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Sunday, October 7, 2018
NEWSLETTER 2 - 18 SEPTEMBER 2018
Dear All
I thought
I had better update everyone on the current position, so here goes.
I
prepared an application, which was sent in electronically at the end of May,
just before I went away on holiday. The preparation had been very
time-consuming, but they had said it was an easy application so when I actually
went online to complete it, I was surprised to find how easy it was, as it
didn’t ask any of the questions I had been prepared to answer. However,
when I returned home, a letter was waiting saying we had not been offered a
grant and if I gave more detail in various questions, I could apply
again. When I queried this, as the questions mentioned hadn’t been
on the application form, I was then informed it was the wrong
application. So it was back to square one. Please accept
my apologies for this.
By being
guided to the correct place, I then found the correct application, which was
much more difficult to complete and took 2-3 weeks. I have now just
received a letter saying that we will be allocated an assessor, but that is no
guarantee that we will receive the grant.
All I can
say is that applicants have to justify every penny so that, if they are
successful, the lottery-ticket buyers can be pretty well certain that their
contributions are well managed and evaluated!
So, it
may be a few more weeks before we know whether we have been awarded a grant or
not.
In the
meantime, I asked a friend who had offered to do some research, and regularly
frequents the archives, whether he might look up residents/populations during
the project period and he has done that for 1925 and 1965. He has
also checked Sprotbrough Parish Council records and informs me that they are
also in the archives from 1852 – 1983, after which I
presume it became Sprotbrough & Cusworth Parish Council. This
should provide some interesting reading regarding the doings of the village
during our project period.
I am hoping that
everyone who volunteered at our first meeting still wants to be involved and
will be thinking about how they can be part of the project, so I am offering
the following suggestions:
1. First
of all, suggestions for any other interesting topics for research would be
welcome, so let me know if you think of anything or have specific information
already which might be useful. Even if you can’t do it yourself,
someone else might be willing to take them on.
2. A
logo would be nice, if anyone is artistic/creative.
3. A
start could be made on the plan of the village. I know one or two
were interested in doing this and any ideas of how to go about it would be
welcome. I had a suggestion made to me over the last couple of days
that, initially, a largish map could be drawn and houses/farms/etc, that
existed during, say the 1950s, could be mounted onto it (possibly even using
lego bricks or paper boxes to identify different buildings), so that house
numbers and names of residents could then be inserted or listed. You
may have better ideas so you might give it some thought.
4. The
‘tapestry’ of groups, then and now, might be produced, eg each one creating a
square to be put together when they have all been collected
in. Someone might like to create a list of all the groups that might
participate.
5. Postcards
and photographs, writings and poems – perhaps someone would like to begin a
collection. Copies of photographs can be made and returned to
owners, but it would be good to begin to obtain them and catalogue them for a
future display.
6. I
really feel we should be starting to do some interviews, especially of older
people who might be starting to get a bit frail and forgetful. Often
such people do remember the past very well and love to talk about
it. This is the really important part of the project and we don’t
want to miss out on anyone even if the Lottery Fund don’t come up with the
money. I feel sure we could still produce a meaningful project
without it if we had to.
These are just
my initial thoughts, but ideas for anything else connected with the project
would be gratefully received, as well as specific offers of help with the
activities.
Thank you for
your interest and please let me know any ideas or thoughts you have on the
points raised above so that I can keep a record.
If anyone
else you know would like to be included in this project, please ask them to get
in touch.
Many thanks.
Liz
Project Manager
Tel: 01302
313030
Email: soh.lizreeve@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER 1 - 11 MAY 2018
In case anyone has been wondering, I thought I had better write
and let you know what is happening.
So far a database has been created, putting people into groups
according to what they might have offered to do, so that they are easily
contactable, and we are now in the process of completing the application form
to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Although they say this is an easy form, I
can assure you it isn't, but some progress has been made and Amanda, Cynthia
and I are aiming to meet soon to discuss the information we still
require. I am hoping it will be
completed by the end of May, but, if accepted, it is likely to be two months
before we hear whether we have obtained a grant or not, so I can't see that we
could begin in earnest until August or September.
We would have liked to make a start, but are informed that if we
do so, our application will not be accepted. However, I don't think there
would be any harm in doing some background research or forward planning, if
those who offered are interested in making a start.
At the exploratory meeting, the following offers were made:
20 interviewees and 13 interviewers have come forward so
far and this is a great start, but I feel sure there are more interviewees
around who it would be good to know about, so if anyone has any contacts, we
would love to hear from them. Please either contact them direct to obtain
their permission and let me know their contact details (preferably an email
address).
In addition:
4 people volunteered to do some research,
1 person suggested they had an interest in picture
collage
1 person has a collection of old postcards
Some possibilities for Involvement:
It is hoped that this project might be a uniting activity for
the whole village, whereby everyone involved will learn something and be able
to feel that it belongs to them. So, if this is to work, leaders will be
needed. If we get the funding we hope for, help can be sought from
experienced people and training provided for those who would like it. If
these roles were filled, and teams created, no-one should be over-worked and
everyone would have cause to feel proud of themselves.
1. It is expected that at the end of the project, there
will be an exhibition, perhaps over a weekend, when the results of the year's
work will be on display. Anyone with display experience would be welcome
to take the organisation of this on, perhaps with a team of helpers.
2. If speakers were invited to come and talk in a series
of lectures on specific topics relating to the village and surrounding area,
then we would need to establish which topics should be covered and make
tentative bookings for speakers, venues to be used and, eventually, dates.
3. If a series of trails/walks were to be organised,
leaders and organisers would be required .
4. If a wall-hanging is to be created, which might later
be displayed in the churches, libraries, etc, someone with needlework/knitting
or other craft skills might like to take a lead in this by contacting groups
and organisations within the village to see if they might produce a square and
to get them together to decide what form the hanging should take.
5. If a village map is to be created with names of
residents, a small group might like to do this, but someone will need to take
the lead.
6. Literature would be required, covering posters,
leaflets and press releases. Anyone with expertise in creating artwork
and/or publicity would be welcome.
7. Technology and computer media help will be required.
8. .A calendar of events would be needed.
You will see from this that the list could be endless and there
are plenty of opportunities for all age groups, experience and expertise to
take part and offer ideas.
I would be grateful, therefore, if anyone wishing to become
involved would get in touch so that preparations can begin to be made which
will not impinge on our ability to obtain funding, but will give us a good
start if we do receive a grant.
I look forward to hearing from you.
My email is: soh.lizreeve@gmail.com
INAUGURAL MEETING 24 APRIL 2018
Our first meeting got off to a great start
last night, despite rain pouring down.
About 35 attended and lots of talking followed the first part, with
people catching up after 30 years plus
in some cases.
The Rev’d Amanda Barraclough of St
Mary’s Church welcomed everyone to the meeting and I gave an explanation of why
I had suggested the idea, what my background was and where I hoped it might
lead. Cllr Cynthia Ransome then
explained the sort of help that might be needed and asked everyone to sign in
and suggest ways in which they might be able to help.
So that those who couldn’t get to the
meeting might understand what is involved, I am copying below the talk I
gave. I hope everyone interested will
become followers of the Blog and I will do my best to keep everyone up-to-date.
The next stage is to make the
application to the Heritage Lottery Fund and this should be completed within
the next week or two. There will then be
a wait, maybe of a couple of months, until we hear whether we have been
successful. If we are not successful, we
will have to consider whether we can go ahead anyway, but maybe in a smaller
way.
Everyone at the meeting seemed to think
it was a good thing to do, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for a successful
outcome.
Twenty-nine people actually put their
names down on the list and 17 have already agreed to be interviewed so that’s a
fantastic start.
My Introduction to
the Project
As the person who began
looking at the possibility of this project, I’ve been delegated to tell you all
about it. So, first of all, I’ll begin
with my credentials and background.
Some of you may know me as
the Secretary to the Don Gorge Community Group, which I’ve been for about 13
years now, but my family actually came to Sprotbrough in 1924 and we lived at
Tower Cottage, Lower Sprotbrough, behind the Boat Inn, from about 1938. My mother’s sisters and brothers always
talked about their lives and so, as I grew up, I picked up quite a lot of
information.
When we got married, Mick and
I lived in Hexthorpe for 10 years and then moved with work to Derbyshire. In 1999, we started on the renovation of our
cottage at 4 Lower Sprotbrough, which my mother bought in 1956, when it was
condemned for human habitation. We sold
up in Derbyshire in 2000 and moved back to Sprotbrough in December 2002. My mother died in 2005.
Mick and I have both been
interested in family history for a long time and this project is just an
extension of that really, but a few things really set me off, generally due to
selling calendars for the Don Gorge Community Group.
A couple of years ago, I had
a phone call asking to order one and, by the end of two hours, had discovered
that the caller had lived in the village when I was a child. I didn’t know Arthur Radford, but when I was
much younger, I had known his mother and two of his sisters who had attended
the Methodist Church. He told me that he
would like to draw up a map of the village because he could remember everybody
who lived there. I told him that I would
get back to him when I had time. I
didn’t manage it.
Since coming back to
Sprotbrough, I had been going to the library and met there several people there
who were of my generation and, just before Christmas this year, again whilst
selling calendars, I met three more people who I had known through church.
Two of these were Marilyn
Oliver, sister of Graham, who reminded me I used to take them to Sunday School,
and her father, Reg Middleton, who surprised me by telling me he had known my
father, who died in a road accident when I was 10, and so had only vague
memories of, and a cousin, who my mother had brought up, and who had been a bit
of a lad and had stolen a van and then crashed it on Mill Lane at
Warmsworth! Reg is getting on a bit and
that set me wondering how many others of his generation might still be living
in the village.
I then received an email
saying that there was funding available from the Heritage Lottery Fund for Oral
History projects by registered charities.
The Don Gorge Community Group
is a registered charity, but as it doesn’t cover the village, that was no good,
so I approached Amanda who agreed that Churches Together could make the
application using one of their charity numbers.
And so the idea was born and this meeting arranged. When I told members of the Don Gorge
committee about it, Cllr Cynthia Ransome immediately showed an interest and
came on board the planning group.
The time scale we’ve chosen
is 40 years from 1925 to 1965 and the boundary of the project is roughly from
the houses on Cadeby Road to the west and the A1(M) motorway in the east; and
from Spring Lane in the north to the River Don in the south.
The reason for these
boundaries of time and place are reflected in the title we’ve chosen: ‘From
Rural Estate to Real Estate’ and are important because in 1924 Lord and Lady
Copley died within a week or so of each other and the Estate, including 12
farms, was sold in 1924. Plots of land
were then sold to individuals to build houses and the Hall was demolished in
1926. So, before 1924, everyone who
lived in the village was controlled directly or indirectly by the Copley family
who had lived in the village for generations.
The farms were leased to tenants, but people’s homes were tied in with working
at the Hall or for these tenant farmers.
Just a couple of examples:
Firstly, one of my aunts, who had an illegitimate child soon after they arrived
in the village, wouldn’t have been allowed to live there if the Copleys hadn’t
died and, secondly, my granddad, who came to the village as an agricultural
labourer, was sacked and lost his family’s home, as he had the courage to
refuse to do something which was against his principles. As a result, they had
to move to the only work with a house attached which he found in Cadeby. This was the type of control exercised over
people’s lives before 1924.
The transition of power from
the landed gentry estate owner to ownership of real estate by individuals began
then and so this is the period that we feel it is important to cover at this
stage.
We also know that people from
nearby villages, such as Cadeby, High Melton and Levitt Hagg relied on
Sprotbrough for schooling and shops, etc, so we think they should be welcome to
contribute too.
By the early 1960s, the
village was changing again with the first housing estate being built and we
thought it was important to see how these new residents felt they had been
received into what had been for a long time a more or less closed community; so
we intend to cover up to 1965.
Since then, several other housing
estates have been built and, as I’m sure we all know, in-filling continues and
even more housing may be required.
What do we hope to achieve? - Some Suggestions – not set in stone
·
Recordings of
interviews with people who fit within this time frame, a copy of which can be
given to the families concerned and a copy kept for the project.
·
An Exhibition of
old photographs and research records would be great.
·
A Tapestry of
memories about the village, representing buildings, activities, etc, would be
nice.
·
The Map suggested
two years ago by Arthur, including residents’ names would be amazing.
·
And lastly
·
I would really
like to produce a book giving a general history of the village, particularly
covering the agreed period, quoting personal stories and memories and including
photos of participants, buildings and views.
These are just a few ideas
I’ve come up with, which will need organisation, input and effort by other
people, and you’re welcome to suggest other ideas that might fit within the
project’s scope.
If it is to work well, it
will have to be a whole-village effort and so I hope everyone will be
interested in it sufficiently to put that effort in and make it a worthwhile
project that the village as a whole can be really proud of.
I think this project should
have been begun 10 or 20 years ago before many of the older people had passed
on, but we are where we are and so can only work with the memories that are
available now, so if anyone thinks they ought to continue the exercise from
1965 to the present day, they should start now and I bet they’ll find life very
different, even over the last 20 years, from 1965.
Liz Reeve
24.4.18
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