Inspire (formerly Nottinghamshire County Library Service) has a range of 150 titles of which 5 may be of particular interest to local historians
They can accessed on your device from anywhere by joining an Inspire library (formerly Nottinghamshire County Libraries) and following this link:
An exciting new art gallery that will celebrate Nottinghamshire Artists is opening to the public on Saturday 30 April. The Chapel Gallery, which will be located in the former Methodist Chapel at the Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, is a new partnership project between the museum and the Nottingham Society of Artists (NSA).
The new exhibition space will be the only public art gallery south of the River Trent in Nottinghamshire, and will operate as an annexe to the main NSA gallery at St Luke’s House on Friar Lane in the city centre. It will exhibit a variety of artworks from Nottinghamshire Artists, showcasing different styles, media and subject matter. New exhibitions
will start every 6 to 8 weeks, and the first will feature works from popular local artists Colin Treliving, Maureen Copley and Roger Crooks.
Nigel Boughton-Smith from the Nottingham Society of Artists, said, “We’re all really excited about this new partnership with such a widely renowned, award winning museum. It’s fantastic to have such a great space as an additional venue for us to exhibit more of the amazing work Nottinghamshire artists produce, providing the perfect opportunity to bring art into the community. There will be the chance for visitors to meet some of the artists, and even watch them at work in the Chapel.”
Paul Baker, museum manager at the Framework Knitters Museum, added, “All the artworks exhibited at the Chapel Gallery will be for sale, with 15% of all sales being put towards the museum’s plans to redevelop our existing buildings and expand into the adjacent property, Gunn Cottage, which separates the main museum site from the Chapel. The project really is a win-win for everyone concerned as it will help the museum raise much-needed funds, boost awareness for the NSA and its artists, and provide a fantastic new tourist attraction for the area.”
Once launched, the Chapel Gallery will be open Friday to Sunday during the museum’s usual trading hours. From April the museum will be open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4:30pm and Sunday from 1:30pm to 4:30pm. Entrance to the Chapel Gallery will be free, whilst normal admission fees apply to the museum. The museum shop and café will be open to all visitors, as well as the general public, to purchase refreshments and souvenirs as usual.
If you’d like to know more about the Chapel Gallery project, please contact the museum on 0115 984 6914. Further details of the exhibition and event programme will soon be available on their website, www.frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk For information on the NSA, please visit www.nottinghamartists.org.uk
NLHA member Philip Jones is researching the Victorian and Edwardian formal and kitchen gardens at Newstead Abbey, and also the lives of the gardeners who worked there. He would be interested in receiving copies of old photographs and colour transparencies of the gardens (particularly any taken before 1965 when the glasshouses were demolished) and also any ephemera such as letters and diaries which mention the gardens. He already has copies of most of the guide books ever published, and a good collection of Edwardian postcards. Any information he receives will be incorporated into a future publication, and some of it will be used in the garden history tours which he is running for members of the public at Newstead Abbey during the summer months.
Anyone with information should contact Philip at philedjones@yahoo.co.uk
Thanks!
Robert Howard has begun an ambitious project to track down and map all of the local history groups in Nottinghamshire.
Many of these groups are already listed in our Useful Links section.
This is a model water mill which was donated to Wollaton Historical & Conservation Society for display at the Wollaton Village Dovecote Museum several years ago. This beautiful example of workmanship and technically accurate model was made to a very high standard by a local Wollaton craftsman who used innovative materials for the internal detail, which is all in perspective. It is a fully working model with a water tank and pump, operated by an electric motor. The dimensions are approximately 27” wide, 18” deep and 30” high.
It used to be on display and working but hasn’t been in recent years. Since there was never a water mill in Wollaton the Historical & Conservation Society feel that it is time to move this creative model to a more appropriate setting where it can be fully appreciated.
Anyone who is interested should contact
Angela Gilbert
Secretary, Wollaton Historical & Conservation Society
Trustee of Wollaton Village Dovecote Museum
Tel 0115 9283414
E-mail Angela.gilbert@live.co.uk
Nottingham CIC, LandLiesFallow has received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Young Roots, to deliver a project called Sherwood Forest on Your Doorstep : people, places, hidden histories along the ancient perambulation route. The walk will be led by Beeston arts worker, Dave Wood, who ran a similar project in 2011 funded through the Arts Council/National Lottery. We’re all looking forward to your company.
From late March through until November 2016, Dave will walk the route with participants in stages. Sound artist, Rebecca Lee will accompany to record the stories, feelings, histories of people walking it and the sounds of the landscape around.
The first three stages of the walk will take place late March – April (dates to be confirmed)
Victoria Embankment > Bobbers Mill (launched at the Hook Nature Reserve, Lady Bay) on Sunday 20th March at 11am.
Bobbers Mill (along the River Leen) > Bulwell 17th April 2016 tbc
Bulwell > Bestwood (including the Winding Wheel) 24th April 2016 tbc
Later stages will run throughout the year.
Along with the walk there will be projects across Nottingham and the wider county with young people and communities to connect people with their local heritage and nature. Young people will work with digital technology, sound artists and community archaeologists to uncover and showcase the hidden histories in their area in a new and exciting way. Findings will be edited for the online archive (website), sound booths in libraries and a Nottinghamshire Archive. A mobile phone app will be created to celebrate the perambulation route and the histories of communities along it.
Anyone who is interested in taking part should email Sian on Sian.Stammers@gmail.com or Dave Wood davewrite2002@gmail.com to express an initial interest, leaving a phone number if appropriate. If you were on the last walk, it would help if you said in what capacity. Alternatively, phone Dave Wood on 07709977684
Time to get the walking boots on. Bring some money for getting back home as well as packed lunch (or money for sandwiches/drink). There will be photography and sound recording; please advise if you’d prefer not to be recorded/photographed. All events are free.
Kimberley WEA will be running a local modern history course entitled Fascism During the Inter War Years which will act as an introduction to Fascism in a historical context. The course will show how Fascism developed and spread across Europe during the Inter War Period.
There will be an opportunity to investigate how racism became an integral part of the Fascist creed by studying the rise and influence of Hitler. Mosley and Franco will also be introduced.
The course tutor, Ann Parker, was a lecturer in the Adult Education Department of Nottingham University. A specialist in Modern History, Ann has worked with the Atlantic Council, the Defence Academy ad NATO.
The course will be held at Rumbletums Cafe, 2a Victoria Street, Kimberley, NG16 2NH on Tuesdays from 19th April to 31 May 2016 commencing at 3.00pm until 5.00pm. The fee is £53.90, free to those on benefits.
The course can be booked by just turning up on
the day or in advance by email to roger@kimberley1.plus.com
For further information contact Judy Gelsthorpe at the WEA by phone at 0115 962 8416 or email at jgelsthorpe@wea.org.uk
David Amos is running a short railway history course, Railways in the Nottinghamshire Coalfield, at Eastwood and Sutton-in-Ashfield Libraries, on Tuesdays, starting on 5th April 2016 and running for 7 weeks through to 17th May 2016. Sessions will take place at Eastwood Library in the mornings (10am – 12 Noon) and are repeated in the afternoon at Sutton-in-Ashfield Library (1.30pm – 3.30pm).
The course is funded by the Community Learning and Skills Sector (CLASS) and course fees are £5.60 per session, £39.20 for the whole course, or free to people on certain means tested benefits. Places on the course are limited so early booking is advised.
To book a place on the course please contact David Amos Tel: 01773 760030, mobile: 07914373745, E-mail: david.amos99@ntlworld.com
or Maxine Murray at CLASS on (07976) 231564.
more information and on-line booking is available at
We have been asked how our 103 Foresters project is progressing and when to await the next pamphlet.
Indeed it was only a matter of time before this long term project would fall behind schedule and we were actually quite chuffed that we stayed on track till August 2015.
In short, the principal researcher working on this project had to take a break from WWI, given that there is only so much you can read about people being blown to shreds before it gets a bit much. That point was finally reached after realising that that person’s principal night-time reading for more than eighteen months had been books with titles such as An Intimate History of Killing (containing e.g. far too much detail on the physical and psychological consequences of bayonet fighting).
Therefore the project was put on hold for a few months and only picked up again at the beginning of 2016. It is hard to say though when the next pamphlet will be published, given that every time we go down to Kew we come back with more questions. The books, articles and sources keep piling up and there are only so many hours in a day. We are however happy to end up way behind schedule but continue to work with the necessary diligence, rather than rushing just to put something online.
Nevertheless we expect to publish at least one more pamphlet in 2016. Keep an eye on this website http://peopleshistreh.wordpress.com/103-foresters
and our Twitter feed and we will let you know as soon as we have some new materials out.
Richard Clyfton, the Separatist minister of Babworth who then led the Scrooby group on their migration to Holland, died 400 years ago this May. This is an anniversary of some significance in Nottinghamshire. The local heritage group Pilgrims & Prophets will be organising a commemorative excursion on May 14th. This will include ‘pick ups’ in Worksop and Retford, and then visits to places associated with Clyfton including the fascinating country churches at Marnham, Babworth and Scrooby. There will be a Congregationalist minister ‘on board’ to maintain 400 years of tradition, as Clyfton effectively founded this denomination.
You can book a place by emailing Adrian Gray (adriangray@pilgrimsandprophets.co.uk) who will provide final details and costs.
More information at www.facebook.com/PilgrimsandProphets or www.pilgrimsandprophets.co.uk
