cycle and foot path which opened in 2011
• A Potted History of Heanor: the name says it all really.
• Heanor Grammar School: the first maintained mixed secondary school in the Derbyshire – its history from beginning to end!
• Mine’s a Pint (Public Houses in the Heanor Area): a rapidly disappearing establishment, this talk looks at the pubs of the Heanor area over the centuries.

All presentations are fully illustrated. They normally last from 50 to 90 minutes, but can be adjusted to suit your needs. Robert is often available at short-notice, if, for example, a speaker cancels. Fees are £50, plus expenses if over 40 miles (return from West Hallam) involved. Contact: email: RobertMMee@btinternet.com telephone 0115 9327495

The Nottingham City Heritage Partnership will be launched  on Saturday 26th November at the Council House Ballroom, Old Market Square, Nottingham. The Partnership will be formed from a network of community, private and public organisations across the city with an interest in Nottingham’s heritage; which includes historic buildings, caves and buried archaeology, historic green spaces and the traditions and customs that add to the shared story of the city. The Partnership will be a forum where skills, experience and resources can be shared and combined.

If you would like to help shape the future of Nottingham’s Heritage through improving our understanding of heritage, through projects to capitalise on our past or help to celebrate and promote the historic environment in the city then come along to this free event and have your say. The event will include speakers, workshops and networking opportunities so that we can share the great experience and knowledge available in the city to help safeguard the future of our heritage.

Programme

• 9.30 Registration
• 10.0 Welcome to the day – Cllr Nick McDonald
• 10.15 Setting the Scene –John Beckett
• 10.40 Creative Regeneration in the Lace Market –Kathy McArdle
• 11.0 Q&A
• 11.10 Tea
• 11.30 Local List – Alice Ullathorne and Ian Wells
• 11.50 Workshop 1 – Heritage and Identity in Nottingham – North, Central, South – enriching the local list
• 12.30 Lunch
• 2.0 Nottingham Heritage Strategy and Partnership – Peter Ellis
• 2.15 Nottingham Projects – 3 Nottingham Projects – Malt Cross, Friends of Nottingham Museums, Mapping Nottingham’s Identity
• 2.45 Tea
• 3.15 Workshop 2 – Working Together – Shaping the Heritage Strategy and Partnership
• 3.45 Next Steps –Year 2 Action Plan
• 4.00 Closing Remarks – Sheriff of Nottingham

Booking will be through an EventBrite website which is live now at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nottingham-heritage-partnership-launch-tickets-27928281241

More information about Nottingham City Heritage Strategy is available at:

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/article/30396/Nottingham-Heritage-Strategy

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/nottingham-heritage-stategy/

We are delighted to announce the launch of Heritage Trust Network, the new name for UK Association of Building Preservation Trusts (UKAPT), originally established in 1989 as a grass roots umbrella organisation offering guidance and support to building preservation trusts. The new organisation is the result of a recent and significant period of transition, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It will take forward the best of the last 27 years of UKAPT but with a broader remit, supporting all forms of not-for-profit groups who are breathing life and enterprise into the UK’s threatened historic places. Sarah McLeod, Chair of Heritage Trust Network, who has been leading the transition process said, “Over the last 12 months, our organisation, including members and advisors, has been exploring how we can ensure our charity is resilient and fit for purpose. We will continue working to support members across nine regions, whilst developing new partnerships with other heritage organisations and funders, widening our membership. We will of course continue to provide a national voice for heritage regeneration. The change to Heritage Trust Network is more than just a name change; it’s an exciting new chapter in our organisation’s history which will bring greater benefits to everyone involved in tackling historic buildings and heritage assets at risk.” New features of Heritage Trust Network include:  A specific membership package for individuals working in the heritage sector as well as a new Corporate Supporters offer, meaning that more people are now able to benefit from the expertise of the network  A new Start Up Membership for fledgling groups. This package, which includes visits to live projects, is designed for new unconstituted groups who are considering starting a project.  An interactive Toolkit with new and improved guidance notes  A Talent Bank on the website where Corporate Supporters and Full Members can advertise their services and expertise, providing a useful go-to list of heritage professionals.

The new website www.heritagetrustnetwork.org.uk will go ‘live’ from the end of August, and Heritage Trust Network will be launched officially at HTN’s inaugural national conference in Birmingham in October – Extraordinary People, Extraordinary Projects.

This summer, the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections team celebrated ten years at King’s Meadow Campus.

To celebrate, the team hosted a public open day on Friday 9 September to thank everyone who has supported them over the past decade. Highlights included a behind-the-scenes tour of the department, displays of archives and rare books and a formal opening of the newly-refurbished Reading Room by Registrar Dr Paul Greatrix.

The tour highlighted the team’s work on conservation, where guests were talked through the process of conserving and repairing of materials. Visitors were then taken around the store spanning 8km of shelving, followed by a look into the digitisation studio, which creates digital copies of archived material.

Speaking at the open day, Dr Greatrix said: “I am delighted to reopen the Manuscripts and Special Collections Reading Room. These facilities are about making sure the University’s wealth of resources are accessible to staff, students and the general public. The team do a fantastic job involving the local community with a range of events and opportunities, including the Francis Willoughby exhibition currently on display in the Weston Gallery.”

Manuscripts and Special Collections were based in Hallward Library from 1973, but as student numbers grew and space was limited the department moved in 2006 to the former Carlton TV Studios on King’s Meadow Campus, bringing with it 3 million manuscripts and 40,000 rare books.

Staff, students and the public are welcome to view their printed, manuscript and archive collections spanning over 800 years with archive dating from the 1180s and books dating from the 1490s. The department also regularly hosts free exhibitions – you can currently view Francis Willughby: a Natural Historian and his Collections in the Weston Gallery at Lakeside Arts. The exhibition tells the story of the life and work of Willughby, who combined his interests in Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire with a passion to understand the natural world.

For more about Manuscripts and Special Collections have a look at www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/index.aspx

Geoffrey Bond, a long-standing member of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, generously provided funds in 2015 to support research into the history and archaeology of the county of Nottinghamshire. Geoffrey’s award continues for a further four years for which we are most grateful.

Last year, the first year of the award, there were some excellent submissions and it was decided that two of them should share the £1000 available, each receiving £500 to help support their ongoing research projects. One was a community project exploring through various means, including archaeological investigation, the role of Kelham in the Civil War; the other comprised research into the historic dissemination of political information and of the formation of political ideas. We look forward to reading more of their work in due course, hopefully in future editions of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society.

Due to the success of the 2015 award, it has been decided to increase the amount available – the Society will be making a further £1000 available from its funds, making the total available £2000. This is hoped to encourage more of our members, as well as other organisations and individuals, to undertake research into areas of the county’s history and archaeology of interest to them and, hopefully, that we will all wish to learn more about. Again, it may well be that the amount available will be awarded to more than one project.

The terms and conditions of the award  can be found at www.thorotonsociety.org.uk/bond-awards.htm – the closing date for submissions of research outlines is 1^st October 2016. Please send them to Barbara Cast barbaracast@btinternet.com

Help is currently needed in the following areas:

• Churchyard maintenance
• Stewards
• Guides
• Buildings maintenance
• Fundraisers
• Gardeners
• Cleaners
• Heritage and education
• Leaflet distribution

For more information or an informal chat please contact Natasha Scullion, Activities and Volunteer Co-ordinator, telephone 07821 156909 or email natasha@stmartinsbilborough.org.uk

Or come and take a look round the church, see the Evelyn Gibbs murals and see how you could help.

Have a look at www.stmartinsbilborough.org.uk for further information about the church.

An unusual partnership is raising a glass of English bitter to celebrate the 45th anniversary of a Nottinghamshire Museum. The Radford-based Nottingham Brewery has created a brand new ale, dubbed ‘Frame Breaker’, to help the Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington celebrate this very special occasion.

For every pint of the beer sold in a Nottingham Brewery pub, 20p will be donated to the Museum’s Redevelopment & Expansion Appeal, which aims to transform their current site and expand the Museum into adjoining premises. The Nottingham Brewery’s three pubs are The Frame Breakers in Ruddington, The Plough Inn (Brewery Tap) in Radford and the Ned Ludd in Nottingham city centre.

Philip Darby, Managing Director at Nottingham Brewery, said: “We’re very pleased to pair up with the award-winning Framework Knitters Museum, as the partnership sits well with the historical association that the Brewery has always had with the city of Nottingham. At the same time, we’re keen to raise the city’s profile to a wider audience and show people that Nottingham isn’t just about Robin Hood and the Sheriff – and the museum is a very good place to glimpse a different part of our rich history.”

To create the new beer, Nottingham Brewery took inspiration from a recipe dating back to 1726 to produce a traditional, tawny-coloured English bitter. With a relatively low ABV of 3.8%, ‘Frame Breaker’ is similar to the kind of ales that framework knitters would have drunk in the days when beer was safer to drink than water. ‘Frame Breaker’ was launched at the Museum’s 45th anniversary celebration at their annual Garden Party on Bank Holiday Monday, where guests enjoyed free samples of the brew while enjoying the sunshine in the historic Framework Knitters Yard.

Paul Baker, manager at the Framework Knitters Museum, said: “The beer is the first officially joint activity of what we hope will be a really interesting partnership with Nottingham Brewery. We’re in talks about some very exciting plans for the future, with ideas ranging from special fundraising dishes on The Frame Breakers food menu, to joint promotions and events. Keep an eye on our social media pages to find out what’s happening next.”

For more information on Nottingham Brewery, you can visit www.nottinghambrewery.co.uk, and for the Framework Knitters Museum please visit www.frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk

Stephen has been on the speaking circuit since 2008 presenting on a variety of subjects including Local, Industrial, Social and Family History. Based near Ilkeston in Derbyshire he is a very active member of the Ilkeston and District Local History Society. Stephen has also participated in the production of several publications, either by himself or on behalf of his local history society.

His current program of subjects covers local, family, social and industrial history. All are Powerpoint presentations except a couple which utilise film footage on DVD He carries all his own equipment but is happy to use any in-house equipment if available.

• Terror from the Skies – January 1916 the night the Zeppelins came
• Catherine Crompton’s Diary. In 1865 Catherine married a member of one of Derbyshire’s wealthiest families. From 1867 till 1897 she kept a diary. But was there more to her story than first meets the eye?
• The Life and Travels of Robert Bruce Napoleon Walker: Or what do the Battle of Trafalgar, an African Princess and my wife got in common?
• A Family History Presentation along the lines of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?
• Stanton-Gone but not Forgotten:  The Story of the Iron Dale. Situated between Nottingham and Derby the works once occupied an area of over three square miles and employed upwards of 10,000 workers. This is a potted and sometimes humorous history of the Stanton Iron Works.
• The History Beneath Our Feet. In 2001 a chance comment by an Ilkeston resident led to the discovery of Ilkeston’s first major archaeological discovery. Over a period of four years members of the local history society uncovered the remains of two hitherto unknown structures and a wealth of archaeological material which provided a unique insight into the town’s past.
• A Taste of Tudor Ilkeston. Utilising Parish Records, Wills, Court Rolls and the oldest known map of Ilkeston (dated 1598). Gain an insight into what day-to-day life was like in a typical 16th Century village.
• Stanton on Film. Ever wondered how an iron works operated?  This presentation utilises film footage, some of which was taken in the 1930s, shows how one of the largest industries in Derbyshire once operated. This presentation is a DVD – the original film having been transferred to disk.
• Stanton at War 1939-1945. Utilising remarkable film footage taken in 1943 this presentation tells the story of Stanton’s contribution to armaments production during the Second World War. This presentation is a DVD – the original film having been transferred to disk.
• OWD ILSON (or to those from further afield ‘Old Ilkeston’) A light-hearted introduction to the history of this ancient Derbyshire town.

Stephen currently charges £35 plus mileage if over a certain distance from Sandiacre, Derbyshire.

Available throughout the year and for last-minute requests.

Telephone: 0115 854 8373
Mobile 07791709499
email: stephenflinders@sky.com

NOTE: This is for guidance only. You need to check the details directly with Stephen

The British Horological Institute Museum, based at Upton Hall, near Newark, Nottinghamshire are delighted to announce that BT have formally donated the original Speaking Clock machines from 1936 and 1963 to the museum, where they have been on loan and on display for almost thirty years. BT will also be donating a digital Mark IV Clock, from 1985 which was recently recovered from Liverpool. David Hay, head of BT Heritage, said: “Eighty years ago BT’s technology first created the Speaking Clock and it remains a much-loved part of British life today. Celebrating in this way demonstrates BT’s determination to preserve the heritage of the world’s oldest communications company on behalf of the nation.” An example of the first Speaking Clock of 1936 (Mark I) is held at the BHI Museum, and was voiced by Ethel Cain, a telephone exchange operator from Croydon. She won the original 1936 Speaking Clock competition, after being selected from a total of 15,000 female telephonists who were in Post Office employment at the time. Britain’s second Speaking Clock (Mark III), also held at the BHI museum, was released in 1963, taking over from the 1936 machine. It was voiced by Pat Simmons, a supervisor at a London telephone exchange who won a second internal Post Office competition, with a reward of £500, to become the next voice of the Speaking Clock. This new donation, courtesy of BT, will see a third Speaking Clock join the Museum. In 1985 this Speaking Clock (Mark IV) took over from the 1963 machine. It was voiced by Brian Cobby, a voiceover artist and assistant supervisor at a telephone exchange in Brighton, who won a third competition amongst Post Office Employees. As a result of this new donation the BHI Museum will be able to tell the full story of the Speaking Clock from its initiation in 1936 through to the takeover of the current Speaking Clock in 2007. The present machine, located in London, is currently voiced by Sara Mendes da Costa, who won a public fundraising competition ran by BT for Children In Need 2006, to become the Speaking Clock’s fourth voice. The donation is being made in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the release of the first Speaking Clock in 1936, alongside BT’s launch of a new competition giving people across the UK the chance to go down in history and become the new permanent voice of the iconic BT Speaking Clock, as announced on the BBC’s The One Show. Aspiring voice artists should visit www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow where they will find full details of how to enter. The competition closes at 10pm on Monday 29 August 2016. Ashley Strachan, chairman of the British Horological Museum Trust, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to accept the donation of the Speaking Clocks from BT. We’ve been proud to be custodians of the Mark I and Mark III machines on loan since the late 1980s, with both pieces regularly stealing the show during Museum events. The arrival of the Mark IV machine, which features the Speaking Clock’s only male voice, will complete the BHI Museum’s set of voices. Once the machine is up and running with the help of our expert team of horologists, we hope to be the only place in the world where three different Speaking Clocks can be both seen and heard and look forward to unveiling this generous donation to Museum visitors courtesy of BT.” Visitors can look forward to seeing the Museum’s existing collection of the 1936 and 1963 machines during the Museum’s forthcoming open day on Sunday 30 October 2016.

For further information please contact the Museum Manager Eleanor Baumber at bhimuseum@bhi.co.uk or on 01636 817 601.

Thursday 25 August – Sunday 18 September 2016

Celebrate one of the UK’s most controversial authors in and around his hometown of Eastwood.

A programme of talks, exhibitions, readings, special events and workshops will explore the different facets of D.H. Lawrence’s works and personalities. Previous events have seen special exhibitions of some of Lawrence’s rare writings and paintings.

The 2016 festival programme is packed with events celebrating both the life and work of D H Lawrence and the rich heritage and culture of the part of Nottinghamshire where he was born and raised, and which so influenced his work.

Every year there is a huge variety of events on offer including walks, talks, tours, film screenings, concerts, reading groups and more.

Please download a copy of the D H Lawrence Festival programme for further details