Newsletter 6

 

Home Page of the M.L.A. East Midlands funded Bottesford 'Living History' Community Heritage Project Website designed by Community Sites

 

Website Training Session, left to right Bob Sparham, Editor, B.L.H. Jerry Webber, M.L.A., Norman Robinson, Administrator B.L.H., Jack Latimer, Community Sites.

 

Article by Neil Fortey and David Middleton for Oral History Society Journal

 

The Project Noticeboard with Neil, Michael, Angela and Gillian.

 

The Queen Street Co-op site

 

Bottesford Community Heritage Project Local History Study Group. Left to right: Margaret Poultney, Sue Middleton, Betty Woodburn, Denys cave, Sue Dunsmore.

 

Local History Study Group - Tony Taffs, Alan Pizzey, Betty Woodburn

 

Laurel and Hardy played by Rev. Robin Stapleford and David McCormack

 

Fancy Dress 1935

 

Muston c. 1900

 

Photograph by Neil Fortey

 

Leicestershire Record Office, Wigston Magna

 

Extract from the Muston Overseers of the Poor Account Book 1730 - 1786, John Gale, Overseer

Next Project Meeting – Monday, June 2nd, 2008, 7.00 p.m. Fuller Rooms.

 

The ‘Bottesford Model’ (or is it muddle?)

In  February, following an invitation from the Regional Collections Development Officer, four members of the project team visited Derby Museum to talk to representatives of the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site about  running a community website. Since that meeting we have received a further invitation from the Participation Development Officer of Museums Libraries and Archives East Midlands to describe the ‘Bottesford Model’ to two more Heritage Project groups and to representatives of Renaissance East Midlands.

Website Review

Our own review of the success of the Project Website revealed encouraging statistics. 9,700 people from 45 countries have visited the site since the New Year and of this number 5,000 have visited the site again, some up to 14 times. On average the site receives about 60 ‘hits’ a day. However, while we are delighted with the contributions and comments received from all over the globe, particularly those from old Bottesfordians in the New World, we would like to encourage more local participation. A training session, demonstrating how easy it is to add material to the site, is planned for June/July.

Oral History

The Bottesford Community Heritage Project also featured in the Journal of the Oral History Society, which published an article by Neil Fortey and David Middleton describing the on-going work of members of the project team recording the voices and memories of Bottesford people. Over 15 hours of recordings have been completed and most have been transcribed. Extracts from the recordings have been used as the basis for the Drama scripts.

Project Noticeboard

Thanks to the Co-operative Group – Central and Eastern Region and Herbert Daybell, Daran Hewitt and Lisa Buckberry, the project now has a centrally placed notice board to keep people informed about what is going on. We hope the noticeboard will encourage participation in the project, make material more available to those who do not use the website, provide a focus for discussion and promote a sense of community ownership. While we have agreed that for the time being we will not use the noticeboard to publicise events other than those organized by the Heritage Project, are we publishing a list of community events. We would also be happy to host displays showing the activities of local voluntary organizations.

Local History Study Group

The Local History Study Group which developed out of  the Local History course taught by Sue Clayton of Flintham Museum has now really got into its stride and is undertaking a detailed investigation into the Bottesford censuses. These are proving a fascinating source of information about the history and people of Bottesford and Muston , but can also be frustrating because street names change and houses are not numbered. The group hopes to appeal to local residents whose families go back for several generations for information about the houses their families occupied and if possible for photographs of the residents themselves, so that local history meets up with family history to create the fullest possible picture.

Alan Pizzey has already created a very detailed picture of High Street, Bottesford in 1881.

In addition to work on the census Sue Middleton has amassed a wealth of information about Bottesford’s tradesmen, shopkeepers and shops, which she is preparing for publication on the website, while Sue Dunsmore has interviewed a number of local residents about their wartime experiences and is putting together a series of vivid and moving accounts.

Drama Event

Preparations for the Drama Event are well underway, with another rehearsal planned for Saturday 26th of April. On Saturday May 3rd the video makers will film interviews and scenes without an audience and the full performance with audience will take place and be videoed again on Sunday 4th May. Look out for the leaflet in Village Voice and join us in hoping for a sunny day for this largely outdoor event.

The Bottesford Archive

The archive continues to expand and now contains over 1100 photographs and numerous documents and maps. Neil is busy trying to keep it all in order by cataloguing the material so that it will be properly organized and accessible. It’s a long and laborious process involving detailed description of the material and its source. Most of the archive is ‘virtual’ consisting of digital copies of pictures or documents.

Most recently we have received photographs from Ann Hewitt, Dennis Jackson, Alan Millership, Joan Peach, Dick and Sid Robinson and John Shipman. Thanks to them all for allowing us to copy their pictures.

Muston Heritage Trail Leaflet

Sue Dunsmore has liaised with residents of Muston who are enthusiastic about the idea of a heritage trail leaflet, but we still need to collect information about Muston’s history from local residents. We have very few old photographs of Muston and hope that some Muston residents, past and present, will be willing to open up their family albums to contribute to the collection.

Bottesford Family Trees

We continue to receive inquiries on the website message board from people anxious to trace their Bottesford ancestors. Names which have cropped up include: Amos, Bailey, Bainbridge, Beckett, Bockin, Cragg, Courteen, Duffin, Gale, Geeson, Holling(s)worth, James, Kirton, Padget, Samuel, Spalton, Watts.

It’s a long way To Leicester

It takes an hour’s drive, or three hours by public transport, to reach the Leicestershire Public Record Office, which is housed in a Victorian school building in the suburb of Wigston Magna on the southern side of Leicester. But it is worth the trip.

It’s hard not to lament the fact that so much of Bottesford’s history is now stored away on ‘indefinite loan’ in distant Wigston Magna, particularly since this means it is not possible to spend enough time studying the documents in detail. Much of Bottesford’s recorded history, although carefully preserved,  is now beyond our reach, but the staff at Wigston Magna are very helpful and there is a real thrill in looking at the actual words written by a Bottesford overseer, parish clerk or curate two or three hundred years ago.

In the Overseers of the Poor Account Book for 1783, for example, in the week beginning August 18th Sarah Huberd was paid 2s for ‘doing for Rich. Chambers when ill,’ but sadly Richard did not survive long . Later that week, William Sansam, the Overseer, records: ‘Pd Huberd & Oliver & the Bearers for Bread & Ale Bell & Grave 4s  for Rich. Chambers’. More cheerfully, on October 13th, he  ‘Pd for 10lb half of beef at the workhouse for the feast 2s 7 ½ d‘.

The record office holds the Parish Registers, the Overseers’, Churchwardens’ and Hospital account books, the Vestry and Parish Council minute books and numerous wills, indentures, settlement examinations, removal orders and bastardy bonds, as well as electoral registers, directories and maps.