by Editor | Feb 14, 2024 | Social Histories
(A longer read) When we think of the First World War, most of us think of trenches, machine guns and mud in France and Belgium. Most of the men from Ilkeston and District who went to war from 1914 to 1918 did fight in Picardy and Flanders, but local men also fought at...
by Editor | Feb 13, 2024 | Local Histories
Just over the border into Nottinghamshire is the village of Trowell, which is probably most famous for being the Festival of Britain Village in 1951. The village is believed to have Saxon origins, and had a population of around 50, with four manors and a church, by...
by Editor | Feb 11, 2024 | Social Histories
Researched by Peter Cave. Sixty or so local men who served in the army during the Napoleonic Wars have so far been rediscovered. Mostly these are the survivors, the ones who were discharged when their time was up or when their strength or agility failed them. There...
by Editor | Feb 10, 2024 | Curiosities
Beauvale Priory, near Eastwood, achieved fame when its one-time Prior, John Houghton, became the first English Catholic Martyr. Born in Essex in 1487, he was educated at Cambridge, where he took a degree in law and, as his parents then wanted him to marry (against his...
by Editor | Feb 8, 2024 | Curiosities
Good-bye, Bessy Ling, Good-bye (Click red link to download audio file) By Peter Cave This is a surprise: sheet music written and published in Ilkeston. The melody and arrangement was by Amos Buxton, who was, at least before the Great War, a fitter at the Oakwood...
