Author Archives: Christine

Bealby Plough Manufactory of North Collingham

July 2023

News from Collingham & District Local History Society

See the full article here.

In the above article we have highlighted 

  • An important new addition to Collingham Archives.  These are a number of  Account Books from  ‘Collingham’s Bealby Plough Manufactory’ for the period from 1877 to 1911.  Two are in a delicate condition (and too expensive to conserve) and the others are on loan.  However, with the permission of the respective owners we have photographed these – almost 2,000 pages. They can  be viewed in Collingham Archives and in line with our ‘open and free access’ approach our aim is to eventually make these freely available over the internet.

Account Books may sound a dull, very dry and boring subject but as you can see from the attached, they are easy to read and give an interesting insight into many aspects of local life and business, not least the people who purchased  Bealby ploughs and spares and their geographical spread.

The set is not complete and we know that there are other Account Books out there. So, we would appreciate the opportunity to view and  possibly also make digital copies of the missing books in order to make their contents  freely available.

If you wish to view these or any other items that we hold  please come to an  Archives Open Day or contact us so we can arrange mutually convenient access.

Please also contact us if you have any items that you may wish to donate!

  • The donor of some of these books has a number of Bealby tools and ploughs  that he would like to donate to a charity so that they can go on public display.  Unfortunately, we do not have the facilities or space to take up his offer.  Furthermore, when he has approached various museums the response was typified by one major potential Nottinghamshire recipient who wrote that they have disposed of their farming and agriculture collection. Looking around Nottinghamshire and the range of heritage initiatives and events that take place, it is a shame that our rich, important and continuing Agricultural Heritage is being ignored and ‘disposed of’ by those professionals who are charged with preserving and promoting our past.

Jeremy Lodge
(Trustee. Collingham and District Local History Society)

Collingham Station and the Opening of the Nottingham to Lincoln ‘Castle Line’

9th February 2022

A talk by Jeremy Lodge

Report by Pat Morgan

Nigel Priestley introduced the speaker with an anecdote about his great grandparents, William Dring and Ann Spafford, moving into the newly constructed cottage at the Langford crossing gates when they were newly married.

Jeremy told us how the opening of the Lincoln to Nottingham line in 1846 ‘practically connected Lincoln with the rest of the Universe’.

The first railway service, Liverpool to Manchester, had begun in 1830, using engines such as Stephenson’s Rocket and carriages or wagons adapted from road transport. He described how, following the rapid expansion of railways in the early 19th century there was a decline in road and canal traffic. Surprisingly, though, there were even more working horses in this period as they were used to transport people and goods to the railway stations. The expansion of railways allowed centres of industry to develop such as steel working in Sheffield.

In 1844 the Midland Railway was formed by the merger of three earlier companies. The Lincoln to Nottingham line was soon proposed and the plans were submitted to parliament. Once Royal Assent was granted in 1845, work started immediately and the line opened in August 1846. Jeremy described the opening day celebrations, noting that in newspaper reports at the time only Newark and Collingham were mentioned along the route! Efforts had been made by Collingham people to make sure the village was noticed! Jeremy went on to tell us how much the railway was used, the range of prices for transport of goods and livestock, the fares for different classes of passengers and the excursions ordinary people made. He finished with a closer look at Collingham station and described the extensive goods traffic once sidings were constructed there in 1850. There was considerable interest in the photographs he had, especially those which showed how much of the original structures still remain.

Holme Church Presentation and Social Event

1st September 2021

Report by Pat Smedley

On a dull evening we congregated at 6pm at St Giles Church, Holme which was packed, to learn more about this unique, fascinating building – and the intriguing history that lies within it.

The sun shone, annoyingly just when we wanted the audience to see the screen set up with a background video showing St Giles from the air, and focussing on its various features. No matter – it did not last and we were soon being thoroughly entertained by Nigel Priestley who has been the warden of St Giles for many years, and knows every inch and cranny.

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Collingham Village Walk

21st July 2021

A walk around the northern end of the village led by Nigel Priestley

Report by Pat Smedley

Another hot day as the July heat wave continued to make us all feel tired, lethargic and really not feeling like taking on a walk through the north end of Low Street from the All Saints’ flood markers up to The Cat Asylum. Nevertheless, I am very glad I did venture out for what proved a most entertaining tour by Nigel Priestley, following on from the last Village Walk now two years ago.

Nigel leading the way along Low St, by All Saints’ church
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Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk

14th April 2021

Lincolnshire’s Greatest Tudor Woman
a Zoom presentation by Adrian Gray

This was the second talk by Adrian Gray and proved very informative and enjoyable. Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk is a little known figure in Tudor history but, as our speaker demonstrated, she led an extraordinary, exciting and at times, dangerous life in those turbulent times.

Born into a very wealthy, Catholic, Lincolnshire family, her mother was a close friend of Queen Katherine of Aragon and was present at her death. Katherine became a very wealthy woman on the death of her father and married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the close friend of Henry V111 – she was 14 years old and he 49 years. Despite the age difference the marriage was successful and the couple had two fine boys.

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Ice Age Journeys

10th March 2021

A Zoom presentation by Dr Ian Ross

Chairman of the charity Ice Age Insights

Dr Ian Ross gave a fascinating talk on the world of the Hunter Gatherers who, 14,000 years ago in the Upper Palaeolithic period, paused on their travels near modern day Farndon. He covered essential questions, the ice age and its impact on geomorphology, the hunter gathers, their origin, their journeys across Doggerland to Farndon. Why did they choose this area?

But first of all Dr Ross told us how Farndon was uncovered as such an important archaeological site. This was due to the development of the A46 that led to the discovery of a rich hoist of flints. Deep ploughing has uncovered more. Farndon is now acknowledged alongside Cresswell Crags and Bradgate Park in Leicester as a key Upper Palaeolithic site of international importance.

The Hunters Gatherers came across Doggerland from mainland Europe. They would choose the ‘least cost pathway’ for their journey so as to limit their energy loss. Having arrived at the Lincolnshire Wolds – a rich chalk seam embedding precious flint, they harvested the flints they would need and moved on about 17 miles to the Farndon area. The River Trent at that time was braided or multi channelled, undisciplined waters that enveloped the whole area.  Present day Farndon lay between the converging the rivers Trent and the Devon It yielded a stretch of land that could be used to lay the camp – hunt the wild animals trapped on islands, nap the flints, live their lives until they moved on again.

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Collingham and East of the Trent

Ice Age to the Romans

by Jeremy Lodge

Society Trustee and Irregular Editor, Jeremy Lodge, has just published a 250-page paperback book on Collingham and its surrounding area. This is the first publication dedicated to Collingham and this area sine Reverend Wake’s ‘History of
Collingham and its Neighbourhood’ in 1867. Jeremy’s book starts with the last Ice Age which shaped the land and formed the basis for the development of early plant, animal and human life in this area . The focus then moves on to local evidence of early human habitation culminating in the Celts and Romans. The impact of the River Trent, climatic changes and the broader geographical perspective are recurrent themes throughout. ‘Collingham and East of the Trent’ is richly illustrated with diagrams, maps and photographs of local archaeological finds and frequently links the issues covered with what can still be seen today. In addition, there is a compendium of ancient artefacts and archaeological reports. This easy to read book will be of interest to both the general reader and those specifically interested in this locality.

‘Collingham and East of the Trent’ is being sold by Gascoignes (the Post Office) in Collingham, and by Pat at 21 High Street (Collingham) for £10. Thankyou to them both! You can also buy Jeremy’s books from ‘The Bookcase’ in Lowdham www.nottinghambooks.co.uk. The ebook can be purchased from Amazon.

Jeremy is currently working on a further book which takes our local story up to the Domesday Book of 1086. This should be ready for publication in summer 2022.

The Roman Villa at Norton Disney

10th February 2021

Our local Roman Villa, its importance, up to date findings and the threat that it faces.
A Zoom presentation by Richard Parker

Richard is secretary of the Norton Disney History and Archaeology group. A long-term resident of the area, his interest in the villa site had developed in the last three years. He told us that the Potter Hill site, which stretches across the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire border has revealed numerous artefacts from the Iron Age through to the Romano-British period, which are now held in places as diverse as Lincolnshire, Newark Museum, possibly Oxford and the British Museum. The history of the 1930’s discovery of the first tesserae and investigation of the Roman Villa was described. Its relationship to the surrounding landscape, with evidence of extensive iron smelting, was explained. (Read more in Irregular 5) The L shaped Villa is a Scheduled Ancient Monument of National importance but it is unlikely to be excavated again as the process is so damaging. Modern techniques such as Geo-Phys and LIDAR can reveal much that is hidden from view, and neither metal detectors nor digging are allowed within the field boundary.

Lincolnshire Proteins now owns the field and the neighbouring farm, so their second planning application to build a rendering plant so close to the site is of great concern. Richard asked that we tell other people about the importance of the whole site, look at the Lincolnshire County Council heritage assessment (HER) and, most importantly, write letters of objection, as appropriate so we can help to protect this important historical area.

[In our March Newsletter entitled ‘Time for Action’ we outlined the proposal, its heritage impact, our objection and how people could object. There are also items on the villa in our journal ‘Irregular 5’ (November 2020).]

After the talk, Richard answered several of our questions and was intrigued to hear a couple of anecdotes about the area.

The talk was recorded and can be viewed on our Recorded Presentations webpage.

Why did they come from here?

26th November 2020

The Local Story of the Pilgrim Fathers
a Zoom presentation by Adrian Gray

This was an excellent presentation delivered by an expert on this subject. Adrian Gray has written extensively on the local history of the East Midlands area his latest books being ‘Restless Souls Pilgrim Roots’ and ‘From Here We Changed the World’.

The focus of this talk was not the actual Mayflower voyage but the heritage of protestant religious radicalism in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire from where our Mayflower Pilgrims descended and which enabled and inspired their passion for religious freedom to worship outside of the boundaries of the Elizabethan religious settlement.

Adrian took the audience back to the time of Henry VIII, and particularly to the importance of Thomas Cranmer, the architect of the English Reformation who came from Nottinghamshire. This was already a radical area from the time of the Lollards, particularly around Boston. Cranmer maintained local East Midlands connections for life so that this local area had direct connections to radical church reform at the top. The dissolution of the monasteries in this area created a new breed of protestant land owner with vested interests in the new protestant status quo. These gentry would appoint local radical priests thus sustaining the growth of radical religious reform.

The talk expanded to involve many key East Midlands figures, connected by family, marriage and church patronage and all committed to the Protestant cause, many radical. The actual Mayflower voyage is really just a post script to this fascinating story.

There is a lot of detail explained in excellent slides in this talk, which certainly deserves to be given a second viewing. If anyone wants to see this presentation again, or for the first time, get in touch with our Chair, Pat Smedley, via the Contact Us page.

We will send it by email to you for your personal viewing.

Making of a Memorial

15th October 2020

The Story of the International Bomber Command Centre and Bomber Technology

On 15th October CDLHS had its first ‘virtual’ presentation via Zoom. Dave Gilbert gave an extremely interesting and moving talk on his work leading the losses team at the International Bomber Command Centre. The response to the appeal for more information on the 57,000 or so airmen killed in Bomber Command has been truly phenomenal and Dave shared his personal journey of involvement with those lost airmen, and his determination to find out more about their lives and celebrate them.

The talk was recorded and can be viewed on our Recorded Presentations webpage.