The History of the Seaside Holiday

Speaker: Felicity Austin

21 November 2017

A brief AGM was followed by a lighthearted and nostalgic look at the development of the Seaside Holiday by Felicity Austin. She was dressed in a replica Victorian bathing suit made of a thick woollen material with long pantaloons. She also entertained us with popular songs with which we were able to join in, a scene from a Punch and Judy show and a rummage through a suitcase containing bathing costumes from different periods.

The Seaside Holiday was really a Victorian invention, prior to that only the wealthy went to the sea, usually for their health. Men cavorted naked in the waves because bathing costumes had not been invented. These came in during Queen Victoria's reign, as did new laws to prevent nude bathing. Felicity read us a short extract from Queen Victoria’s diary describing her first visit to a bathing machine and dip in the sea.

The ability of ordinary working people to go to the seaside came with the railway, the pleasure steamer and the Bank Holiday. Piers were built so the steamers could bring in the holiday-makers - it was only later that they became entertainment centres in their own right. Fishing villages grew to become seaside resorts e.g. Skegness and Blackpool. Railway companies made the journey much quicker and more affordable. For example, in 1841 the London to Brighton rail fare was 3/6d and took 2 hours whereas the stagecoach had previously taken 9 hours and cost £1.00.00. The Blackpool Tower was built in 1894 with bars and a menagerie but the ballroom came later. By 1898 Cromer was allowing some mixed bathing but men must wear suitable costumes covering them from neck to knee.

By the 1920s, people’s seaside destination depended on which train lines went from their local station, the rules for bathing became simpler, people had knitted costumes and seaside entertainment was growing. Billy Butlin introduced dodgems to his holiday camps, and Wall’s produced ice cream. Seaside holidays ceased during the war and Butlin’s in Skegness became a naval training camp. In the post-war period workers started getting paid for one week’s holiday each year. By the 1950s more people owned their own car and were able to go further afield and the West Country became a popular holiday destination. By the late 1950s people were gradually starting to go to the continent. In 1968 75% of holidays were still taken in England, by 1999 it was down to 44% but there has been a slight resurgence in recent years.

What have Medieval Peasants done for us?

Speaker: Professor Christopher Dyer

17 October 2017

What have medieval peasants done for us? Visitors to the Thurcaston and Cropston Local History meeting in October were given some answers to this question posed by Chris Dyer, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Leicester.

Prof Dyer suggested that when looking back at history too much importance is paid to kings, and that there should be more focus on ordinary people who helped to create the world we know. Their names are one such inheritance. For example the poll tax records for Thurcaston in 1379 show that people’s surnames were often: place names such as Normanton, Langton or Birstall; trades - Smith, Carter and Wright; or characteristics - Big, Long, and Brown. First names included William, Henry and Alice, all of which are in fashion today.

Society was divided broadly into three: those who pray – the clergy; those who fight – the Lords; and those who work – the peasants. Everyone was bound together in a community working for themselves and each other. There is an abundance of written evidence, for example, the surveys conducted by Leicester Abbey, and the archives of Merton College Oxford who owned Kibworth Harcourt that provided a very full picture of an English village (this was one of the reasons that it was chosen for Michael Wood’s Story of England TV series.) https://www.kibworthvillage.co.uk These accounts were not written by the peasants themselves, however, as they would have been unable to read and write.

Evidence of the way peasants lived remains. Excavations in Anstey found a 14th century peasant’s house, and there are more than 70 cruck-framed buildings surviving in Leicestershire, including cottages, barns and farm buildings. Locally, examples can be seen at Town Green Rothley and in Newtown Linford.

Lords of the Manor had a say over all parts of peasants’ lives, for example they would have to get permission to leave the village. They paid rent for their land and worked on the Lord’s land a certain number of days each week. Leicestershire, however, was a less oppressed county than some. The Lord’s manor was run day to day by the tenants, with reeves and churchwardens playing an important part in collecting rents and raising money for the church.

Giving many examples from written sources, Chris Dyer showed that peasants were active participants in the life of the village, local government and industry but that they had largely developed themselves out of existence by the 19th century unlike some European countries where the peasantry still survives.

 

Other Links

Browning, J and Higgins T. Excavations of a Medieval Toft and Croft at Cropston Road, Anstey, Leicestershire. Trans. Leicestershire Archaeol. and Hist. Soc., 77 (2003)

Burning Passions: the local struggle for women’s suffrage

Speaker: Jess Jenkins

19 September 2017

Jess Jenkins' aim was to tell stories of less well-known women (and men) who took part in the fight for votes for women. There were many other women and organizations fighting for the vote, not just the well-known such as the Pankhursts, Emily Davison and the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Firstly Jess reminded us that until the Reform Act of 1832 very few people had the right to vote at all. In 1866 when the first petition from women was sent to Parliament five Leicestershire women signed it, and there were1302 petitions between then and 1905, but it was not until 1928 women finally won equality. Many had been campaigning peacefully for 40 years before Christabel Pankhurst realized that only protests and arrest would raise awareness in the minds of politicians. In 1884 the new Reform Bill gave all male householders the vote, but still ignored the claims of women.

The Leicester and Leicestershire Women’s Suffrage Society was founded in 1887 following a successful meeting at which Millicent Fawcett spoke in Leicester (she would later come to the very forefront of the women’s suffrage movement). Various well-to-do local ladies were involved in the early movement including Edith Gittins, a corn-dealers daughter and Sunday school teacher and Mrs Agnes Fielding Johnson, who was manager of Wyggeston Girls School and also campaigned for a maternity hospital in the city.

As protests became more militant, women from Leicester joined protest marches and demonstrations. The Joint Women’s Franchise Demonstration (1907) included, among others, Mrs Margaret Ramsey McDonald wife of the MP. Alice Hawkins who worked in the boot and shoe industry and her husband Alfred were arrested by the police on many occasions and Alice imprisoned seven times. Among other men who supported women in their fight was Henry Nevinson a founder member of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage.

Successive governments failed to take the claim for women’s suffrage seriously, but in1914 the start of the First World War put an end to the militant campaigns. In 1918 The Representation of the People Act enfranchised all men and women over the age of 30. Finally in 1928, The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act, gave the vote to all women over 21 on equal terms with men.

If you would like to read more, Jess Jenkins has written a book entitled ‘The Burning Question: the struggle for women’s suffrage in Leicestershire.’ IBSN 978-0-85022-487-0. Printed by Leicestershire County Council.

Visit to Donington le Heath

19 August 2017

The final outdoor visit of the summer was to Donington Le Heath Manor House near Coalville. We were shown around by a very enthusiastic volunteer called Liz dressed in costume of a housekeeper of the Manor in the 1620s.  

The House was originally built in the 1290s but was updated by the Digby family in the 1620s and has been restored and refurnished to that period by Leicestershire County Council.

On the lower floor the servants would have worked, whilst the upper floor was used by the family and for entertainment. From the outside you can see that the roof and the mullion windows are from the 1620s whereas the older windows are much smaller and originally would have had no glazing. It was a family house until the 1930s but by the 1960s was used as a pigsty, when the farmer wanted to upgrade it the Council realized how important the building was and bought it.

The guide led us through the various rooms that are furnished as they would have been in the 1620s.

The first was the scullery with its original stone floor, 13th century doorways and lintels, and rustic furniture and kitchen equipment. She showed us marks on the doorways and the chimney-breast, designed to deter witches (during this time it was very important to try to rid the land of witches). The spoons on the table had their bowls turned downwards which was also to prevent witches from causing mischief.

In the kitchen/parlour we were shown a spice chest to which the lady of the house would have had the key and inside which rare spices such as cinnamon and sugar, and medicinal herbs were kept.

Off the parlour was the buttery (which is named after butts of wine and beer which would have been stored here). In the dairy we were shown more witch detection and protection: for detection a feather which you could wave about in the air to tickle the witch - if you heard it laugh you knew there was one; for protection a bellarmine jar, a pottery jar which could be used to counteract and expose harmful magic and spells.

Upstairs were Mr Digby’s study, the receiving lobby, the great chamber and two bedrooms all of which would've been used by the family.

The bed in the second bedroom was a splendid four-poster, the base of which may have been slept on by Richard III on his last night because it came from The Blue Boar Inn.  In the great chamber we were lucky enough to hear live lute music being played, the lutenist then explained the Renaissance lute and other related instruments and some of the music they played which made a pleasant end to a very enjoyable and informative tour.

Outside we were able to explore the gardens at our leisure, which have also been planted to recreate the same period.

For more information about the house: www.doningtonleheath.org.uk.

Walk around Loughborough

Guide: Lynne Dyer

Tuesday 18 July

Tuesday 18th July saw a group from the Society taking an evening walk around Loughborough with Lynne Dyer, an accredited Leicestershire guide and resident who gave us lots of interesting facts and stories about the town.

We started outside the Public Library in Granby Street looking first at the façade of the Carnegie funded library built in 1903-5. Standing outside the newer section built in 1965 is a bronze statue of a boy extracting a thorn from his foot. This was a gift from Loughborough’s twin town - Epinal - in 1957.  It disappeared one day in the 1980s and was later found in the River Ouse in Yorkshire.

Crossing Granby Street car park where the cattle market was held and the selling ring floor still remains, past Clarks dye works and down Old Bleach Yard to Wards End, we heard about the alabaster and bleach works once based in the area.

Looking up in Devonshire Square above the length of discount store and shops is a mural, painted by Wei Ong in 2014, representing the town, its people and local landmarks.

Walking down Cattle Market and into Market Square the buildings take our attention. The Odeon cinema (formerly the Empire and the Essoldo) was built in 1914, later an Art Deco façade was added, tiled in Hathernware tiles. The NatWest bank is a fine example of the Gothic style with turrets and carvings. The Town Hall, built as the Corn Exchange in 1855, has a fine clock. If you stand beneath it, you can see that it is angled in a way that makes it visible from both ends of the town. The HSBC bank has a base made from polished Mountsorrel granite. On the corner, atop Lloyds Bank, is an allegorical female figure holding a scroll, sadly her other arm which used to hold a moneybag has dropped off sometime in the last few years!  Finally in the Market Square - the Marmite moment - you either love or hate the Sockman sculpture, created by Shona Kinloch in 1998, he represents the hosiery and knitwear industries that are part of Loughborough’s history.

The take-home message from our walk must be: when walking around a town, look up and down and you’ll find many interesting reminders of the past.

Lynne writes a blog about Loughborough and her website includes some self-guided walks http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.co.uk with much more detail than is included here.

Visit to the Record Office

Guide: Jess Jenkins

20 June 2017

For the June meeting, members visited the Record Office in Wigston, where our guide was archivist Jess Jenkins.

The Record Office is a service provided by Leicestershire County Council in partnership with Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council. Its purpose is to collect and make available a wide range of resources for researching the history and culture of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. The collection dates back to the 1100’s and continues to grow. The Record Office moved from New Walk to its present site in Wigston in 1992. It amalgamated with the local studies library so that everything relating to the history of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland was housed under one roof.

Jess provided a variety of documents and books for us to look at. The oldest document we saw was a transfer of title of land in Saddington dating from around 1230 AD, written in Latin on parchment and with a large wax seal attached. A number related to Thurcaston and Cropston including records from the Archdeaconry of Leicester of 1517, showing the will of Everard Falkener of Thurcaston. Another was a 17th century accounts book which held the church accounts at the front and those of the village constable at the back, as both offices were held by the same man.

Other notable items included: a record of a lion brought into Loughborough that killed a man; 1813 Marriage Records from Ashby-de-la-Zouch showing the marriages of a number of French prisoners of war to local girls; Burial Records of 1609 documenting plague burials; a page from the Admission Records for the Leicester Poor Law Union dated 29th December, 1879 noting the admission of Joseph Merrick (later known as the Elephant Man); and 1916 details of the Zeppelin raids when bombs were dropped on Loughborough killing 10 and injuring at least 12 people.

We finished with a tour of the Record Office, being shown: the microfiche readers and computer terminals which members of the public can use for their own research; the strong-room, with over 10km of shelving, in which the documents are stored in a controlled environment (pleasantly cool on a hot evening!); and the map room where we were given the opportunity to look at some local maps which concluded a most interesting evening.

For more details of the collection and services provided, visit their website: www.leics.gov.uk/recordoffice

Church Bells

Speakers: Brenda Hooper and Peter Hunt

16 May 2017

The May meeting was a talk about, and a demonstration of, church bells. Brenda Hooper (Hon President of the Society) told us the history of church bells, and Peter Hunt (Captain of Bellringers) described the bells in All Saints' church. At the beginning of the meeting we listened to the church bells ringing and the evening concluded with two tunes played on the hand-bells.

The sounds of bells have been heard through the ages in many aspects of our lives: calling us to prayer; warning of danger; waking us up; or telling us the time of day. The first account of a bell can be found in the Bible when Moses ordered bells to be placed on the hem of the High Priest’s robe[1]. Bells were first used in Christian churches around the 5th century and the Venerable Bede mentions a bell in Whitby for waking and calling the nuns to prayer[2]. The first mention of a bell in Thurcaston appears in the will of John de Mershden in 1425. He wrote, “if the parishioners of Thurcaston wish to make a large bell out of the medium-sized one they shall have £6.”[3]

Peter Hunt talked more about the bells in All Saints' Church, of which there are eight. The oldest and largest is the tenor bell, number 8, which weighs about the same as a small car. This is a very special bell known as a “Royal Heads Bell” decorated with the heads of King Edward III and Queen Philippa. The next largest, number 7, dates from 1614. Bells 3,4,5 and 6 were cast at Taylors Bell foundry in Loughborough in 1898, numbers 1 and 2 by Alfred Bowell of Ipswich in 1919. Peter went on to explain a little about ringing changes: a system using permutations which mean the bells never sound twice in the same order. If there are six bells this means 720 changes without repetition, if there are eight this increases to 40,320. One such has been rung at the Loughborough bell foundry and took 18 1/2 hours. A “peal’ consists of at least 5,000 changes lasting about 3 hours, a quarter peal is rung on special occasions taking approximately 45 minutes.

Brenda told us a little of the history of bell ringing: by the early 1800’s some belfries had become places for smoking, drinking and other unsociable activities. Thurnby Church saw disagreements between the vicar and the ringers when the vicar tried to stop them ringing the bells to signal the start of the hunt meeting. This dispute went to the Ecclesiastical court where the Judge concluded that the vicar’s permission must be obtained before church bells could be rung[4]. This law still stands.

Finally we heard a little about the hand-bells. Twelve bells were purchased in 2008 and a further thirteen in 2015, providing for changes of key and enabling a larger repertoire. We heard two tunes played: Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” and “The Happy Wanderer”.

The hand-bell ringers rehearse in the Harrison Room on Thursday mornings and welcome new members.

[1] Exodus 28 v 31-35

[2] The Ven. Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum. Ed A. Holder, 1895, Bk 4 Chap 23, p 207

[3] S.L. Ollard. Fasti Wyndesoriensis. The Deans and Canons of Windsor. Windsor 1950

[4] Rev. W.H. Pinnorck LLD. Cambridge. Church Key, Belfry Key & Organ Key. J.Hall & Son, 1870.

From Swithland Rectory to Vimy Ridge: The story of nature artist Otto Murray Dixon

Speaker: Anne Horton

21 March 2017

Herself a former Rector of Swithland, Anne became interested in the artist Otto Murray Dixon and her talk was punctuated with personal reminiscences and photographs from the family, and his pictures throughout. 

Henry Edward Otto Murray Dixon (known as Harry as a child) was born in 1885 a year after his father, James, became rector of Swithland. His earliest years were spent at the old 18th century rectory before the new one was built in 1891. His mother, Etheldreda, came from a wealthy family, the Trevelyan’s from Nettlecombe Court in Somerset, her grandfather a baronet and her father a rector. On his father’s side, Harry’s great grandfather was the landlord of the Red Lion in Henley upon Thames, a public house that George III is known to have visited.

Along with his two sisters Harry started school at Swithland in 1894. His earliest known picture is of a heron, labelled “for dear John” which was painted in 1897 when he was 12.   On it, he signed his name as Otto Murray Dixon.  He used one of the top rooms in the rectory as a studio.  From 1903 to 1908 he wrote Nature Notes about the birds he’d shot, the eggs he'd taken and the wildlife he’d encountered around Swithland.

His artistic education included Leicester School of Art, Calderon's School of Animal Painting in Baker Street, London and the Royal Academy Schools. He was also taught by Archibald Thorburn the noted wildlife artist.  JG Millais’s book British Diving Ducks published in 1913 contains his works, and many were published in the London Sporting and Dramatic Magazine and The Field.

Murray Dixon volunteered with the Seaforth Highlanders in World War I. He was commissioned in 1915.   In his memoir ‘Last Man Standing’  Norman Collins remembers him as a charming man, but that he was unable to remember to lead off on the left foot on parade. He painted throughout the war and included sketches in his letters home, focusing on the wildlife rather than the horrors of war.  His last known picture was ‘Rats in the Trenches’ (1917).  

He was fatally injured at Vimy Ridge on Easter Monday 1917 at the age of 31.  The first day of the Battle of Arras which was fought from 9 April-16 May and cost 165,000 British lives.   He is buried in Aubigney Communal Cemetery Extension . His father wrote “by someone, somewhere in France, a man of peace he fell in war, giving his life for others.”  He is remembered on Swithland War Memorial along with other young men who died in World War I.

The Vikings in and around Leicestershire

Speaker: Peter Liddle

21 February 2017

February’s meeting of the Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society heard Peter Liddle (former County Archaeologist) talk about The Vikings - in and around Leicestershire. 

Peter started by setting the scene in Britain before the arrival of the Vikings, when England, as we know it now, was divided into Anglo Saxon Kingdoms. Leicestershire was part of Mercia, and other kingdoms included Wessex, East Anglia and Northumbria.  At that time Leicester was one of the important cities of the Mercian kingdom.  Unfortunately very little documentation from the period remains as it all disappeared with the Vikings. 

The first notable Viking raid was on Lindisfarne in Northumbria in 793 AD where the great Abbey was destroyed, the monks killed and its treasures looted and taken back to the Vikings’ homelands. For the next 60-70 years they made frequent coastal raids taking back treasure, goods and people - either as hostages or slaves.  In 865 AD the “great army” landed, this time not just to raid and loot, but to conquer the Anglo Saxon kingdoms.  In the next ten years the whole structure of Mercia changed as the Viking army rampaged through the country, taking lands and pillaging the countryside .

Although there is no written documentation of the Vikings takeover of Mercia, artefacts are sometimes found which give an idea of their life.  We know that they played board games such as Nine Mens Morris and Hnefatafl as playing pieces have been found.  Metal detectorists have been instrumental in adding to the knowledge of the times by discovering items such as broaches, horse fittings and coins.  One such, the Thurcaston Hoard, is a total of 12 Viking, Saxon and Arabic coins found in the parish by Brian Kimberley, this is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge .

The East Midlands formed part of the Danelaw, as place names with the ending ‘by’ show.  Many are nearby such as Frisby, Brooksby and Rearsby.   Leicester was one of the “Five Boroughs” of the Danelaw together with Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln and Stamford (the main towns of Danish Mercia).  Danish rule of the Five Boroughs was lost following the English reconquests under Aethelflaed (King Alfred’s daughter) during 916 and 917.  The area was then ruled by Earls of Mercia, until it was briefly reoccupied by the Danes in 941, but it was soon recovered by King Edmund in 942.

What business is it of yours?

Speaker: Sandra Moore

17 January 2017

For the first meeting of 2017 Sandra Moore made a return to the Society to tell us about some more of the characters buried in Belgrave Cemetery, this time in the character of Mrs Eliza Billington, landlady of the Bull’s Head, Belgrave (deceased).

Elisa lived from 1848-1915, a time of great change, with the coming of the railways, and the industrial revolution leading to the demise of the framework knitting as a cottage industry as large factories opened up around Leicester resulting in high unemployment.

Dressed in a costume of the period, she began her reminiscences with the men returning from the 1905 march to London. More than 400 men had walked to the capital and back, hoping to petition the King, to protest against the lack of employment opportunities in the area. (More details from the Leicester Mercury).

She talked a little about life as a publican at the Bulls Head, which she ran with her husband Thomas during the 1890s and into early 20th century. They started serving food while she was the landlady attracting a better class of clientele!

Using examples of people buried in the cemetery she described of some of the businesses and lives of people who she would have come into contact with in the Belgrave area of Leicester. These were illustrated with b/w photographs and postcards. They included Henry Wilkinson (1849-1904) who became keeper of the Victoria Model Lodging House in Britannia Street; Benjamin and David Exton who were bakers; Henry Pugh, the butcher; Thomas Hoskins, of Hoskins Brewers; and George Tebbs,  who started as an ironmongers assistant, and later owned an Ironmongery business, but was also a musician and a founder of the De Montfort Orchestra (profile of George Tebbs).

More well known perhaps was Walter Bentley born in 1866, who starting rose growing at Red Hill in 1890 and moved up to Wanlip in 1937 but the 2nd World War meant more land was needed for food and more than a million rose trees were burned. The most recent burial was that of Wilfred Barry Deacon in 2012. Better known as impresario Barry Young he bought Goscote Hall Hotel which he turned into a cabaret venue and later ran the Starlight Club in Coalville (tributes).

Sandra Moore assembled these stories by advertising in the local press for information from families of people who are buried in the Cemetery, and has therefore, received personal memories and family photographs with which to illustrate her talk.

For more details of Belgrave Cemetery visit the Friends of Belgrave Cemetery website.