Lenton Times

The Magazine of Lenton Local History Society

THE BACK ISSUES 11 - 20
Back Issues - 1 to 10 - 21 to 25

A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE MAIN ARTICLES

Issues 1, 2, 3 & 6 have now sold out and are now available only online.  We have copies of all the remaining issues.  A brief synopsis of what each of these issues contains is included below.  Our charge for these is the cover price (which ranges from £1 to £1.20) plus the cost of postage and packing.  Anyone wishing to obtain any back copies should click here for more details.

Issue No.11 July 1997 (Price £1)

Lenton 1897
The year 1997 was quite a significant one for Nottingham as it was one hundred years since it gained its city status.  To mark 1897. (10 pages)

Making the News in 1897
 A further assemblage of news items with a Lenton connection - this time focussing on the year 1897. (2 pages)

In Search of 'Our Sammy'
Stephen Tring unearths the full story of his father's brother, Sammy, who was killed by a motor vehicle while trying to save the life of another young boy.  (3 pages)

Lenton Grove
John Beckett, Professor of Regional History at Nottingham University, recounts something of the history of Lenton Grove which, since 1995, has housed the University's History Department. (2 pages)

The Bells The Bells!
Alongside a short history of the bells at Holy Trinity Church we publish an appeal for funds which will enable both the bells and the bell ringing chamber to receive an all-too-necessary overhaul. (1 page)

Our Sponsor's Story: 174 Derby Road
Until the mid 1960s 174 Derby Road was used as a Drill Hall by the Territorial Army.  When they vacated the building it was taken over by the Post Office.  The Post Office's departure in 1995 led to its acquisition by the Leicester Housing Association.  The front of the building has now been converted into offices while the rear was demolished and a new housing complex built in its place. (1 page)

Issue No.12 April 1998 (price £1)

The Great Fire of Lenton
In the mid 1880s the Sampson Brothers had a huge six-storey factory built for them on Castle Boulevard.  They required only a couple of floors for their lace business and rented out the rest of the space to others in the lace trade.  In January 1902 a fire started in one of their tenant's premises.  The building was quickly evacuated, the fire brigade called and in due course the fire was brought under control.  Most of the fire tenders left and a small team of men remained and continued to direct water into the basement where the fire was still smouldering.  Most of the building had escaped the ravages of the fire and later that day many of the employees were able to return to work.  Unfortunately, through totally unforeseen circumstances, the action of the firemen caused the fire to restart.  This time it proved impossible to extinguish and the whole building was burnt to the ground. (3 pages)

Some (Not So) Great Fires of Lenton
We provide the salient details of nineteen other fires that have occurred in Lenton during the twentieth century. (4 pages)

The Fire Station
Triumph Road was the site of an auxiliary fire station set up just before the outbreak of the Second World War.  During the war it was upgraded to a proper fire station and retained this status at the conclusion of hostilities.  In 1949 plans were drawn up to move the fire station to a new site at Dunkirk.  The Home Office sat on the plan for a number of years and it was not until 1961 that the Dunkirk Fire Station was built.  Since then there have been various changes at the fire station which are recounted in our article. (2 pages)

In Service at Triumph Road
Les Berry volunteered to serve as an auxiliary fireman, initially based at Triumph Road.  He provides us with memories of his time in the fire service during the early part of the war. (2 pages)

From Radford to Dunkirk
Ron Spencer was employed as a fireman at Triumph Road in the run-up to the move to Dunkirk.  He recalls both stations and the move itself.  He later returned to Dunkirk and served as the Station Commander from 1974 to 1980. (2 pages)

Lenton's Country Carrier
In 1931 Charles Brett started up in business as a country carrier.  Initially based in Grantham he moved the centre of his operations to Nottingham in 1937 acquiring premises on Gloucester Avenue in Lenton.  As a youngster, his step-son, John Spencer, would go along with him during the school holidays as he made deliveries and picked up other items along a route that might stretch from Nottingham to Peterborough.  John provides us with details of the family business which continued until 1947. (2 pages)

St Paul's Church, Hyson Green: a Lenton Outpost in the 1840s
As John Beckett reveals in this article Rev. George Browne, Vicar of Lenton, was to play a crucial role in the erection of St. Paul's, Hyson Green's, one of the first churches in the Nottingham area built specifically to cater for a new industrial working class congregation.  Drawing on original correspondence and other material held in various national archives Professor Beckett shows how the vicar went about the business of raising the necessary funds.  (3 pages)

Our Sponsor's Story
Nottingham Business & Technology Group occupy part of the old Raleigh offices on Lenton Boulevard along with other properties situated at the rear of this building.  Established by the City Council the Group provides support for start-up and expanding small businesses with the overall aim of promoting employment opportunities for local people. (1 page)

Issue No.13 November 1998 (price £1)

The Prince of Wales and Lenton
In 1927 Edward, Prince of Wales bought Grove Farm in Lenton - a fact that created a lot of interest in the local press.  All manner of reasons were proffered as to why the Prince had made this purchase.  The local papers, however, never printed the real reason - which was that the farm provided an isolated pied-a-terre to which the Prince could take his lady friends.  Later Edward obtained the use of Fort Belvedere, a royal property situated at the edge of Windsor Great Park.  There was no real need to keep Grove Farm and it was sold in 1933.  (4 pages)

Norris the Builder Part 1 - William Norris
William Norris, initially in partnership with George Salathiel Walters but later on his own, erected a substantial number of properties in the Lenton area during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.  We focus both on the man himself and the various properties he built. (5 pages)

The Cottesmore Schools: Their Inception
In the early 1920s a plot of land at the junction of Lenton Boulevard and Derby Road was earmarked as a site for a new school.   It took ten years before construction got underway.  Our article looks at how the plans for this land kept changing.  Also on offer is a description of the changes to Lenton's other educational establishments caused by the Cottesmore Schools' arrival.

Cottesmore Girls: School Memories of the 1930s
Myrtle Shaw (nee Orton) was at the school between  1934 and 1937.  She provides a detailed account of her time at Cottesmore. (5 pages)

The View from the Front
Marjorie Goodliffe (nee Smith) was appointed as a housecraft teacher at Cottesmore Girls in 1932.  She recalls her three years there providing girls with the basics in cookery and nutrition, laundry work and general housewifery. (2 pages)

C.E. Marshall, Joiner, Wheelwright and Carriage Builder
Marshall Atkin was brought up by his grandparents, Charles and Mary Marshall, who lived at 42 Church Street, Lenton.  He recounts a little of his grandfather's business and the occasion when the Prince of Wales came to call. (1 page)

Our Sponsor's Story
It was highly appropriate that Parker & Collinson should agree to sponsor this issue as they are the present occupants of the site that previously housed Charles Marshall's business.  There is, however, no link with Mr Marshall's line of work as Parker & Collinson are in the printing business and also supply a wide range of office equipment.  

Issue No.14 July 1999 (price £1)

Grove Farm: The Sheltons
When George Shelton bought Grove Farm from the Prince of Wales in 1933 he was buying a model farm.  The Prince had spent quite a lot of money rebuilding the farmhouse and many of the outbuildings.  Originally a dairy farm the Prince had operated solely as a beef farmer.  Mr Shelton re-established a dairy herd there and occupied Grove Farm for the next thirteen years.  The story of their time in Lenton is recounted by Mary Gadd, Mr Shelton's daughter. (3 pages)

Grove Farm: The Burnetts
The next chapter in the story of Grove Farm is taken up by David Burnett.  His father, John William Burnett, bought the farm in 1946.  Unfortunately he died in 1949 which meant that David and his brother, Colin, both still in their teens, had to take over the farm.  The brothers soon decided that their futures did not lie in Lenton.  In due course they moved to farms elsewhere in Nottinghamshire and in 1960 Grove Farm was sold to the University of Nottingham who wanted the land for sports facilities. (3 pages)

Norris the Builder Part 2: William T. Norris
William Thomas Norris had learnt his trade in his father's business but in the 1890s set up for himself as a builder based in Lenton.  Once again we detail the properties he built in Lenton.  W.T. Norris proved to be a very astute businessman with quite a few strings to his bow.  He died in 1924 but his two sons carried on the business for a number of years. (7 pages)

Ted Marriott: The Father I Never Knew
Ted Marriott was born in 1940.  By this time his father, also called Ted, as serving as a gunner in the Royal Artillery.  He left England in early 1941 bound for Singapore.  Following the surrender of the British forces stationed there his father ended up in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Borneo.  His mother was to learn in December 1945 that her husband had died from 'exhaustion due to the arduous conditions of captivity' in July of that year.  The article explores his son's efforts to learn a little more about his father and his early life in Lenton.  (3 pages)

Lest We Forget
A project has been underway to record the details of all the war memorials in Nottinghamshire.  The details of what can be found in Lenton have been compiled by Les Berry and sent the project's co-ordinators. (1 page)

The Churchwardens & Lenton
After a look at the role of churchwardens down the ages we pinpoint what can be learnt about their activities in Lenton. (3 pages)

Our Sponsor's Story
Mitchell's, the ironmongers, have been based on Lenton Boulevard since the early 1950s.  Ironmongers are something of a dying breed but the one in Lenton is still going strong. (1 page)

Issue No.15 April 2000 (price £1)

The Baths Committee and Lenton
Since the 1840s the provision of public baths and washing facilities has been responsibility of the Council's Baths & Wash-houses Committee.  Always keen to expand the range of facilities, over the years it has drawn up all manner of plans.  Some have come to fruition others have not.  There was no end of plans for Lenton but, for a variety of reasons explored in this article, the area often didn't get what was initially planned for it.  Apart from highlighting the situation in Lenton this article also provides a quite detailed history of the provision of swimming baths and other facilities across the whole city.  (14 pages)

Life in Lenton's Wash-house
As a creative writing exercise Hilda Boosey once wrote a piece entitled 'Visits to a Municipal Wash-house'.  The wash-house in question was Lenton's.  The piece, somewhat modified in structure by ourselves, provides readers with a vivid picture of Lenton's wash-house both before and after modernisation. (2 pages)

Taking a Bath
Not having a bathroom of his own, Pat Randle initially carried out his ablutions in a tin bath set up in the kitchen but later patronised the facilities at the Willoughby Street Baths. (1 page)

The Building of Abbey Bridge
Plans for a new road from Castle Boulevard to Beeston had been drawn up by the City Council before the First World War but nothing had come of them.  Then in 1920 Sir Jesse Boot announced he was going to have University Boulevard built.  The City Council were very happy with this arrangement as it required them to build only the linking road between Abbey Street and Castle Boulevard.  A scheme was put in hand.  It couldn't start until all the people displaced by the demolition of properties in the Castle Boulevard area had been rehoused.  Sir Jesse Boot, eager to see the scheme come to fruition, paid for the construction of  the Penn Avenue flats.  In due course the roadworks were completed.  The full story is told in this article which is accompanied by some superb photographs of the road in various stages of completion.  (3 pages)

Ernest Burton: Alan Sillitoe's Grandfather
In 1972 Alan Sillitoe published Raw Material  which was part novel part autobiography.  With the author's permission we have extracted his observations on Ernest Burton who was once a blacksmith in Lenton and constructed this article. (3 pages)

Our Sponsor's Story
'Angels by Day' is a Montessori Children's Day Nursery established in Lenton by Fiona Day.  (1 page)

Issue No.16 November 2000 (price £1)

Tommy Surefoot of Notts County
Thomas McLean was a Scottish footballer who joined Notts County in 1888.  He only played for the Club for three seasons but in that short period of time his skills and general surefootedness endeared him to both Club and supporters.  Uniquely at that period in time, Tom McLean was given a public presentation on the occasion of his marriage in 1891and he was also the first player at Notts County ever to receive summer pay during the close season.  Injury problems probably forced his departure from the Club and after signing for Derby County a further injury to his knee brought his playing career to a close in 1893.  After almost fifteen years away from the professional game Notts County sought Tom McLean out and offered him position of assistant trainer.  In the ensuing years players came and went, even the managers might change but the one constant presence in team photos is that of Thomas McLean. He was to stay with Notts County for the next twenty one years.  And why do we feature him in the magazine?  Resident in Lenton for almost forty years he was buried, with other members of his family, in a grave in Holy Trinity churchyard. (5 pages)

Now and Then: Marcus Street  
The name may have disappeared from use but the street in question is still with us having been incorporated into Alderney Street.  We reproduce a present-day photograph of 'Marcus Street' taken from Castle Boulevard and contrast it with the same shot taken in August 1975.  The earlier shot would not have looked all that dissimilar from a photograph taken soon after the properties were first built in the 1880s.  The picture only begins to alter in the 1980s but the transformation has been so emphatic that it is only the continued presence of 'Jackson and Harris' and its neighbouring property that indicates we are still in the same part of Lenton. (3 pages)

Wartime in Wollaton Park  
During the Second World War Julia Hibbitt was a young girl living on Orston Drive.  Her father did his 'bit' by joining the local detachment of the Home Guard.  She recalls some of the things he got up to in the course of defending this country from foreign invasion and tells of a couple of occasions when the enemy did put in an appearance. (3 pages)

Now and Then: 16-21 Abbey Street
In 1913 a photographer took a shot of 16-21 Abbey Street, which consisted of a three-storey building erected in the eighteenth century.  Three years later the photographer returned and re-took the same shot.  What he recorded in his second photograph was a major reconstruction - it's hard to believe they were still the same building.  We detail the occupants of the two shops and bring our article up to date with the inclusion of a present-day view of that part of Abbey Street. (3 pages)

Ken Gulliver: A Bevin Boy in Lenton  
Born and brought up in the Borough of Bow, Ken Gulliver found himself sent to the Nottinghamshire coalfield in 1944.  After an initial period spent working elsewhere in the county he was transferred to Clifton Colliery.  His landlady in The Park didn't take kindly to him coming home from the pit still covered in coal dust and gave him notice to quit.  His next set of digs were in Friar Street and this move to Lenton was the key that initiated a business career, based in the area, that was to last some forty five years.  (3 pages)

Now and Then: Derby Road
Paul Bexon has stood in the same spot as our 1931 photographer and recorded much the same shot.  Where once there was a tram coming over the bridge now it is a motor bus.  The Three Wheatsheaves stands on the left of both photographs and the short stretch of road still runs alongside the front of the pub.  Of course it no longer takes you to the Lenton Goods Station and the bridge itself has been altered.  These and other changes are explored in the course of the article. (2 pages)

Working Our Way through the War
Stan and Ann Dover had barely been married a month when war was declared.  Not keen to be parted so soon after their marriage Stan resolved to get himself a job in a reserved occupation.  This he found in Lenton.  Ann carried on working for Hussey's on Newdigate Street, Radford which made skirts and blouses for C & A.  This line of work soon diminished and the company began to make uniforms for the Army - but not without a lot of initial teething problems.  Despite serious misgivings on the part of their parents the young couple decided to buy a house.  This was also in Lenton.  Ann describes the long hours of work they both put in and something of the trials and tribulations of living in Lenton during the war. (2 pages)

The Lenton I Remember by W.E.O.  
In the 1920s the Nottinghamshire Weekly Guardian ran a series of articles in which the history of Lenton was intertwined with the writer's recollections of the area in his youth.  The newspaper only identified the author as W.E.O. but a little detective work soon revealed William Edgar Osmond to be the author.  W.E.O. rarely gives the reader an indication of his age but it is clear that his own personal memories must relate to life in Lenton during the 1860s.  We have adapted some of his pieces for present day consumption and also include a brief biography of W.E.O. (5 pages)

Our Sponsor's Story
The Johnson Arms, Abbey Street, Old Lenton and its new occupants.(1 page)

Issue No.17 August 2001 (price £1.20)

The Botts of Old Church Street (4 pages)
Old Church Street is the road next to St.Anthony's Church that runs from Gregory Street to Priory Street.  At the Priory Street end is a white stuccoed property which used to be two houses but has now been converted into one.  The two houses were originally known as No.s 14 and 16 but in the late 1930s the Council decided to change the numbering and they became Nos. 25 and 23.  For over eighty years various members of the Bott family lived at No.16/23 Old Church Street.  Milly Farrell (nee Bott) provides readers with a brief account of family life there with particular reference to her father George Alfred Bott.  He and her brother, George, ran the Priory Garage which stood on the site now occupied by the Red Cross's Nottinghamshire headquarters.  Milly also recounts something of her working career first as an employee at Linday's soapworks in Dunkirk and later at Player's.  She concludes with an account of her time as an Army driver during the Second World War.

The Lenton Parish Bazaar (6 pages)
Lenton Parish Bazaars of the 1930s used to be quite extravagant affairs.  Our feature on these begins with an account by Bill Norris of how as a youngster he used to help his father, William Archibald Norris, and his team of employees as they erected the stalls for this annual three day event held in the Church Schools on Church Street.  We then provide a little bit of historical background on how these lavish fund-raising events were organised and follow this with various newspaper reports drawn from the pages of the Nottingham Guardian which offer further insights into the Bazaar 'Experience' of the 1930s.

Our Sponsor's Story (1 page)
The Lakeside Pavilion at Highfields is no more.  Its place has now been taken by the D.H. Lawrence Pavilion.  Our article recalls a little of the history of the old Pavilion and what the University will be making available to the general public in the new Pavilion.  It then concludes with a brief history of our sponsors, the architectural practice of Julian Marsh & Jerzy Grochowski, who designed the new building.

University College & Lenton's Royal Visitors (4 pages)
After Sir Jesse Boot sold his business empire to the United Drug Company of America for £2½ million in 1920 he began to spend some of this money on projects that benefited the city of Nottingham.  He became an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign to create an East Midlands University based in Nottingham.  Jesse Boot provided a site at Highfields and donated some £438,000 towards the cost of new buildings.  The concept of a university serving the whole of the East Midlands was to founder when the University College at Leicester withdrew its support for the Nottingham campus and the hoped-for elevation from collegiate to university status was destined not to arrive until 1948.  Nevertheless the acquisition of new buildings at Highfields allowed Nottingham's University College to move out of its cramped quarters on Shakespeare Street.  The icing on the cake for the College was the announcement that King George V and Queen Mary had agreed to perform the formal opening ceremony in July 1928.  Our article looks at how the new college buildings came to be built at Lenton and then goes on to describe that royal visit to Nottingham in 1928.

I was There - One of 17,000 (1 page)
On their previous visit to Nottingham King George and Queen Mary had been received by the City Council in the Market Place but by the time of this second visit the Exchange Building had been demolished and the new Council House was in the course of erection.  Given that a building site was not really appropriate as the backdrop for the royal reception it was decided to hold this at Woodthorpe Grange Park in Sherwood.  It was also decided that every Nottingham school child over the age of nine should be present at the occasion.  Among the 17,000 schoolchildren brought to the park was Les Berry and, with the newspaper accounts of the time as an aide-memoire, Les recalls this particular point in the itinerary of Nottingham's royal visitors.

The Royal Show of 1928 (4 pages)
Established in 1839 the Royal Show soon developed into the premier agricultural event in the United Kingdom.  Each year it would be held in a different part of the country and by the early part of the twentieth century it became customary for the reigning monarch to put in an appearance.  Once Nottingham had been selected to host the 1928 Show royal officials would have mapped out a number of other engagements that could be performed by the King and Queen while they were staying in the locality.  This is the main reason why University College got its royal visit.   Our article explores a little of the history of the Show and recalls the two earlier occasions when the Show was held in Nottingham.  On both occasions the site chosen had been Wollaton Park - in an area now occupied by the portion of the Wollaton Park housing estate lying east of Middleton Boulevard.  The 1955 Royal Show was also situated within the grounds of Wollaton Park - but not the 1928 Show.  The site chosen for this was adjacent to the Park but on the other side of the Wollaton Road and stretched as far as the Nottingham Canal with such natural features as Martin's Pond and Harrison's Plantation simply incorporated into the showground.  Russell Drive (yet to be constructed) would now form a diagonal line across the site.  We provide readers with the salient details of the 1928 Show and describe what was laid on for the King and Queen when they took in the Show.  The visit to Nottingham also meant that the King George and Queen Mary could drop in on their son, Edward Prince of Wales, and view his recent purchase of Grove Farm, here in Lenton.  The details of that particular part of their itinerary also feature in our article.

Anyone eager to learn more about Royal Visits to Nottingham may be interested to know of a current publication.
Click here for more details. 

Fred Crosland: A Soldier's Tale (4 pages)
Although she was born in this country Marjorie Bundy now lives in Australia.  She was aware that her great grandmother, Emma Crosland, had been born in Ireland and was from a military family.  She recently decided to try and find out a bit more and her researches have, figuratively speaking, taken her not only to Ireland but also to Canada, the Caribbean, Gibraltar and England including a small village just outside Nottingham called Lenton.  Marjorie recounts how she went about her researches and reveals what she has learnt about Fred Crosland, her great great grandfather, and his career in the Devonshire Regiment.

Issue No. 18 May 2002 (price £1.20)

Lenton's Boer War Memorial (3 pages)
It was late afternoon one Thursday in November 1901.  Lenton's Parish Church was packed to capacity.  Many of the nearby streets were thronged with people.  All awaited the arrival in Lenton of one of the country's national heroes - someone whose public acclaim almost rivalled that of the new King and Queen.  This was Earl Roberts, Commander in Chief of the British Army, whose successes in India and South Africa had led to him being considered the greatest general and finest military strategist since Wellington.  He was in Nottingham for the day and his itinerary included a visit to Holy Trinity Church where he would unveil a memorial window to commemorate the seven Lenton men who had died while fighting in South Africa.  Our article recalls this occasion and details how the memorial window came to be erected.

Lenton's Dead (1 page)
A brass plaque in the church provides the names of these seven men along with their regiment.  We offer a brief biography on each man detailing what has so far come to light (*).

Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford (1 page)
This article provides a short account of Earl Roberts' military career, which culminated in his successful campaign out in South Africa.  A grateful nation, in the form of the Government, rewarded him with his earldom and a gift of £100,000.

The Background to the Boer War (2 pages)
In 1652 the Dutch East India Company established a provision station on the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of southern Africa.  This brought Dutch settlers to the region who soon began to dispossess the native Khoikhois of their traditional grazing lands.  The British acquired the Cape from the Dutch government during the Napoleonic Wars in order to protect the route to its possessions in India.  This led to an influx of British settlers. In due course many of the Boers [descendants of the original Dutch settlers] migrated to new lands where they hoped they would be free of British rule. They established what became known as the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.  However, the British did not leave them alone.  Our article explores a little of the strained relationship between the British and the Boers which led to the First Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81 and then to the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.

The Boer War and Nottingham: Part 1 (6 pages)
In the First Anglo-Boer War the British, with inadequate numbers of soldiers out in South Africa, suffered some major reverses which prompted the calling of a truce; the subsequent negotiations resulted in a favourable outcome for the Boers.  When war broke out again in October 1899 the Boers felt confident they could achieve a second success.  The British were once more seriously outnumbered and the Boers immediately laid siege to the British garrisons at Kimberley and Mafeking in Cape Colony and at Ladysmith in Natal.  British reinforcements were being shipped in from India and the Mediterranean but it would be some time before they could arrive.  More troops were mobilised including battalions based in Britain.  Among them were the men of the 1st Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire) Regiment.  To bring the battalion up to strength reservists were called back into active service.  Among them were some two hundred men from Nottingham.  These reservists gathered in the Market Place before making their way to battalion headquarters at Derby.  The huge crowd that turned out to see the men go gave them a tumultuous send-off.  Men of the 4th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters who made up the Notts. Militia were also sent out to South Africa.  Substantial crowds lined the streets to watch as a detachment of men brought the Battalion's colours to the Nottingham Guildhall for safe keeping prior to their departure for the battle front.

The Boer forces primarily consisted of mounted riflemen and their mobility gave them a distinct advantage in engagements with the British troops, most of whom consisted of infantrymen.  To remedy this deficiency mounted infantry companies were formed from some of the soldiers already out in South Africa.  In addition, in late December 1899, it was decided to assemble an Imperial Yeomanry from within Britain composed of suitable volunteers. The South Notts. Hussars had their headquarters on Park Row in Nottingham.  Within twenty four hours of the announcement being made 160 men from the South Notts. Hussars had arrived at the Park Row headquarters to offer their services.  After a period of training 121 of these departed from Liverpool along with their horses.  In early January 1900 one officer and 29 local men in the 1st Derbyshire Volunteers, known as the Robin Hood Rifles, had been selected from almost 200 applicants to prepare for active service in South Africa.  Following a civic reception at the Guildhall this proud body of men marched in full uniform to the Midland Station with thousands of people lining the streets to watch them pass.

As soon as the first Nottingham men had left for South Africa a fund was set up to provide financial support for their dependants.  Collections were made in local factories, fund raising events were organised and the well-to-do sent in their own donations.  Various comforts for the troops were despatched including tam o'shanters and scarves knitted by women and schoolchildren.  Everyone rallied to the cause.  However the initial news from South Africa was far from encouraging.

Attempts to relieve the British garrisons had resulted in abject failure and the loss of many troops.  These setbacks led to Field Marshall Lord Roberts being sent out to take control of the British forces. There were to be further setbacks and more heavy losses but eventually Lord Roberts managed to relieve Kimberley.  Back home there were scenes of jubilation in Nottingham with the arrival, at last, of some good news.  The relief of Ladysmith soon followed and after Roberts' forces took Bloemfontain, the Orange Free State capital, the war seemed to turn in favour of the British - but there was still the matter of the garrison at Mafeking. The exploits of those holding out against the Boers at Mafeking were continually reported in the pages of the British press and the man in charge, Colonel Robert Baden Powell, had become a national hero.  However food supplies were getting dangerously low.  Roberts redoubled his attempts to bring relief and eventually on 16th May 1900 British troops made their way into Mafeking.  Once news of this success was despatched to Nottingham church bells were rung and an exultant flag-waving crowd soon gathered in the vicinity of the Market Place.  The following day the whole city was a mass of flags and streamers and in the evening a celebratory torchlight procession around the city was held. Nottingham had already made plans to mark the birthday of Queen Victoria on 25th May and these became combined with further celebrations for the relief of Mafeking.

At this point we halt our story of the Boer War and Nottingham.  The concluding section appears in Issue No.19.

The Savoy Cinema & the Lenton Picture House Company (8 pages)
The 1930s were a boom time for the cinema industry and that decade witnessed the arrival of twenty one new picture houses to add to the thirty four already operating in and around Nottingham.  Among that new contingent was the Savoy Cinema situated on the Derby Road in Lenton.  Still going strong after sixty six years in business it is a veritable 'elder statesman' among Nottingham's present cinema outlets.  With the recent closure of the Odeon on Angel Row the Savoy is now the sole survivor from those heady days in the 1930s when every part of the city had its own cinema.  Our article explores the history of the Savoy Cinema and salutes all those who played their part in maintaining its presence as part of the Lenton scene.  As an accompaniment to this article various contributors provide their memories of the cinema which encompass such topics as the opening night; a visit to the Savoy during the war; and the Saturday afternoon children's matinees.

Nottingham's cinemas at the time when the Savoy first opened & Nottingham's pre-war cinemas that came after the Savoy (1 page)
Drawing on research carried out by Rick Wilde we provide a list of Nottingham's cinemas operating at the time when the Savoy opened in 1935 and a further list of those cinemas built in the second half of the 1930s.  We provide readers with the name currently in use in the 1930s and where there were subsequent changes of name we proffer their last known appellation.  We also offer readers the year each one opened and the year it finally ceased to operate as a cinema.  Those wanting more detailed information are directed to Rick Wilde's original material.

Our Sponsor's Story (1 page)
In 1994 the directors of the Lenton Picture House Company decided to sell the Savoy.  It was bought by Pat Collington who already ran the Scala at Ilkeston.  Since then her son James has joined the business and together they have overseen some major changes.  Chief among these was the addition of a fourth screen created out of and old storeroom at the back of the building.  There has also been an extensive programme of refurbishment which has included the installation of a new, larger screen in Savoy 1.  The various alterations and improvements have cost in the region of £250,000, an indication of the financial commitment the Collingtons are prepared to make in order to ensure that future patrons continue to get maximum pleasure out of a visit to the Savoy.

The Savoy - The Manager's Tale (4 pages)
Alan Silvers' first job in the cinema business was as trainee projectionist at the Savoy Cinema.  Six years later he came back to take up the post of manager.  He was to hold this position for almost forty years.  His astute management and dedication to the Savoy helped ensure that it remained in business when cinemas elsewhere in Nottingham closed down.  This article allows him to recall some of those days (and nights) spent at the Savoy

Issue No. 19 February 2003 (£1.20)

The Boer War and Nottingham: Part 2 (8 pages)
Resuming the story after the relief of Mafeking the second half of our article provides the reader with a brief outline of what happened out in South Africa up to the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902 which finally brought the war to an end.  As with Part 1 our principal aim is to show what impact the war had here in Nottingham. After the British forces took Pretoria, the state capital of the Transvaal, a major celebration was held in Nottingham.  In part this was designed to raise funds for the dependants of city-based soldiers and took the form of a parade of decorated floats which wended its way through Nottingham with designated volunteers making a street collection from the watching crowds.  Although hostilities still continued some of the volunteer forces began to return to Britain.  When men from the Robin Hood Rifles arrived back in Nottingham they were greeted by large crowds of people and feted at various local events.  Next to return were the militia men of the 4^th Sherwood Foresters.  Their reception was rather more muted.  This was because large numbers of them had been forced to surrender to the Boers following a surprise attack at Roodeval.  The return of men from the South Notts Hussars was suitably upbeat and involved a procession on horseback through the Market Square which is illustrated by two of the photographs which accompany this article.  There is a further photograph which shows Earl Roberts presenting medals to local soldiers during his visit to Nottingham.  The end of the war came in the run-up to the coronation of King Edward VII so it was decided that a combined programme of activities should be held in Nottingham to celebrate both events. Unfortunately the King's ill-health and subsequent operation meant the coronation had to be postponed.  The celebrations still went ahead in the city but not quite in the form originally envisaged.

Quite how many local men were involved in the war and exactly how many of these died as a result of their time out in South Africa are questions raised at the tail end of the article.  However, those hoping for exact numbers  are destined to be disappointed.  The available source material is unclear on these points - even though the figures must have been well-known at the time.

The Boer War - The Lenton Survivors (4 pages)
In Issue No.18 we began our features on the Boer War by recounting the visit of Earl Roberts to Lenton where he unveiled a commemorative window in Holy Trinity Church.  The special programme produced for the occasion not only gave the names of those seven Lenton men who had died in the war but also listed a further fifty five local men who had survived the hostilities.  Drawing on a range of local source material plus other documents held at the Public Record Office we have managed to construct brief profiles for most of these soldiers. 

The names of the seven dead men whose profiles were featured  in Issue 18 are: Bertie HALLATT; Edgar HALLATT; John HAYES *; George KING; Samuel ROBINSON; John Robert ROE; Herbert Joseph WOODFORD.

The survivors detailed in Issue 19 are: John Henry ANNIBAL; John ASHTON; Arthur BEXTON; Thomas BOSTOCK; John BROOKS; James BROWN; George BROWN; Walter COPE; Joseph James CORTHORN; William CROFTS; James DANIEL; A.E. ENSOR *; FLEWITT *; Richard FORMAN; George Henry GARTON; Joseph Robert Harper GILVEAR; Alfred John GRANT; Lewis GRAYSON; G. HAMPSHIRE *; Charles Wilfred HARDWICK; Thomas HART; George HOWES; John Henry HOWITT; J. HOWITT; W. E. JACKSON *; John Walter JARVIS; Arthur George LEVERTON; Joseph LONGLEY; John James MACHIN; Frederick Charles MARSHALL; Arthur MATHESON; PERRONS *; Walter Septimus PRATT; Frederick ROBINSON; George James SADLER; Thomas SADLER; Thomas SHARP; Thomas SHEPHERD; Ephraim SMEDLEY; George SMEDLEY; James SMEDLEY; Frank SMITH*; George J. SMITH; Arthur SNOWDEN; Henry Charles SPENDLOVE; Arthur STEVENS; W.R. STEVENSON *; William TANSLEY; Arthur TREECE; William Ernest TREECE; Walter TWIGGER; William WARDLE; George Albert WARDLE; F. WHEATLEY *; Samuel Thomas WHEEWALL; Arthur George WOOD; Thomas W. WOODFORD.

The upright typeface represents the name as it appeared in the church programme, while the italic typeface is used to indicate where we have added specific first names. The asterisks indicate where we have failed to make a positive identification.  We also came across two additional men not included by the church and their names have been added to our list.

Our Sponsor's Story (1 page)
A native of Glasgow, Jim Gray arrived in Nottingham at the age of nineteen and got himself a job working in Hall's Do-It-Yourself shop on Derby Road.  Some thirty eight years later he now runs his own business as one of the leading locksmiths in the Nottingham area and sponsor of this issue.

Embroidering the Past (5 pages)
For almost seventy five years during the last century the Willoughby Street area was home to an embroidery company.  For the first fifty four years it was based on Park Street in premises that had previously housed Lenton's first cinema, an ill-judged venture which only operated for a matter of months.  Then with the general clearance of the Willoughby Street area in the early 1960s a move was made to a purpose-built factory unit located at the corner of Prospect Place and Willoughby Street.  Although the business was initially started by someone else and in the final years passed into other hands, for most of its existence it was run by the Allen family.  Ken Allen, who spent his entire career with the company, provides a potted history of the business, its ups and downs, and recalls the days when 'Made in Britain' was still a commonplace claim.

A Chain Row Childhood (3 pages)
Chain Row was the name given to the section of road that runs from Church Street to Midland Avenue.  In the space now occupied by a single bungalow and a garage there used to be a terraced block of eight houses.  These properties housed those who couldn't afford anything better.  In the 1920s No. 47 was occupied by the Summers family.  Dennis Summers, the last surviving member of this family, recalls life at No. 47 and outlines the trials and tribulations of trying to make ends meet when there was little money coming in.

The Fate of the Chain Row Properties (1 page)

The Chain Row properties came down just before the Second World War.  It is clear that Sir Albert Ball's original intention was to demolish other neighbouring properties but the 18 semi-detached properties planned for the Chain Row site and the adjacent portion of land never actually came to fruition.

Murder in The Meadows - A Family Row that ended in Tragedy (2 pages)
On  13^th June 1924 Thomas Widdowson was arrested for the murder, earlier that day, of his wife, Florence, at their home in The Meadows.  Although deeply etched in the memories of immediate members of the family this was not something you readily told all and sundry.  As a result it was only by chance that Alex Kocan recently learnt of the tragic circumstances behind the death of his great-grandmother.  In order to discover more he was prompted to seek out the newspaper reports of the time.  He recalls the tragic events for our readers, reveals the Lenton connection and concludes with an appeal for any further information.

Tales from the Lenton Boundary (2 pages)
In the late 1930s David Newton became a regular attender at the Gregory Ground where Lenton United held their home cricket fixtures.  As a young lad he was allowed to sit in the score box and work the rollers which put up the scores and detailed the number of wickets down, overs completed etc.  He recalls some of the cricketers who played for the club and then takes the reader across the Derby Road to 'Lenton Rec' where he was more actively involved in the great game of cricket.

Issue No. 20 October 2003 (£1.20)

All the articles in Issue No.20 focus on the Spring Close area of Lenton.  Now the location for the Queen's Medical Centre the history of this area from the late eighteenth century onwards is recounted in various articles along with personal recollections from three of the people who used to live there.

Spring Close: the background story (3 pages)
With the aid of an Ordnance Survey map dating from 1930 this article describes the physical layout of this part of Old Lenton and provides a brief synopsis of the history surrounding the various sets of industrial and domestic properties built here in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Commercial Street Recalled (4 pages)
Born at 24 Commercial Street in 1932 Arthur Timms lived there until his marriage to Jean Tring in 1953.  He recalls growing up here with much to say about life in Commercial Street during the Second World War.  After several years out of work his father, George Timms, had managed to obtain employment in 1936 helping to erect the showground for an agricultural show held in Wollaton Park.  The company involved was based in Nottingham and George got taken on to their permanent staff engaged in erecting show grounds all around the country.  After leaving Cottesmore Boys School in 1946 Arthur Timms was also employed alongside his father.  Arthur continued to work for L.H. Woodhouse until a serious injury sustained at work in 1962 meant he had to seek alternative employment.

The Traveller's Rest Public House (2 pages)
Positioned at the corner of Spring Close and Commercial Street the bar staff of The Traveller's Rest dispensed drink to local residents and those who worked in the vicinity from the 1840s onwards.  However the facilities available to its patrons underwent major changes in 1886 and 1926.  Drawing on plans now lodged at Nottingham Archives we demonstrate how the building was modified better to meet the needs of the publicans and their drinking public.  We also provide a complete list of the publicans from 1842 onwards.

Spring Close c.1925 (2 pages) 
These two pages feature a large aerial photograph, provided by Stewart Coates, in which the Spring Close area is shown in considerable detail.  Various features shown in the photograph would indicate it was taken in the mid-1920's.

Hopkinson's Corner Shop (5 pages)
In 1945 Freda and William Hopkinson took over the shop situated at the corner of Spring Close and Commercial Street directly opposite The Traveller's Rest public house.  Their only son, William I. Hopkinson, then aged eight was called upon by his parents to help out in the shop in various ways.  These he relates in an article which also features some of his post-war memories of the Spring Close area.

Albert Carter Embroidery (1 page)
In 1927 Albert Carter acquired the premises and equipment belonging to Frank S. Smith, an embroidery manufacturer.  Thereafter his business remained a permanent feature of Commercial Street until it was forced to relocate to Warser Gate in 1971.   His embroidery company employed many of the female residents of the Spring Close area and Albert Carter was always ready to loan out his facilities if there was a local celebration taking place.  After outlining the basic facts relating to the business this article chiefly focuses on the Carter family themselves.

W.J. Simms, Sons & Cooke Ltd. (2 pages) 
Formed out of a number of local businesses in 1915 W.J. Simms, Sons & Cooke quickly grew into a major building firm with a nationwide profile.  In the late 1930's it acquired most of W. Coates & Sons' property in Spring Close and based its joinery department there.  It used the Spring Close works to manufacture joinery products to meet the needs of the company's own building contracts and also made them available for sale to the building trade in general.  A new development at Spring Close was the manufacture of pre-constructed timber buildings for subsequent erection both in this country and abroad.  By the 1960s the Lenton site housed one of the largest factories in Europe dedicated to the construction of timber buildings.  After the war the company also based its plant depot at Spring Close.  W.J. Simms, Sons & Cooke was at the forefront of the campaign to resist the siting of the QMC in Spring Close but in the late 1960's threw in the towel and accepted that the company would have to relocate elsewhere.  Our article provides a brief account of what happened to the business after it vacated the Spring Close site but we have to admit our ignorance as to the company's ultimate fate.

The Textile Finishing Company (1 page)
According to Kelly's Directory by 1936 D.N. Raynor & Co. had set up as dyers within one of the Commercial Street premises.  Quite what happened during the war is unclear but come 1945 D.N. Raynor & Co. appears to have metamorphosed into the Textile Finishing Company.  This was was run by Ray and Dennis Raynor.   They occupied a three storey building on Commercial Street although the middle floor was given over to Clearmould Plastics which Dennis Raynor ran in partnership with Frank Sissons.  Our article provides a brief description of what the Textile Finishing Company got up to at Commercial Street and then continues the story after their 1971 move to alternative accommodation over in Colwick.

The Story of W. Coates & Sons (3 pages) 
William Coates set up in business as a ropemaker in 1840 and established a number of ropemaking operations in the Nottingham area. Following his father's death in 1894, Herbert Coates took over the business and decided that he needed to incorporate the latest technology if he were to keep ahead of his competitors.  So in 1903 he bought an industrial property in Spring Close which had additional land attached to it.  Here he had a huge indoor ropewalk built and installed the most up-to-date steam-driven machinery.  For reasons which are explored in the article the company was eventually forced into liquidation in the mid-1930's. Their city centre premises were closed down, the work force laid off, the Lenton premises put up for sale and most of the machinery either auctioned off or sold for scrap.   In due course most of the premises were acquired by W.J. Simms, Sons & Cooke Ltd.  When Herbert Coates died in 1949 W.J. Coates & Sons found themselves with little option but to sell their remaining Spring Close properties to Simms, Sons & Cooke and move elsewhere. The article concludes by bringing the story up to date and recounts how Stewart Coates, great grandson of the original founder, continues to operate the business from 10 Montpelier Road. This article is a reworked and updated version of a piece that first appeared in Issue No. 24 of The Lenton Listener [May/June 1983].        

Growing up in Spring Close (2 pages)
Derrick Norris was born at No.7 Snowton Terrace in 1938.  His house was situated in a row of terrace properties fronting on to Spring Close.  It was to remain his home until 1960.  Derrick recounts some of his childhood memories of the area and on reaching the age of eighteen something of his evenings spent in The Traveller's Rest.

Thomas F. Suffolk: Moulding Sand Merchants (1 page)
According to the local directories the firm of Thomas F. Suffolk was definitely based at Spring Close from 1916 onwards but our article suggests they were probably active here somewhat earlier than this.  We offer a brief history of the Suffolk's family business and conclude that excavation of the sand, which was used in making moulds at iron foundaries, most likely ceased in the mid 1940's.

The 'Last' Residents of Spring Close (1 page)
On this page we reproduce the names of all the residents of the Spring Close area included in the electoral register for 1960.  After this date the number of people listed begins to fall once the houses on Commercial Street and on part of Spring Close were vacated prior to their subsequent demolition. This list contains 217 names.  We also reproduce the last entry in the electoral registers for the surviving properties on Spring Close, that of 1970, which includes just 37 residents.

The Queen's Medical Centre and Spring Close (3 pages)
Although it had long been lobbying in the corridors of power the University of Nottingham had always failed to get the necessary approval for a medical school.  Success was finally achieved when it received the green light in 1964.  Not only was it to get a medical school but a brand new hospital was to be built alongside it.  The University had already decided that the best site for  this major development was the Spring Close area and had little difficulty persuading the City Council to back its proposal.  By this time most of the residential property in the Spring Close area had been demolished which meant the chief opposition to the scheme was to come from the local businesses based there.  Their opposition to the proposal ensured there had to be a public enquiry.  Our article describes the arguments mounted by both sides and goes on to relate how W.J. Simms, Sons & Cooke continued the fight even after the outcome of the enquiry went against them.  The article concludes with the actual building of the QMC and we recall something of the financial cut backs that led to serious delays before the building was finally brought fully into use.

 For more photographs of the Spring Close area, see the Lenton Gallery pages.