Heritage – Page 6 – RUDDINGTON.info

New High Speed Trains for Ruddington!

15th October 201918th October 2019 Graham Wright

The 125 Group has announced that two very special diesel trains will soon be joining the fleet of heritage locomotives here in Ruddington. It’s revealed two former Midland Mainline power cars will be coming to GCRN – Great Central Railway (Nottingham) on a permanent basis thanks to leasing company Porterbrook. Production Inter-City 125 high speed trains 43048 (pictured above) and 43089 owned by Porterbrook (currently operated by East Midlands Railway) will BOTH be handed over at the end of their careers in front line service. They’ll then be based here and begin running passenger trips…

Award For Ruddington Webcaster

27th September 201929th September 2019 Graham Wright

A Masters Degree student who raised global awareness of Ruddington’s Village Museum has been recognised regionally for her achievements. Feixue Huangdu, who studies at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), was taken by guides on a tour of our compact and bijou museum in St Peter’s Rooms earlier this year whilst “live streaming” the whole experience to an internet audience back in her native China. An astonishing 438 thousand visitors logged on to watch her webcast! At the prestigious 2019 ‘Regional Heritage Awards’ ceremony in Newark this week, Feixue was given the ‘Judges’ Special Award’…

Planning Permission Blow for Village Salon

25th August 20192nd September 2020 Graham Wright

A much loved Ruddington hairdresser is having to relocate her business, and a single mum to leave her home, after Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) planners approved controversial new redevelopment proposals earlier than expected. {There’s now an update below.*} We reported last week that an application had been made to convert 25 and 25A Easthorpe Street back into two, purely residential properties. Unfortunately no one thought to tell current occupier, Jane Hallam of the ‘Hair Flair’ salon – who instead heard about it from her neighbour! When RBC was made aware of her plight, it agreed to extend the window…

Village Salon Threatened With Closure

14th August 201921st August 2019 Graham Wright

A Ruddington business owner has learned with shock and dismay that she will lose her livelihood if proposals to redevelop her historic premises are given the go-ahead by Rushcliffe planners. Jane Hallam’s ‘Hair Flair’ salon is thought now to be the village’s oldest hairdresses and has been at 25A Easthorpe Street for around half a century. Mrs Hallam has rented the unit for the last twenty five years, since she took over the business. It’s a successful and popular salon used by many people from our village and beyond –…

Framework Knitters’ Big Knitathon

12th August 201913th August 2019 Graham Wright

One hundred and fifty years’ ago, framework knitters led incredibly hard lives. They were expected to work six days a week from 12 to 16 hours a day. This weekend, Frameshop Coordinator Matt Hamilton (pictured top) will be recreating an authentic frame knitting shift in a bid to raise over £1000 for Ruddington’s Framework Knitters’ Museum. Matt explained the inspiration for the ‘Big Knitathon’ came about “…from visitors who regularly say ‘we don’t know we’re born’ – referencing the fact that we don’t realise how good we have it today. So,…

Have Your Say on ‘A Right Good Yarn’

3rd August 20193rd August 2019 Graham Wright

We’re being invited to share our views on the Framework Knitters’ Museum expansion proposals – for a chance to win £100. The Ruddington tourist attraction is inviting you to have your say on its “emerging development plans that are set to transform the site as we know it today”. It says the aim is to deliver new displays and exhibitions along with an improved visitor route connecting the three spaces and offering better retail and catering facilities. After the museum received initial National Lottery support for its redevelopment and expansion project called…

Bombs to Butterflies Revisited

20th June 201922nd June 2019 Graham Wright

Older Ruddingtonians will remember the days before Rushcliffe Country Park – when this sizeable area of the village was used as an Ordnance Storage and Disposal Depot. Our senior citizens will perhaps have even earlier memories – when it housed a bomb-filling factory during the Second World War. In 2003, a book called ‘Bombs to Butterflies’ was published by The Ruddington History Society and The Friends of Rushcliffe Country Park. It was edited by Margaret Lawson and told the history of the area from wartime up to when it became a…

Museum Helps Secure £70k of Lottery Funding

18th June 201920th June 2019 Graham Wright

One of Ruddington’s museums has helped to secure a major cash boost for for a regional project recording our textile heritage. ‘Textile Tales’, which is being led by Nottingham Trent University,has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £70,000 for an initiative across the East Midlands shared between our own Framework Knitters’ Museum, Mansfield Museum, Erewash Museum and Nottingham City Museums at Lakeside Arts. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project aims to engage local communities here in the historic heart of the UK’s textile industry. It’s also being supported by The…

Historic Footbridge To Be Closed For Repairs

21st May 201921st May 2019 Graham Wright

One of Ruddington’s railway landmarks is set for a little TLC this week – to make sure it remains safe for the increasing number of pedestrians who now use it. ‘Fifty Steps Bridge’ over the Great Central Railway line was constructed well over a century ago (circa 1899) and still survives as a functioning footbridge to this day. This is despite the passenger line beneath it becoming a victim of Dr Richard Beeching’s cuts in 1963, and nearby Ruddington Station subsequently being demolished. Goods trains continued to pass along this…

Village Museum’s 438,000 Visitors in One Day!

5th May 20195th May 2019 Graham Wright

It’s been revealed that Ruddington’s rather compact and bijou Village Museum in St Peter’s Rooms received an astonishing 438 thousand visitors when it was open this week – all of whom managed to see some of its many treasures within just an hour and twenty minutes! It was thanks to a visit by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) student Feixue Huangdu – who undertook a comprehensive tour of the museum accompanied by a variety of volunteer guides whilst ‘live streaming’ it all on the internet. It seems Feixue’s webcasts have become extremely…