A BIT OF NEWS AND GOSSIP!
If anything good has come out of the pandemic it seems to be that families have had time to go through their photo albums and tell stories of times gone by.
War Time Memories
At the beginning of November we had an email from Ian who wondered if we had any information about a bombing raid over Gringley around 1941. It seems he had been talking to his Aunt Ann who told him that she and her sister June (Ian’s mother) had been evacuated to Gringley from Sheffield. June would have been about 10 and Ann five or six years younger. Ann could not remember the name of the farm but the family were called Hardy and both girls had very fond memories of their time there. Ann told Ian that she remembered a German bomber flying over the farm and the farmer’s wife pulling her inside to safety.
Ian wondered if we had any information about the farm where his mother and aunt were billeted. This was an easy question to answer! The two little girls were evacuated to Green Farm owned by the Hardy family, and a German bomber did indeed cause a lot of damage to the farm in a raid.
Ian said that when life returns to ‘normal’ he would like to make a trip to Gringley to see Green Farm where his mother and aunt had stayed. The Hardy family have kindly extended an invitation to visit. Mrs Hardy senior remembers the two little girls well.
Memories of the TB Hospital
Helen contacted us in November too. Helen’s mother, Joyce, had been a patient at Gringley TB Hospital in the 1940s. Mum and daughter wondered if any records of treatment were available for that time. We explained that any records would probably have been returned to Nottinghamshire Health Authority when the TB Hospital closed in the 1950s. Joyce described to Helen how she was strapped onto a frame, (Joyce was clear in saying she was strapped ON the frame, rather than in it). It is unbelievable nowadays to think that the treatment for some children with TB was to strap them on to a frame outside. Joyce was subsequently moved to Harlow Wood Hospital and worked there briefly as a nursing cadet. Helen bought the books 'Lemon Curd & Grandfathers Whiskers' and 'Deep Pockets & Fresh Air' for her mum. We had a lovely card from Joyce at Christmas saying how much she had enjoyed looking through them.
Photographs and Memories
Carol contacted us in December to say how lovely it was to see the photo on our website of her great grandmother, Sophia Gill, outside her son’s house, now Kippax Cottage. on the High Street. She also spotted Sophia’s cottage on Little Lane.
A message from Oz!
Earlier in the year we had an email from Alana Parker who had been talking to her grandmother, Doris Parker, nee Beech – both of whom now live in Australia. The interesting story that Doris recounted to Alana is described in ‘Articles’ under the heading The Beech Family and Beech Close.
Montem House
John P mentioned that a builder working on the basement of his property many years ago told him that the basement beams were 400-450 years old and suspected the church had bolt holes leading to his cellar which may have been used as an escape route. It seems that a part of the basement was also used as a gin distillery- Gringley Gin – who knew?
The Hill Family
Pat contacted us in November as she had been researching the family history of her mother-in-law, a member of the Hill family. Pat was pleased to come across photos and information on our website about Walter Hill. Walter Hill was Margaret’s grandfather and headmaster at St Peter’s School from 1876/77 to 1899. When he left St Peter’s he established his own school at The Beeches. More can be read about Walter Hill in the ‘Schools’ section.
Margaret lived at The Beeches from her birth in 1929 until the late forties. She recounted a story of a bomb being dropped on the new by-pass during the war which knocked out a window at The Beeches where she was sleeping!
Bombs Away in Beckingham!
Peter Beresford messaged us in December. He had been working in Beckingham and the gentleman whose house he was working at showed him the remains of a parachute bomb which had fallen in a field during the war (you can see the detonator head clearly). The gentleman had a lot to tell and said that after raids he used to rummage around the streets picking up bullets.
