NEWSLETTER 11^th May 2018

Many thanks to you if you have already let us know that you are happy for us to continue to hold your contact details. If you haven’t yet replied please agree to us holding your data, or we will have to erase the information that enables us to contact you.

If you receive this newsletter by email you only need to reply with your name and a positive Yes to the request for your agreement at the end of this Newsletter. If you receive this Newsletter by post please enter Yes, with your name, then cut off the form and return it in the stamped addressed envelope. If there are two members at the same address both will need to opt-in.

Forthcoming K&DLHG meeting.

On Friday May 18^th Sheila Woolf is telling the story of Cordelia Leigh of Stoneleigh Abbey between 1914 and 1918 from Cordelia’s own diary.

Mary Cordelia Leigh, who lived at Stoneleigh Abbey, started a diary when WWI began and noted the effects on her community, as well as documenting her own contributions to the war effort. These included hospitality, entertainment for wounded soldiers and looking after Belgian refugees. Sheila Woolf has made a study of the diary, which describes “a strange time”

Stoneleigh Abbey                             Mary Cordelia Leigh

I hope you can come on Friday to hear this authentic voice from a hundred years ago.

REPORT on 20^th April talk by Angie Bolton, Regional Finds Liaison Officer for Portable Antiquities Scheme in Worcestershire and Warwickshire. told us about the achievements of the PAS in our region. Her talk was entitled “The Portable Antiquities Scheme: 20 years of Treasure”. She took us through the contribution to understanding the past which the PAS has made by recording (mainly) metal detectorists’ finds over the last 20 years in our region. Although not made of metal, the earliest finds take us back to the stone age and the most recent include post medieval century material. Angie showed us penannular rings and axes from the bronze age, a complete decorated Iron Age curry comb, and medieval rings, coins and horse decorations, but the most prolific period is Roman – Angie assured us that every field in the area contains Roman material, and the efforts of some of our own members bear that out. A Roman knife handle from Darlington proves that the Romans wore socks with their sandals! She showed us a rare Viking period stirrup found near Butlers Marston. It is regrettable that such a valuable service is, every year, apparently at risk from cost cutting. David Beaumont, a keen metal detectorist responsible for many of the dots on Angie’s distribution maps, gave a fulsome vote of thanks for a eye-opening glimpse of some of the 30,000 finds from Warwickshire.

A reminder of the K&DLHG Outings in 2018.

Friday June 22^nd; guided village walk around Long Itchington. Meet at 6.30 in The Square, Long Itchington, CV47 9PE. No refreshments are provided, but the Harvester Pub, which serves tea and coffee, is recommended. The tour charge is £2.50 per person.

Friday July 20^th;. Guided tour of the Rollright Stones. Meet at the Stones’ car park at 12.00 noon. If the weather is fine bring a picnic, otherwise Wyatts Farm Shop with refreshments is only about a mile away. The tour charge is £2.50 per person.

Saturday August 11^th; day coach trip to Bristol Docks and SS Great Britain. Meet outside St Peter’s Church Kineton, 8.30am. The very extensive historic Bristol Dock area has been completely refurbished, and now houses museums, historic boats, restaurants, bars, art galleries and Brunel’s SS Great Britain. The cost, including entrance to the SS Gt Britain, is £28.00 per person. We need to fill our coach so if you know of non-members who would be interested in coming on this trip please spread the word.

There is now only this Friday’s talk at which we can sell tickets before the summer visits, so if you wish to go on any of the outings please look in your diaries and sign up this Friday. You can also sign up by phoning Isobel (01926 640426) or Ilona (01295 670675) or by replying to this email (frekedj@globalnet.co.uk).

Other Local Heritage Events.

Kenilworth, the Abbey “Barn” museum is open each Sunday and bank Holiday Monday 2.30-4.30. Entrance free.

Committee Matters. There have been no committee meetings since the last Newsletter.

The next KDLHG Committee Meeting is on Monday the 2nd July 2018 .

Data protection reminder.

In case you have not replied to the earlier request, please type as indicated YES below and return the email, or simply reply YES to this email, or if you have received it by post, cut off the slip below and return it in the enclosed stamped addressed envelope

DF 10.05.2018

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Please type or write YES and your name(s) to continue to receive information from us. Doing nothing will mean we have to remove your details from our list.

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BORING BUT IMPORTANT. 

The addresses, phone numbers and emails of members (and also some friends who wish to be kept informed) are held by the Group on computer and paper files, so that we can contact you with news, meetings information, updates and other matters connected with the Group’s activities.   On the 25^th May this year the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulations will come into force, and amongst other things this requires that you “opt in” and positively agree to us collecting and holding this information (data) about you.   We have to provide you with a statement of how we collect your details, how we use them, how we store them, and who in the Group controls your data.   You have to actively agree to us holding your data, and we have to record that agreement, or we will have to erase the information that enables us to contact you.

This is our policy regarding your personal details:

On joining the Kineton and District Local History Group new members and existing members are asked to provide or update their contact details so that we can keep them fully informed of our activities.  We hold your name, address, telephone number, email and current membership status as computer and paper files. Email is our preferred method of contact with members because it is the most cost effective.

These data are held on the basis of our legitimate interest and what we believe members would reasonably expect.  This includes contacting members regarding our meetings, projects, and activities, and informing members about other relevant heritage organisations’ events or activities which may be of interest to them. 

The Hon Treasurer is the Data Controller, and members’ details are only shared with other officers of the Group who need them to communicate about Group matters.  We do not share members’ information outside the KDLHG without their permission.

We ask that members tell the K&DLHG of any changes to their contact details so that our records remain current and accurate.  Members can request to see the data we hold, and can have their data corrected or removed from our list.

When a membership lapses that member’s details will be removed from the current list but may be retained in a membership archive.  Non-members who wish to receive our communications must also positively opt-in. 

If you receive this newsletter by email you only need to reply with your name and a positive Yes to the request for your agreement at the end of this Newsletter.  If you receive this Newsletter by post please enter Yes, with your name, then cut off the form and return it in the stamped addressed envelope.  If there are two members at the same address both will need to opt-in.

Under the new Regulations if we don’t have a positive opt-in from you,or you do nothing, your details will have to be removed from our list and you will no longer receive information from us.

Forthcoming K&DLHG meeting.

On Friday April 20^th  Angie Bolton from the Portable Antiquities Scheme will tell us about the achievements of the PAS in our region.  Her talk is entitled “The Portable Antiquities Scheme: 20 years of Treasure”.

Medieval gold half angel of Richard III from Warwickshire recorded in December 2017

K&DLHG Outings 2018.

Friday June 22^nd; guided village walk around Long Itchington.   Meet at 6.30 in The Square, Long Itchington,  CV47 9PE.  No refreshments are provided, but the Harvester Pub, which serves tea and coffee, is recommended.  The tour charge is £2.50 per person.

Friday July 20^th;.  Guided tour of the Rollright Stones.  Meet at the Stones’ car park at 12.00 noon.  If the weather is fine bring a picnic, otherwise Wyatts Farm Shop with refreshments is only about a mile away.   The tour charge is £2.50 per person.

Saturday August 11^th;  day coach trip to Bristol Docks and SS Great Britain.  Meet outside St Peter’s Church Kineton, 8.30am.  The very extensive historic Bristol Dock area has been completely refurbished, and now houses museums, historic boats, restaurants, bars, art galleries and Brunel’s SS Great Britain.   The cost, including entrance to the SS Gt Britain, is £28.00 per person.  We need to fill our coach so if you know of non-members who would be interested in coming on this trip please spread the word.

There are only two evening talks at which we can sell tickets before the summer visits, so if you wish to go on any of the outings please look in your diaries and sign up this Friday or at our May meeting.  You can also sign up by phoning Isobel (01926 640426) or Ilona (01295 670675) or by replying to this email (frekedj@globalnet.co.uk).

Report: the 30th AGM and Supper 16^th March 2018

David Beaumont and Phil Harding

The excellent supper was provided by Isobel Gill and her helpers.  Following the supper Ilona Sekacz showed the short Snapshot presentation first seen 10 years ago, part of the month-long recording of the village in 2008.  With its evocative sound track it underlined how much had changed even in ten years,  and also the value of recording unconsidered trifles, taken for granted at the time but which have such power to recall past times.  Then we had a short quiz, based on the photos taken by villagers as part of the Snapshot.  Compiled by your Chairman, it was in retrospect little unfair on the “and District” members of the Kineton and District Local History Group, who were perhaps less familiar with the hidden corners of the village.   We will try to redress the balance on another occasion.

Other Local Heritage Events.

Lighthorne:  Friday 1th May, The Stained Glass in St Lawrence’s Church, Lighthorne, by Maggie Atkins and Colin Such.  7.30pm

Kenilworth, the Abbey “Barn” museum is open each Sunday and bank Holiday Monday 2.30-4.30.  Entrance free.

Committee Matters.  Monday 9^th April notes. 

Finances: Membership numbers are up and there has been a healthy number of visitors.  Richard will be pleased to receive subscriptions from any members in arrears at the next meeting.

Archives: Our President Bob Bearman contributed to the continuing discussion about our archives and pinpointed some areas where members could assist in making the wealth of information in Peter and Gill Ashley-Smith’s archive more accessible.  Bob Bearman, with Gill, is currently identifying which of Peter’s archives should be lodged with the WRO, and this will produce some material which needs to be scanned for retention in the village before it goes to the WRO.  Roger Gaunt has agreed to undertake this as the material becomes available.  Bob is willing to edit and compile Peter’s many occasional articles in the local press and elsewhere to produce a publication reflecting his contribution to local knowledge.  Steven Gill will look at the issue of converting Peter’s numerous Word files into PDFs,  which are more secure, with a view to making selections available on our website.  Your chairman, as the Group’s representative on the Village Hall Committee, continues to support efforts to promote the extension of the Village Hall, to include an element which could house our archives.

Outings 2018.  The arrangements for the summer outings were finalised, we need to encourage takers for the coach trip to Bristol to avoid a loss.  It was agreed that non-members would be welcome to join us.

Speakers 2019:  An extra committee meeting on July 2^nd will discuss the 2019 programme.  Committee members should come with proposals for speakers.

AGM:  the 2018 AGM was generally a success, although numbers for the supper fell again.  Alternative formats need to be considered, and this will be part of the discussions on 2^nd July.

AOB: Bob described a Warwickshire County Record Office initiative to transcribe the records of the post-Civil War Loss Accounts.  The project is looking for volunteers from local history societies to undertake this for their parishes.   David will announce this at the April meeting.

The next KDLHG Committee Meeting is on Monday the 2nd July 2018 .

Please type as indicated YES below and simply reply to this email,  or if you have received it by post cut off the slip below and return it in the enclosed stamped addressed envelope

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Please type or write YES and your name(s) to continue to receive information from us.  Doing nothing will mean we have to remove your details from our list.

We will only use your information for our legitimate purposes.   We will not share your information with any other individual, group or organisation without your permission.

You can see what information we hold (Name, Address, Email and Membership Status) and have your details removed on request.

Please put YES in order for us to continue to contact you in connection with K&DLHG matters

Keep my personal details on file:__________ (please type or write YES)

Your Name_____________________________________________________________

2^nd member

Your Name_____________________________________________________________

NEWSLETTER 13th March 2018

REMINDER : our AGM and supper is on Friday March 16^th (NOT the 17^th as in the Programme Card), and tickets (£12.50) for the supper are still available from Isobel Gill (01926 640426) or Ilona Sekacz (01295 670675) up to Thursday 15^th March. Please note that the (short) AGM business starts at 7.00pm. The business and supper will be followed by a re-run of the Ilona’s short Snapshot presentation compiled 10 years ago, and then a light-hearted picture quiz about the village scenes captured during the Snapshot project.

If you, or any of your friends, would like to nominate yourselves, or them (with their permission!) for the committee, please let a member of the present committee know so that their nomination can be put to the AGM. Nominations will also be accepted at the AGM.

Report on Anne Langley’s talk Friday 16^th February “A Trip Down the River Avon in 1900 Re-visited”

Anne’s illustrated talk was based on a box of glass lantern slides stored in the archives of Rugby library, dating to the early years of the 20^th century. They were dated and had been used by Reverend E N Dew, a Stratford chaplain, presumably to illustrate talks he gave on a trip he undertook from the source of the Avon near Naseby to its confluence with the Severn. The slides in the box only went downstream as far as Warwick, so there is, or was, another lost collection of slides as Part 2 of the the Rev Dew’s talk.

Anne showed the progress of the 1900 trip compared with modern views of the same scenes. This had required considerable fieldwork on her part, tracking down altered or lost buildings. Sometimes the slide image had been reversed in the copying process, making identification doubly difficult. The Rev Dew had recorded many mills, none now operating but some of the mill buildings still survive. It’s a pity the series of slides did not continue as far as Hampton Lucy where there is still a working mill, which the Group visited a few years back. Some building remained but were nuch altered, such as the so-called “Guy Fawkes House” in Dunchurch, where the 1900s cement render has been removed to reveal the timber frame beneath.

Anne had unearthed some contemporary accounts of events in the places recorded along the river, including a case of poisoning by mouldy grain at Clifton on Dunsmore, and an Elizabethan ghost at Holbroke Grange.

Rachel Mander led our vote of thanks for an illuminating evening

Hampton Lucy Mill, K&DLHG visit 2008

Other Local History Society events.

Warwickshire Local History Society: 20^th February. “Old Pubs and Lost Hostelries of Warwickshire” by Richard Churchley at the Friends Meeting House, High Street Warwick 7.30

Lighthorne History Society: Friday 9^th March “Little Known Warwickshire part 2” by Alan Winterburn Lighthorne Village hall 7.30

Leamington History Group: 26^th February “Jane Austen and Stoneleigh Abbey” by Sheila Woolf at the Dormer Centre, Leamington Spa, 7.30.

Committee Matters.

The 1st meeting of the new Committee is Monday 9th April 2018.

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NEWSLETTER 5th February 2018

IMPORTANT NOTE: Thank you to all who came prepared to pay your subscriptions at the January meeting.  Our Treasurer Richard will be on hand at our February meeting to issue programme cards (£10) to anybody who missed that opportunity!   

ALSO:  our AGM and supper is on March 16^th  (NOT the 17^th as in the Programme Card), and tickets (£12.50) for the supper will be available at our February meeting or from Isobel Gill (01926 640426) up to the 12^th March.  Please note that the (short) AGM business starts at 7.00pm.  If you, or any of your friends, would like to nominate yourselves, or them (with their permission!) for the committee, please let a member of the present committee know so that their nomination can be put to the AGM.  Nominations will also be accepted at the AGM.  

Forthcoming talk Friday 16^th February

Our next talk, by Anne Langley, is entitled: “A Trip Down the River Avon in 1900 revisited”.  This is a chance to discover what changes have happened in more than a century to the river itself and the activities along its banks.

Anne Langley is a noted local historian who has spoken to us most recently about Joseph Ashby of Tysoe and  previously about Victorian Village Life.  I hope to see you at the meeting.

Man on a punt at Welford Weir 1900s.

Reproduced from the “Our Warwickshire “ website

© Warwickshire County Council

Report: January meeting  talk on “Hanwell Castle and the Jacobean Water Gardens  ” by Stephen Wass.

Those who have heard Stephen before knew that we were going to hear – clearly – a lively and well informed account of the new work he has been undertaking in the designed landscape behind Hanwell Castle.   First he presented a brief history of the castle, really a prestigious late 15^th century country house built of brick, a very early example.  The existing buildings represent a fraction of the original 4-sided courtyard plan.  The Cope family were aristocrats of the second rank, they had another “castle” in Holland Park, London.  During the 17th century Sir Anthony Cope mixed with the elite scientific and cultured minds of Oxford, to the extent that he was nicknamed “the Virtuoso”.  This word had a different emphasis then, it referred to elite men (always men) of  taste and refinement, skill and connoisseurship, not just musical excellence.  The Oxford intellectual circle included natural philosophers (scientists) and antiquarians, and indeed a virtuoso in the modern sense of the word – a Dutch violinist called Thomas Balthzar, who stayed at Hanwell for several years after stunning audiences in London and Oxford.   Stephen’s documentary researches suggest that the 20 or so acres of the enclosed Hanwell garden were transformed into a water garden, with linked ponds, sluices, and playful water features, embodying the ideas of the Oxford group.  He has spent several years as part of his MPhil expertly excavating and recording some key sites within the overgrown landscape, with a loyal and hard-working community volunteer force, to try to uncover the layout and function of the various features.  So far some crucial elements have eluded the research, but given the extent of the features, revealed in Lidar surveys, there is plenty still to explore.  Although the Copes kept Hanwell Castle intact through the Civil Wars it was abandoned in the 1670s, and left to become derelict. This means that it escaped the attentions of Capability Brown and so is potentially a rare survival of a pre-Brownian designed landscape.  As an aside Stephen gave vent to a little rant about Brown, pointing out that he was probably responsible for the loss of virtually all English baroque gardens, such as those which survive on the continent.  A debateable point.

Stephen challenged the audience to explain the function of a stone-lined tank on the island in the top pond.  He, like us, is still puzzled.  The Chairman gave a vote of thanks, endorsing Stephen’s comment that if he gave a talk on this subject in a few years time he would almost certainly present different issues and conclusions.  History is made by research and enquiry, and, as such, changes all the time..

Other Local History Society events.

Council for British Archaeology West Midlands: Saturday 17^th February, “News from the Past” presentations by local archaeologists about recent work in the region, including the excavations at Warmington. 10.00am – 4.00pm Carrs Lane Church Centre, Carrs Lane, Birmingham B4 7SX website http://cbawm.archaeologyuk.org

Warwickshire Local History Society: 20^th February.  “Old Pubs and Lost Hostelries of Warwickshire” by Richard Churchley at the Friends Meeting House, High Street Warwick 7.30

Lighthorne History Society:   Friday 9^th March “Little Known Warwickshire part 2” by Alan Winterburn Lighthorne Village hall 7.30

Leamington History Group:  26^th February “Jane Austen and Stoneleigh Abbey” by Sheila Woolf at the Dormer Centre, Leamington Spa, 7.30.

Committee Matters.  

The next Committee meeting is Monday 12th February 2018. 

Errata.  The sharp-eyed will have spotted at least 2 erroneous dates on the Programme Card.  The first is the AGM which is on the 16^th not the 17^th of March, and the second is the talk by our member Brian Morgan about Morton Morrell Hall which is on Friday 16^th of November not the 18^th.  Mea culpa, sorry.

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NEW YEAR NEWSLETTER 12th^th January 2018

IMPORTANT NOTE: annual subscriptions (£10.00) for 2018 are due in January. Please come prepared to our January 19^th meeting, when programme cards for 2018-19 will be available.

ALSO: our AGM and supper is on March 16^th, and tickets (£12.50) for the supper will be available at our February meeting or from Isobel Gill (01926 640426).

Forthcoming talk Friday 19^th January

Our next talk, by Stephen Wass, is entitled: “Hanwell Castle and the Jacobean Water Gardens”. Those of us who have heard Stephen speak (and perform!) will eagerly anticipate his no doubt enthusiastic and informative presentation of the results of his several years of investigations into the landscape in the valley behind Hanwell Castle. I hope to see you all at 7.30 at the Village Hall to enjoy Stephen’s presentation.

Report: Christmas meeting talk on “Folklore and Folksong ” by Richard Churchley

Richard Churchley informed and entertained us effortlessly through his presentation of Warwickshire and Worcestershire folklore and song. He brought along, and played, a varied collection of musical instruments – accordion, cittern and guitar – but he also plays the harmonica, the banjo and keyboards, and belongs to a number of groups performing a wide variety of folk styles. His relaxed familiarity with the region’s traditional music persuaded even our members to join in the choruses of some songs. He pointed out that some of the songs from “The National Song Book” -familiar to those of a certain age – were collected in the region by Cecil Sharp and his colleagues. One of the earliest ever voice recordings is that of an Ilmington labourer in 1899 on a wax cylinder. Richard sang a Wootton Wawen folk song “The Bitter Withy Carol” which explained why the willow tree was considered unlucky. It recounted how Mary had beaten the child Jesus with a willow stick after some naughtiness

The origin of some surviving folklore and songs can be traced to the mumming and mystery plays of the medieval towns and their guilds. In Coventry of course we have the Coventry Mystery Plays, source of the Coventry Carol. Richard explained that originally carols were not necessarily connected with Christmas. During questions Richard explained that the origin of the name “Morris” dancing was probably a corruption of “Moorish”, ie exotic, in keeping with the alien elements in many of the mumming plays – the Turk etc. We learned that there are clear regional differences in the costumes and performances of Morris groups., and how Jesus then, allegedly, cursed the willow.

Members raised the issue facing some modern Morris groups – how to accommodate the tradition of “blacking up” in some regions, which might give offence? Those of us who went to Ludlow last June saw a Morris group there who wore black masks, as well as the brightly coloured ribbons of their regional costume.

Ilona led our vote of thanks for an enjoyable and educational evening, before serving her traditional mulled wine, and the mince pies provided by the Committee.

Other Local History Society events.

Marton Local History Group. 29^th January, “Marton Vicars Part 2”, Group Members, Village Hall, 7.30

Warmington Heritage Group, 15^th February, “The Pont du Gard” by Andrew Baxter, Village hall, 7.30

Council for British Archaeology West Midlands: Saturday 17^th February, “News from the Past” presentations by local archaeologists about recent work in the region, including the excavations at Warmington. 10.00am – 4.00pm Carrs Lane Church Centre, Carrs Lane, Birmingham B4 7SX website http://cbawm.archaeologyuk.org

Leamington History Group. 26^th February “Jane Austen and Stoneleigh Abbey” by Sheila Woolf at the Dormer Centre, Leamington Spa, 7.30.

Committee Matters.

The next Committee meeting is Monday 12th February 2018.

With our AGM due in March it’s timely to remind members that the committee is keen to recruit new representatives to its ranks. If you would like become more involved in running of the group or know someone who could be helpful in that role, please talk to a committee member, and consider putting your name forward at the AGM.

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    CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER10^th December 2017

Forthcoming K&DLHG event.

On Friday December 15^th our Christmas talk is by Dr Richard Churchley entitled: “ Folklore and Folksong of Warwickshire and Worcestershire”. Richard is an accomplished musician as well as an experienced local historian, with an interest in vernacular buildings, family history, and the working man’s and woman’s experiences in the West Midlands. I hope to see you all at 7.30 at the Village Hall to enjoy Richards presentation followed by mince pies (provided by the committee) and mulled wine (prepared by Ilona) and/or soft drinks.

. Dr Richard Churchley at an Open University History Society “talk” at Redditch

Report: the 17^th November evening talk on “A Year in the Life of Avon Dassett 1914-15” by Sarah Richardson

In this fascinating talk Sarah Richardson gave local colour to the international events at the outbreak of World War in 1914, concentrating on the impact on village life and families. It was based on research carried out by the Avon Dassett Local History Group to mark the centenary of the outbreak, chronicling the day-by-day occurrences in and around this small community. Surprisingly there were only three war fatalities from the village, although the first village death was Lieutenant Holbeach, of Farnborough Hall, at the 1^st Battle of Ypres in November 1914. Many local able-bodied men were in agriculture, a reserved occupation. We heard from Private Tap’s diary entries describing the Christmas truce, during which he exchanged cap badges, buttons and cigars with Germans from the opposing trenches.

A wider history of Avon Dassett

produced by the ADLHG

The strong class divisions at the time were exposed in some strange decisions, like the token reduction of hunting from 5 days a week to 4, but a complete ban on football! Using newspaper articles, diaries, adverts, and official documents Sarah showed how many aspects of village life remained the same – pigs loose on the road, a fire at the canal wharf, sewage found in a well, theft of wood, no rear light on a vehicle, and a telephone betting scam, being some examples, At the same time there were moves to support the war effort through appeals for horses, woollen pants, etc, and a rise in agricultural wages. There were classes in woodwork and veterinary practice at Warmington. The local militia initially were armed with pitchforks. All this in the context of poverty and squalor for some village families, a situation unchanged by the fact of war.

During the project in 2014-15 the group produced a weekly blog, and a regular printed newsletter of the daily events of 100 years earlier, all made financially possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This material is now archived at the WCRO, but it was a disappointment to some of our members that it is no longer available online.

Gill Ashley-Smith gave our thanks, with admiration for the detailed work put in by the Avon Dassett group and emphasising the value of such local research, and how other groups could learn from the Avon Dassett experience.

Other Local History Society events.

Many local groups are having their Christmas celebrations this month but Banbury Historical Society is hosting a talk on Wychford Forest and Cornbury by Dr Simon Townley on Thursday 14^th December, at the Museum. The Museum itself is running The Ironstone Art Prize, open to artists living within 20 miles of Banbury. Entries can be in any media but must be submitted on the 24^th January 2018. For details go to the Museum’s website: www.banburymuseum.org/ironstone2018/

Committee Matters. Monday 6^th November notes.

Finances: outgoings have exceeded income, but this is mainly because several expensive pieces of necessary equipment (up-to-date projector, and PA system) have been purchased. Membership numbers are up and there has been a healthy number of visitors.

The committee confirmed that the membership year will continue to start in January, and the AGM will remain in March. The 2018-19 programme card will be available to members at the January meeting. The list of committee members traditionally occupying the back of the card will be reduced to the Chairman and Secretary as at 2017-18 with their contact details.

The discussion about our archives identified some areas where members could assist in making the wealth of information in Peter and Gill Ashley-Smith’s archive more accessible, principally through cataloguing the contents of the files. The WRO’s format for would be adopted so that the records would be compatible with their standards. Gill has kindly made some of Peter’s digital records available to David Beaumont and to your chairman. Our President Bob Bearman has assisted in identifying which of Peter’s archives should be lodged with the WRO. Your chairman is the Group’s representative on the Village Hall Committee, and, at that committee’s November meeting, endorsed the VHC desire to extend the Village Hall, to include an element which could house our archives.

The next KDLHG Committee Meeting is on the 12^th February 2018 .

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Forthcoming K&DLHG events.

Our Friday November 17^th talk is: “ A Year in the Life of Avon Dassett 1914-15” by local researcher Sarah Richardson. This is her second visit to us; she previously gave us the fascinating story of the Warwickshire women who fought for women’s rights, including some very local stalwarts. Her talk this nonth is based on the work she and her group of enthusiasts have done to bring alive the impact on Avon Dassett of the first year of WWI. I hope to see you at 7.30 at the Village Hall for a fascinating talk.

Report: “The Rise and Fall of Percy Pilcher and the Art of Flying” by Roy Smart 20^th October

Roy Smart assured us that he would not need the microphone when he came to talk to us last month. For once this proved to be accurate, as was everything else he told us in a revelatory talk, which touched on Greek mythology, early theories of flight, the first woman to fly, European scientific co-operation, and ambition. Percy Pilcher, of whom none of us had heard until that evening, could have been a hero and a household name but for the weather, a broken crankshaft and the desperate need to fund his flying experiments. Perhaps a little unfairly he was compared to Icarus, the son of Daedalus who escaped from the labyrinth on wings held together with wax. His hubris led to his downfall when he flew too close to the sun and the wax melted. Roy pointed out that the myth had a moral: proceed with moderation. Percy certainly had sky-high ambitions and the technical know-how to achieve his goals, but possibly the desire to be the first to attain powered flight did lead to his downfall.

Percy Pilcher 1866-1899

He realised that to overcome the limitations and dangers of gliding (sadly illustrated by the death of Lilienthal in a glider crash in 1896) he would need to develop powered flight, so he formed a company to make engines. He made a triplane with an engine in 1899 but by then he was in debt and running out of money. Patrons were desperately needed. He put on a demonstration of his latest glider – the Hawk – at Eynstone in Kent, and then went to Stanford Hall under the keen eyes of potential financial and political supporters, including the Honourable Adrian Verney-Cave

e was clearly a gifted scientist and engineer. He joined the Royal Navy (aged 13) serving for 7 years before becoming an apprentice engineer with shipbuilders in Glasgow. By the age of 25 he was an assistant lecturer at Glasgow University. He mastered hang-gliding in the 1890s with a series of “soaring machines” inspired by bat and bird flight. Through his contact with German pioneer Otto Lilienthal he developed a flying technique which relied on shifting body weight to turn, rise and dip. In 1897 he broke the world distance record in the grounds of Stanford Hall, Leicestershire with a flight of 250m.

The Hawk glider, 1897, possibly being piloted by Miss Dorothy Rose Pilcher his cousin

Unfortunately his 4hp engine broke a crankshaft just before the planned event at Stanford Hall.

Such was Pilcher’s need for funding, patronage, and the recognition that his ideas were viable, that he did not abandon the event, but instead intended to fly the Hawk, which he had successfully flown many times. His cousin Dorothy had also been towed into the air in the Hawk, becoming the first airborne woman, ten years before the French woman Therese Peltier. Dorothy was also the first woman pilot to crash into a cine-cameraman. On the late September day of the Stanford Hall demonstration the weather was stormy, wet and windy, and it was not until 4.00pm with the threat of failing light that Percy decided the weather was suitable. He made two successful flights but on the third the tail assembly of the glider snapped with a loud crack– Roy made us all jump with a wooden spoon brought sharply onto the table – and Percy fell 15m breaking his thigh and suffering back injuries from which he died the next day.

The BBC sponsored a replica of his triplane and, with a few tweaks, it flew considerably further than the Wright brothers managed 5 years after Pilcher’s death. A tale of might- have-beens, memorably told by Roy about a man we shall now never forget. David Gill led our appreciative vote of thanks for a stimulating evening

The BBC replica Pilcher triplane constructed at Cranfield University. It flew.

Pilcher’s monument at the site of the fatal crash

Forthcoming Local History Events:

Friday 24^th November is the Village Victorian Evening starting at 6.00pm. Many shops will stay open and there will be stalls and entertainments.

The Warwickshire Local History Society has circulated the following note to us,as affiliated members:

Dear Member I have been asked to send a reminder about the Society’s next meeting at 8.00pm on Tuesday 21 November at the Quaker Meeting House, High Street, Warwick.  Rather than a one hour lecture, we are welcoming three members to speak on aspects of their own research.

We will hear several short presentations —

Alec Ross: Visualising Local History: the 1910-15 Valuation Survey in Stretton-on-Dunsmore

Stewart Fergusson: ‘The Factious Citie of Coventry’: Crisis and Change in the 17th Century

.Professor Ronnie Mulryne: The Stratford Guildhall and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom.

The presentations will start at 8.00pm, with coffee or tea served, as usual, from 7.30pm.

We do hope you are able to come to what promises to be an interesting evening.

Best wishes

Lesley Caine (Membership Secretary)

Other Societies’ Talks:

24^th November: For railway history enthusiasts the ever popular Stratford and Moreton Tramway is the subject of a talk by Jackie Checketts to the Welford and Weston Local History Society at Memorial Hall Welford, 7.30pm

27^th November. For Civil War enthusiasts Dorothy Entwistle is speaking to the Leamington History Group on “Re-enacting the Civil War with the Sealed Knot” at the Dormer Conference Centre, Dormer Place, Leamington, 7.30

27^th November. A somewhat later war is the subject of David Morse for Marton Local History Group: The Home Guard at the Marton Village Hall, 7.30pm

Kineton Camera Club Calendar. The Camera Club has produced a calendar featuring historic and corresponding modern views of the village, which they are selling at £8.50 to raise money for local First Responders.. If you are interested in having one and supporting this worthy cause, they will be on sale and taking orders at our 17^th November meeting and at the Victorian Evening Friday 24^th November..

Committee Matters

Your committee last met on the 6^th November. Our membership numbers have risen to 76, an increase over the last few years but still down on our peak of nearly 100. New members and visitors are always welcome, so please invite friends to come along to our meetings.

The 2018-19 talks programme is finalised and the Programme Card will be available as members renew or join in the New Year. We discussed the potential for members, and the wider community, to contribute talks or short presentations from their own researches or experiences. We might have more “members’ evenings” like the biennial Christmas Treats, or more full evening talks by local speakers. We will make enquiries among members, but if anyone has a topic of local historical relevance which they would like to propose, or knows a good local speaker with such a topic, please contact any member of the committee. A form will also be handed out as members renew or join for the first time.

The Village Hall has a newly installed loop system. We hope to use it at our 17^th November meeting, after learning how.

The Group has a Twitter account – @kinetonhistory – please have a look at it and tweet for updates and more.

The committee is keen to recruit new members to its ranks, and although the AGM is not until March 2018 if members want to have a say in running the Group, or know somebody who would, please start thinking about joining us!

The committee has discussed the Ashley-Smith archive with Gill, David Beaumont and Bob Bearman and identified some ways in which members could assist in making it accessible, particularly by cataloguing the boxes of material collected by Peter. In the meantime DB is answering email queries with the help of a digital copy of Peter Ashley-Smith’s researches.

The next Committee Meeting is on Monday 12^th February 2018

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Forthcoming K&DLHG events.

Friday October 17^th our evening talk is the intriguingly titled: “ The Rise and Fall of Percy Pilcher and the Art of Flying” by Roy Smart. I hope to see you all at 7.30 at the Village Hall to find out wh Mr Pilcher’s fall was actual or metaphoric (or both) .

Report: the 15^th September evening talk on Rebuilding Kineton Railway Station by Mark Reader

Mark (behind the setup) and colleagues

Mark Reader is a member of the Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Society which has its headquarters locally at Knightcote. He came early, and mob-handed with Mike, Kevin and David, to set up the 2mm to the foot (what a wonderful confusion of metric and imperial!) scale model of Kineton’s lost railway station. Even at this minute scale the model took up most of the width of the Village Hall. The skill in representing trucks and buildings in miniature was astounding, and Mark gave credit to the dedicated craftsmen of the Model Railway Society who have spent several years creating the topography and buildings that used to be on the site near Brookhampton Lane.

To a packed Hall of members and visitors Mark gave us a brief history of the railway companies that ran the not very financially viable line through Kineton from 1871 before it was finally axed by Beeching in 1965. A poignant short video showing trains running on the line and photos of the last train at the station drew murmurs of recognition from the audience. Mark had made an appeal to our members some time ago for memories, photographs or material related to the railway to help to replicate the detail necessary for an accurate model. Hardly any physical remains of the station or track still survive, but to show that not everything had been lost Mark flourished the baton handed to the train driver to guarantee that the single track section through Kineton was clear. One member had been able to produce the lamp from the waiting room and others had unearthed photographs and reminiscences. Apparently the signal box was the scene of “hanky-panky”, though no names were offered.

Part of the display of phtographs and memorabilia. Note the waiting-room lamp at the right hand edge.

Mark meticulously detailed the historical changes he and his colleagues had identified, and how they had faithfully incorporated them into the model. The height of the platform varied, and several explanations were offered – the higher levels possibly used to aid the loading and unloading of heavy goods, or maybe to help the transport of horses, remembering that the railway was used by huntsmen travelling to attend South Warwickshire Hunt meets. Lord Willoughby de Broke even had his own mini-branch siding for a while. After passenger trains were withdrawn in 1955 the platforms were cut back to allow wider trucks to pass, transporting iron ore from the local quarries to the South Wales smelters.

The model is still under construction and any new information would be welcomed. A big problem for the modellers is colour, as most photographs at the time were black and white, so an extra appeal was made for any colour photos of the line.

The model, with members sharing memories with the modellers. Note the bridge, still there on the Warwick Road.

The Group admiring the model at the back and enjoying tea, coffee and gossip.

The question session was lively and informative with several members able to clarify aspects of the line and its history. Mary Wheilden even admitted to owning a truck left on the line at its closure. A former member of staff at the Norton Grange Approved School remembered how the removal of the sleepers gave them a better chance of running down absconders, who used the old line to get to Banbury or Stratford. No further light was thrown on the signal box hanky-panky however.

Richard Hammon gave our thanks to Mark Reader and his skilled colleagues at the Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Society, for a superbly well informed and entertaining evening. The Society’s Open House Day is 11.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday 21^st October at the Clubhouse, New House Farm, Knightcote, CV47 2EQ

The Fund Raising Dinner for the Warmington Dig

On Friday 13^th Professor Carenza Lewis, well known for her long stint on Time Team, was the guest speaker at the Warmington Heritage Group’s fund raising dinner at the Primrose Hill Barn venue in Arlescote. Several members of the Kineton Group attended, as well as representatives from other local societies. Professor Lewis gave a chilling account of the effects of the 14^th century Black Death on the population, but her main point was to show how public participation in archaeology can contribute massively to our knowledge and understanding of the past but just as importantly works for the benefit of local communities, particularly the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Her title at the University of Lincoln is Professor for the Public Understanding of Research and on Friday she demonstrated, in spades, how inspiring it can be when local communities engage with researching their own neighbourhoods, or even just digging their own back gardens. Professor Lewis generously waived her fee and John Jeffries donated the venue for the evening, to help the fund raising effort.

Warwickshire Local History Society News

The WLHS is working on raising the Society’s profile and to this end have redesigned their webpage at http://www.warwickshirehistory.org and have a Facebook page.

The WLHS 21^st November meeting will be devoted to members’ presentations with short talks on the 1910-15 Valuation Survey in Stretton on Fosse, Crisis and Change in 17^th century Coventry, and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom and the Guildhall in Stratford.

Committee Matters

There have been no meetings since the last Newsletter

The next Committee Meeting is on Monday 6^th November.

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Forthcoming K&DLHG events.

Friday September 15^th sees our first evening talk after the summer outings: “ Rebuilding Kineton Railway Station” by Mark Reader.  I hope to see you at 7.30 at the Village Hall for a fascinating talk about the reconstruction of Kineton Station as a model.

Report: the evening visit to Shipston-on-Stour  17^th August

In front of the George Inn, with our backs to the Co-op

A striking feature of the town’s buildings is the number of finely carved date-stones sprinkled around, carefully conserved for the most part, and often enhanced by recent explanatory notes.  The date-stones are from the late 17^th century to the 1730s, but mainly before the fire.  Some are on relatively modest structures, but one above a garage door, dated 1681, is certainly not in its original place.  They presumably relate to a prosperous period when this was the accepted way for the more prominent townspeople to display their status.  Sheep Street exhibited many examples, as well as 18^th century Fire Insurance plates – possibly a case of shutting stable doors too late?

Examples of local masons’ work

Near the top of Sheep Street the traffic roundabout is reputedly the burial place of a suicide, denied the consolation of consecrated ground.  The construction of the roundabout is supposed to have disturbed her ghost.

We contemplated a fine granite horse trough, a relic of the cattle market, before proceeding down Telegraph Street where we admired the 1960s development which blends so convincingly into the historic townscape.

A new use for an historical feature

The new development at the top of Telegraph Street

Distressed dragon escaped from Chinatown

Further down Telegraph Street unsympathetic modern developments again intruded, with one dreary brick lump only relieved by a surreal roof ornament.  The plaques on the walls here warned against parking, littering, and the risk of demolishing the wall to which the notice was attached.  Round the corner we admired the renovated historic toll-road milepost, while nervously noting a rainbow and the gathering clouds.  Tea and cakes provided by the Shipston U3A beckoned at St Edmunds, where.  Ed Jackson sat us down and gave us an excellent description of the church.  It is an early work of G.E. Street and is full of the gothic details he later developed in his mature style.  His original intention to demolish the 15^th century tower was thankfully not approved by the church authorities.

Our thanks to Dick Burge, who gave us a superbly well-informed introduction to the town, showing us how its history and characters were still embedded in the buildings and layout, and to Ed Jackson and the U3A who ensured that our visit was rounded off in a thoroughly civilised manner.

Other Forthcoming Local Event:

Dick Burge is giving a talk about the The Stratford to Moreton-in-Marsh Tramway  at 7.30 on Tues 13^th at the Women’s Institute Hall, New Road,  Moreton-in-Marsh.

Committee Matters

This is a new element of the Newsletter, but it seems right that the members should be kept informed of what their elected committee has been doing on their behalf, so starting with this one  the first Newsletter after a Committee Meeting will include a brief update on its deliberations.  We last met on the 4^th September.

Your committee has been working during the summer holidays to finalise the 2018-19 talks programme and Summer 2018 outings – yes! we have to get these things sorted well in advance!  We have almost completed the talks list, awaiting just one contributor to confirm.  The programme will be a mix of local and wider topics delivered by enthusiasts both from within our own community and from further afield, and we hope there will be something for everyone in the course of the year.  We will be able to release the list around Christmas or New Year, all being well.

Isobel is working on the potential venues for the 2018 outings.  The 2017 evening visits were a great success, and we hope to have similarly stimulating trips in 2018, with a possible variation to make one of them a daytime picnic.  The day trip to Stokesay Castle and Ludlow was greatly enjoyed by those who came.  The day trips have sometimes proved problematic over the years.  It’s not been the quality of the venues but the difficulty sometimes encountered in raising the numbers sufficiently to cover the considerable transport costs, without raising the price to the members to an amount which could deter some.  We are actively considering ways to make these trips work more effectively.

The sad passing of Peter Ashley-Smith, apart from leaving the committee without a knowledgeable and obliging colleague and friend, has also brought into focus a long term issue — our archives, where to put them and how to manage them?  When I became Chairman this was a matter I was concerned to address, but then there seemed to be no straightforward solution to these questions.  With Peter, Gill and the Davids Beaumont and Gill and others on hand to provide answers to most queries from their own resources the matter went on the back burner.  With the loss of Peter and with Gill and David Gill retired from the committee after decades of service the issue has become pressing.  Gill is working with David Beaumont and our President Bob Bearman to devise a plan to ensure that the copious material collected and collated over the years by Peter and other members of the Group will remain a resource for the Group in the future.

The next Committee Meeting is on Monday 6^th November.

A future event:

Friday 13th October:
Warmington Heritage Group is hosting a Dinner at Primrose Hill Barn in Arlescote to raise funds for the post-excavation work planned for the Herb Centre Excavations.
The speaker will be Professor Carenza Lewis, late of Time Team, but more recently the leader of a community scheme in East Anglia to unravel the early histories of village communities. Her topic at the dinner is “Archaeology and the Black Death: finding global history in your back garden” – a suitable theme for Friday the thirteenth!

Tickets at £40.00 can be ordered from Sue Baxter

NEWSLETTER 1^st AUGUST 2017

Evening visit to Moreton-in-Marsh Friday 21^st July

A hardy two dozen Kineton Group members gathered under a spreading tree in the rain as the Friday evening holiday traffic roared and swished past. An unlikely but colourful mascot appeared unimpressed by the weather. Tim Porter, President of Moreton-in-Marsh Local History Society was our guide, supported by Vice-president Margaret Shepard. His introductory remarks explained how the town had several centres, originally focussed on the church, then the market, then in the 19^th century the station. He took us on an extremely informative and surprising (to me anyway) tour, to show us the way these changes could still be traced in the fabric of the town.

Tim Porter (on right), introducing the group to the town.

We went backwards in time; after passing a grand ex-Post Office building, we started with the station at the north end of the town, which in 1853 replaced a 1826 horse-drawn tramway connecting Moreton to Stratford and Shipston. We huddled amidst the passengers disembarking from the London train, then sheltered under the attractive canopy while Tim explained its history.

The line of the tramway was still visible in the skewed alignment of the adjacent houses. Tim waxed lyrical about the original features of the station buildings, remodelled in the 1870s, noting especially the polychrome brick and stone detailing around the gents toilets, and the cast iron brackets of the canopy, while regretting the loss of the chimneys. He drew our attention to the finials and decorations on the small but perfectly formed signal box at the end of the platform.

Has it stopped?

We moved on through the back lane and puddles behind the market buildings, noting the Redesdale Hall market hall and the Mann Institute working men’s club, both the result of generous patronage, the former by Lord Redesdale and the latter from Miss Edith Mann in memory of her father.

Tim pointed out that neither was in the Cotswold architectural tradition, and these, with other important buildings, give a distinctive character to the town. The 17^th century Curfew Tower was covered in scaffolding.

Nineteenth century dwelling, with the group under umbrellas and the medieval corbel sheltering under the eaves

We then walked back along that very High Street, peering into the windows of the very comfortable-looking Manor House Hotel, tracing the route the Roman armies took on the Fosse Way almost 2,000 years ago. At the W.I. Hall umbrellas were left in the lobby, and while the very welcome W.I. tea and cakes provided by Pam Clarke were consumed, Margaret Shepard enlarged on the situation of Moreton, located at the boundaries of 4 counties and at the national watershed.

Despite the challenging weather conditions during the walk we all agreed that we had had an excellent introduction to a neighbouring town sharing many qualities with Kineton, not least a thriving history group.

Tysoe Archaeological Day on 23^rd July. Kevin Wyles organised a display in the Tysoe Old School Rooms of his finds made over many years in Tysoe fields. He displayed copious quantities of mainly Roman pottery, tiles and other fieldwalking material and his many metal detector finds, recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The finds were backed up with geophysical surveys carried out by local professional archaeologists David Sabin and Richard Grove.

Forthcoming K&DLHG events.

Thursday August 17^th evening visit to Shipston-on-Stour guided by Mike Ashley. Meet 6.30 at the Telegraph Street car park, Shipston, followed by tea/coffee and cakes provided by Shipston U3A. Note the evening is on a Thursday.

Friday September 15^th sees our first evening talk after the summer outings: “ Rebuilding Kineton Railway Station” by Mark Reader

Other Local Events:

Friday 13^th October: Warmington Heritage Group is hosting a Dinner at Primrose Hill Barn in Arlescote to raise funds for the post-excavation work planned for the Herb Centre Excavations. The speaker will be Professor Carenza Lewis, late of Time Team, but more recently the leader of a community scheme in East Anglia to unravel the early histories of village communities. Her topic at the dinner is “Archaeology and the Black Death: finding global history in your back garden” – a suitable theme for Friday the thirteenth! Tickets at £40.00 can be ordered from Sue Baxter on 01295 691011 or email baxtersue@btconnect.com

Chedham’s Yard has a series of summer events the last of which has a historical focus:

Sat September 9th Heritage Open Day

All open 10.00am to 4.00pm

Hornton History Group

Sat 26^th – Mon 28^th August (Bank Holiday Weekend) 12.00 – 500pm: “Step back in Time: The Way We Were.” The Hornton History Group are presenting an exhibition, a guided village trail, live demonstrations of country crafts, an “oldie worldie cinema”, and a wealth of objects and documents from Hornton’s past.

Committee Members: a reminder that the next committee meeting is Monday 4^th September

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