Newsletter 2

January 2007

By Coordinator and Project Volunteers

Peter Topps explains the history of what was formerly F.A.Winn's corner shop. | Bottesford Local History Society
Peter Topps explains the history of what was formerly F.A.Winn's corner shop.
Bottesford Local History Society
Queen St - The former Midland Bank, now a hairdressing salon. | Bottesford Local History Society
Queen St - The former Midland Bank, now a hairdressing salon.
Bottesford Local History Society
Caroline Adkins at B.G.S. | Photo by Neil Fortey
Caroline Adkins at B.G.S.
Photo by Neil Fortey
Claremont House, High St, Bottesford | Photo by Neil Fortey
Claremont House, High St, Bottesford
Photo by Neil Fortey

Introduction

Since the launch of the project in September we have held two further project meetings and a range of activities have taken off. The photograph archive is expanding rapidly and has been given a great boost  by Ted Rayson, who is allowing the use of some of his splendid collection and also sharing his knowledge and memories of Bottesford. Angela Marsh and Peggy Topps are developing ways to record life in Bottesford on video  and together with Barbara Pizzey are investigating the history of farming in the parish. After a few technical hitches the Oral History recording is underway. Sue Middleton has plotted the past of Queen Street, mapping the different businesses that have occupied the premises over the years. The Website is under development and looking good and an exhibition is planned to coincide with the May Day Gala.

The next project meeting is on Monday February 5th at 7.00 p.m. in the Fuller Rooms. See you there!

Oral History

I was born in Carlton during the first world war…’ in our most recently completed recording Mrs Nora Logg aged 93, interviewed by Julia Tobin, remembers the little cottage on Queen St where she used to live and recalls her time as a teacher at Bottesford School. Other interviews have been completed by Peggy Topps, Elaine Marlow, Barbara Pizzey and Dave Middleton. We hope that it will be possible to hear extracts from these interviews on our website and that other extracts will be transcribed and published. If you know anyone you think should be interviewed or would like to volunteer, please get in touch.

IT Training

The first two sessions of training have taken place in the newly refurbished computer room at the community centre, using the recently installed state-of-the-art equipment. Carol Cathro has been showing project volunteers how to get the best out of their computers, revealing many the fascinating tricks they can perform and demonstrating such delights as ‘drop caps’ and ‘format painter.’ Next week it’s Power Point presentations.

The ‘Cross and Stocks’ former village magazine

Thanks to Reg Boyce, Kathy Sparham and particularly to Mike Saunders for their response to our request for missing issues. We are now looking for the following issues:

1968  Jan.  April  March        1968  Feb.  April June  July  Aug.

Adding to our local history Archive

The Living History Project is building up an archive of copies of historic documents that can be used for research and put on show. Several people have kindly contributed to this, including Peter Topps, Mike Saunders, Reg Boyce, Ted Rayson, Dorothy Beedham, Sue and Dave Middleton, Nicky and Andy Wendler and Kathy Sparham. We hope that others will be willing to share their treasures with us as the project moves forward. Internet websites (e.g. ‘Guys of Bottesford’, ‘Ancestry’, ‘Historical Directories’) and Melton Library have also provided important additions. The archive includes historic maps, papers relating to the history of Dyer’s Cottage, records of the Bottesford Friendly Society, compiled census data for 1881 and 1901, extracts from historic Kelly’s and Post Office Directories, and a copy of the Northeast Corner. More recent material includes most issues of the Cross and Stocks, records of the Bottesford Resident’s Association and a growing collection of copies of historic and modern photographs.

Generous support from the British Geological Survey

Copies of documents too wide or delicate to be scanned by home-based equipment have been made through the generous support of the British Geological Survey (BGS) at Keyworth, Nottingham, part of the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council. BGS uses sophisticated reprographic equipment to copy its vast library of maps and plans. As part of its Public Understanding of Science policy, it granted the Bottesford Living History Project the opportunity to use these facilities. The result is a set of high quality prints and CD copies that now form an important part of the project’s archive.

The Website is on its way

The first day of training for our website took place in December and we are very impressed with the site so far. The idea of the site is to make our archive easily accessible to the community and, indeed, the world. Community Sites, supported by Museums, Galleries and Archives East Midlands, have designed the site for us so that anyone can add material, making it a truly interactive community site. The resulting Bottesford Living History website is expected to become public later in the spring of 2007. We would welcome participation by people associated with the project to pilot it.

Queen Street Rediscovered

Using census information, directories, advertisements and old maps, Sue Middleton has been tracing the shops and businesses that occupied Queen Street in the past sixty years. Since any query about Bottesford gets the answer, ‘Ask  Peter Topps,’ Sue and her husband Dave did just that. On a freezing Friday morning at the end of November, Peter, Bottesford’s Mr History, chairman of Bottesford Local History Society, gave Sue, Dave and some hangers-on (left of picture) a trip down Queen Street in a time machine, reconstructing all the vanished houses and their inhabitants, the lost shops and shopkeepers. Along the way he was helped by contributions from passers-by who were able to share their memories. The icy wind was soon forgotten as Peter told us stories of past inhabitants, for example Louis Abbott who ran a painting and decorating business and had a magpie in a cage.Their yard was at the back of the old Co-op store. This was replaced in the 1960s by today’s building In the picture you see him recalling F.A. Winn’s corner shop, run by genteel Miss Raynor and down-to-earth Miss Wells, whose tombstone in the churchyards preserves their memory as, ‘True Friends.’

House History

Nick and Jill Pompa have been lovingly restoring Claremont House, on High Street, next to The Thatch, since they moved in 5 years ago. It is an imposing building, with two, square projecting bays surmounted by gables and a matching central porch. flanked by unusual sash windows. It is Grade 11 listed and dates from the mid-eighteenth century. Part of the rear of the house is made up of an ironstone wall, suggesting that at least some of the house predates the switch from stone to brick in the C17th.  The deeds refer back to ‘ John Forest of Bottesford, gent.’ 1765. The curved ceiling of the hall clearly extends over the porch, proving that while the gable may be a C19th addition, the porch itself is part of the Georgian structure.

The most striking feature of the interior faces you when you enter. A splendid staircase with an elegant mahogany rail sweeps vertiginously up to the very top of the house, The walls of the stairwell are decorated with a classic Georgian stone-effect design. The landings, however, are uneven and eccentric. Jill suggests that the staircase was installed to make the house more impressive, but on a limited budget with minimal structural alterations. Once there was also a servants staircase and traces of it and the servants bells can still be see.

Many original features have survived, especially the fireplaces and surrounds in several rooms, the six-panel Georgian doors and most of all the elegant sash windows, which appeared in Bottesford soon after they were introduced in London in 1710, because the village is close to the Great North Road.

Outside the house once had, a stable and carriage house and gardens with a well, fruit trees and a greenhouse. At one time it belonged to the Wright family, doctors in Bottesford since the 1820s. In 20th century, Claremont House came down in the world. In the 1970s it belonged to Belvoir Turkey Farms, but now it has regained its old character and charm.

Contact us if you can contribute information about Bottesford’s old houses.

This page was added on 30/01/2007.

Comments about this page

  • Hi, On reading your comment about Claremont House, an uncle of mine Ernest James Miller (1871-1952) born in Hose and son of John Bissel Miller became a doctor and surgeon. In the Medical register for 1931 his given address is Claremont House Bottesford. Do you think he may have had a surgery there after the Wrights?

    By Anne Irons (15/12/2015)

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