DID CHARLIE GEORGE SOCIETY LOOKING FOR PLAY AGAINST ILKESTON? NEW MEMBERS I was at the match that Steve Tunstall and Arthur Severn reminisce about (March and April issues). It was a terrific game with many outstanding performances by our lads. There was only a rope stretching the length of the cricket side of the Heanor Town ground to hold the crowd back. How times change! I wonder if Steve would mind publishing the East London team for my memories in Ilkeston Life. I was under the impression that Charlie George, later of Arsenal and Derby County, played for the East London boys team about then. It would be interesting to know if any of their team made the grade in top level football. Steve also mentioned Arthur Brown, Dennis Smith and Brian Levers amongst the teachers involved. Dennis Smith came to Gladstone Boys School around 1946/47 while I was there, straight from being with Derby County, I believe. Arthur Brown was a very fine footballer with Bishop Auckland during their great amateur days. Brian Levers was a former Hallam fields pupil (as I was) and was one of the finest runners the district ever had. The Ilkeston and Heanor Boys were certainly in good hands. I followed Ilkeston Boys during the post-war years when Graham Cutts, my next door neighbour on Crompton Street, played. Graham, being four years older than me, took me on the team bus with him. We went to many matches and Graham had the hardest shot I’ve ever seen in football. Ray Simms, a Trowell farmer’s son, played in goal and was also the England Boys goalkeeper, I believe. I remember Harry Hedley, another goalie who I think played in spectacles. Ilkeston Boys had many fine teams over the years and produced quite a few who turned professional later on. I don’t know if any records exist but I’m hoping that Duncan Payne and John Shiels, our local football experts might get interested after they’ve finished their New Manor Ground history book.
Danny Corns, Ilkeston Steve Tunstall replies: I have looked again at the programmes from both matches and the press reports and can't see any reference to Charlie George - unfortunately. Arthur Severn replies: The East London Boys had some up and coming stars in their side: goalkeeper Steve Bowtell went on to play for Crystal Palace, while midfielder Patsy Holland and centre forward Tony Carr both played for West Ham United.
WELL DONE TO COLLEGE STAFF AND STUDENTS Having recently been sent copy of the 201415 Annual Review of the Derby College, I am delighted to read of the successes and achievements of students. Many will continue learning and succeeding throughout their whole life, partly, because of the valuable education and added vocational skills that the staff and Governors make available as a result of their dedication and commitment to provide and encourage students to have aspirations, pride and grow in confidence at the campus in Ilkeston, a buzzing, clean and stimulating learning environment in the heart of our town. So, credit and appreciation is sent with all humility, as further generations pass through and adult learners return, a thank you to all who work and study at Ilkeston in particular.
Councillor Michelle Booth, Ilkeston West
West Hallam History Society has been going since 1982 and we would really love some new members. We have meetings in February, March and April, followed by outings in the summer months, then more meetings in October, November and December. The next outing is this month, Tuesday 10th May, an evening visit to Strelley Hall. The cost per person is £20 including transport, guided tour and refreshments. On Tuesday 14th June we visit Mount St Bernards Abbey and Bosworth Battlefield to learn about ‘Monks and Kings’. This trip costs £23 per person including transport and entrance fees. Then on Saturday 23rd July, Croome Court, Worcestershire, home of the Earl of Coventry is our destination. Croome was a secret wartime base and this is commemorated in the RAF Defford Museum (admission included) in the trip price of £30. If these outings or membership of the West Hallam History Society interests you, please contact John on 0115 932 2356. Meetings are held at the Methodist Church Hall, near the Bottle Kiln.
Megan Grace, West Hallam
MORE THOUGHTS ON THE REFERENDUM Given the amount of hot air expressed about voting to be in or out of the EU, it was a pleasure to read David Frost’s letter in Ilkeston Life in which he genuinely and clearly stated his indecision about the vote. All of the arguments that I have heard so far concentrate entirely on the economics of staying in or leaving the European Union. There are clearly arguments on both sides. However, I haven’t heard a single argument about values, and I wonder whether David might find such an argument relevant to his decision. After the Second World War, many politicians from the Allied side expressed the view that Europe needed to have some common democratic values that linked the different states together and resisted the possibility of the resurgence of fascism in the continent. One of the clearest voices was that of Winston Churchill, who argued that European nations needed to relate closely to one another for this very reason. The result was the drafting and publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, with the key value of respecting human dignity, and with other values such as freedom of speech. Churchill delivered an important speech in 1949 in Strasbourg that heralded the formation of the Council of Europe in that year, with the UK as one of its first members. The Council of Europe still stands for human rights, democracy and the rule of law and has had a profound influence across Europe, especially in some of the post-Soviet bloc states, and especially through its educational programmes. The Council of Europe now has 47 member states, and still works quietly but effectively for democracy and peace across Europe and beyond. A vote to leave the European Union would not bring the UK (at least not immediately) out of the Council of Europe. However, the moral force of the Council of Europe has been greatly enhanced by the political and economic co-operation of the states of the European Union. To leave the European Union would significantly weaken political and economic collaboration in maintaining and preserving common democratic values across the European continent.
Robert Jackson, former Ilkeston resident, Leamington Spa.
MEMORIES OF COSSALL …. David Potter The messages and information from our wonderful readers responding to previous articles are still pouring in and at this rate it wouldn’t be any surprise if it all ended up as “Cossall the movie” ! Gail Ryan made contact with details of her family tree with suggests that it’s very likely she can trace her history back to one of our Cossall heroes John Shaw, mentioned in a previous article about the links the village has with the battle of Waterloo, so we’ll take Gail’s information as the cue to examine in a bit more detail the life of a national hero born on a farm located between Wollaton and Cossall. (I was born at Grange Estate on that side of Cossall and the view from my bedroom window looking out towards Bluebell Wood would probably have encompassed the site of that farm. Remember Bluebell Wood anyone?) The family moved to the Old Manor House in Cossall and “Jack” attended school at Trowell Moor. Initially apprenticed as a joiner/wheelwright he eventually entered employment on the Wollaton Hall estate as a labourer and began a notable boxing career that took him to Nottingham’s Goose fair where he “took the shilling “ and enlisted in the Life Guards in 1807 beginning a sequence of events which eventually led him to the battle of Waterloo. He fought bravely, eventually being mortally wounded on being cut off from his comrades and surrounded by ten or more French soldiers and was buried in the village of La Hayre Sainte near the field of battle on June 19 1815. His boxing prowess and bravery at Waterloo firmly established Shaw as a national hero and, probably because of this, his skull was exhumed at some point after burial, possibly on instructions from Sir Walter Scott, and returned to England where plaster casts were made of it, one of which is exhibited at the Household Cavalry Museum in London. The original skull seems to have found its way back to his native soil and is interred under the floor of Wollaton church.
What baby did next
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don’t like to brag but on the whole my baby is a cheery chap who is full of smiles, feeds well and generally sleeps like a dream (at night) but sometimes, for whatever reason he just decides that no matter how tired and grouchy he is there is no way he is going to have a nap. With this in mind I wanted to find if there was any activity out there that could help when baby decides naps are for wimps. I’d tried the usual things such as walking the streets with him in the pushchair, but that was a bit hit and miss as sometimes he’d sleep for an hour or so and other times he’d stir as soon as I entered a shop or set foot back in the house. I have taken him for a drive, but, realistically this doesn’t free any time to do all the things you might (A) want to do (read a magazine, drink a cup of tea that’s hot, catch up on the soaps) or (B). need to do (washing baby clothes, trying to make the house show some semblance of normality). I’d tried rocking and making shushing noises which seems to get him to drift off but the minute he is released from my arms his eyes snap open. So a couple of weeks ago me and a friend (mother to a serial nap avoider) set of to Victoria Park Leisure Centre to use the sensory pool. We thought the babies would enjoy the experience, feeling the water on their skin, seeing all the lights, listening to the music
Now the latest “Blob News”: Linda Hopkin has emailed me with the following information: “My Dad and his siblings were all born at the Blob in the 1920s and his birth certificate states his address as 2 The Blob, Awsworth. My grandparents continued to live at the Blob until the early 60s when they moved to Awsworth. Other families who I believe lived there were the Stapletons and Bates. In the early 70s there was a riding school there called Willow Farm, owned and run by two families, the Hendersons and the Hennesseys. I learned to ride there and became friends with the then occupants. When the stables closed and the land was compulsory purchased for open casting both families moved out of the area. “The Blob actually stood between Bridge Farm and Bennerley Viaduct and I believe in earlier times there were a couple of cottages closer to the bridge. The story I was told was that they were demolished because the windows had been bricked up to avoid the window tax and were no longer habitable. I doubt the historical accuracy of this regarding dates but there were definitely footings of old buildings behind the Blob. This was confirmed recently by my friend who remembers them when she lived there in the 70s. “Regarding the murder story (AHAA!) I think this may have been an incident that actually happened either at the Foundry houses further along the canal or the small holding on the opposite bank but I don’t have any factual details on this. “Hope you find this interesting.” Certainly do Linda and thank you very much (and indeed everyone else) for your response. At this rate we’ll soon be holding a Blob reunion ! Please keep it coming …see you next month. davidilkeston@gmail.com Tel: 07929 100 974
and playing with the various floats, balls, watering cans, rubber ducks and so on. We were right they did but what we didn’t anticipate was the extent to which this would induce some serious napping. After our session we sat in the café having a cup of tea, cake and a catch up as both babies drifted off to sleep, I walked home and after two and a half hours baby woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. I thought this might be a fluke and I hadn’t used the time as wisely as I could have done as it was so unexpected, so I went back today and can confirm that it wasn’t a one off, as I I sit here writing this baby is into the second hour of his nap. Obviously it is not practical to take your little one to the pool every day and I can’t say for sure it will have the same effect on every baby but, if you want them to have a great sensory experience and the idea of a couple of hours free time fills you with glee then give it a go. It could just be the best £3.60 you spend.
Rebecca Slater Ilkeston Life, May 2016
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