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)