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FEBRUARY 2017
Ilkeston loses a dancing legend—P3
A community publication for Ilkeston and the surrounding area Visit our website: ilkestonlife.com
Death of Charnos boss with outstanding wartime service
TRAIN STATION OPENING DATE Announcing the date, Maggie said: “I am delighted that at long last we finally have a firm date for passenger trains to begin operating to and from Ilkeston’s new station. The details were confirmed to Erewash MP “The station will not only transform the way local people travel, but will undoubtedly Maggie Throup in an email from Network Rail and will come as welcome news to the give a significant boost to the local econopeople of Ilkeston who have waited over 50 my and attract new business to the area. “Sunday 2nd April 2017 will be a historic years to be reconnected to the railway. day in the life of our town as we finally cast The new £10 million station project was off the dubious title ‘the largest town in made possible because of a £6.6 million without a station’, and I for one canGovernment infrastructure investment pack- Britain not wait to be on that first passenger train as age administered through the New Stations it pulls into Ilkeston Junction after an interFund. val of over 50 years.
Trains will begin stopping at Ilkeston’s new railway station on Sunday 2nd April 2017, with an official opening expected to follow later in the summer.
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Rolf Noskwith pictured in August 2012.
An Ilkeston man not generally known for his wartime work which undoubtedly saved many lives and shortened the war has died, aged 97. Rolf Noskwith was better known as the son of Charles Noskwith who brought the textile firm Charnos to Ilkeston. He became its chairman in 1952. Although hundreds of Ilkestonians worked at the factory, they probably had no idea of Rolf’s secret life working as a code breaker at Bletchley Park alongside Alan Turing during the Second World War. The German Jewish family moved to Britain in 1932, not as a result of persecution of Jews which would follow a year later when Hitler became Chancellor, but because of the burden of tariffs on the company’s exports to Britain. The factory in Hallam Fields opened in 1936 and soon became a well-known and highly regarded manufacturer of hosiery and lingerie. The name Charnos came from the first syllables of the founder’s first name and surname. Son Rolf was born on 19th June 1919 and was 13 years old when Charles and wife Malka moved to England. He studied at Nottingham High School and then read Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Photo: Wikipedia
He put his name forward for intelligence work and was interviewed for a post at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. After initially being rejected on security grounds because of his birth in Germany, he got a second chance when the rules were changed. He was accepted and joined the team of maths geniuses, crossword experts and chess champions who were to do such sterling work as codebreakers in Winston Churchill’s secret headquarters. The team worked directly under Alan Turing, famous for his breaking of the German Navy’s supposedly unbreakable coding device, allowing the allies to locate German submarines attacking their ships. Rolf came back to the family firm in 1946 and six years later took over its running. Rolf Noskwith's surviving wife Annette was the daughter of Franz Greenbaum, who was the psychiatrist treating Alan Turing before his tragic suicide. As a result, Turing was shared friend and a shared loss. Annette became a leading county councillor on Derbyshire County Council for many years and is well respected in Sandiacre where they lived, even by people who did not share her political persuasion. She was chair of governors of Friesland School. Rolf Noskwith died on 3rd January 2017.