Tag: History

Bombs to Butterflies Revisited

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…

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Museum Helps Secure £70k of Lottery Funding

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…

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

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…

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Arrests Made After Railway Vandalism

Graham Wright

Nottinghamshire Police say they have arrested two boys in connection with the criminal damage at Ruddington’s Great Central Railway site on Monday (29th April). Volunteers at our village heritage centre have estimated that the attack – reportedly involving around half a dozen young people who smashed a total of 112 windows on various items of coaching stock and two diesel railcars – will cost around £80,000 to repair. They were then disturbed by a volunteer and are believed to have fled on bikes toward Rushcliffe Country Park. It has prompted dismay and…

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Vandals Cause £80,000 Damage to Heritage Railway

Graham Wright

Ruddington’s Great Central Railway (Nottingham) is appealing for your help to catch those responsible for a relentless campaign of thefts and mindless acts of vandalism at the much loved, village tourist attraction. Director Phil Stanway reveals that, over the past six to eight weeks, their site has been subjected to an ongoing and concerted spate of theft and vandalism attacks – involving multiple break ins to vehicles and buildings and deliberate damage on a large scale. All along the railway, which operates 10 miles from the base at Ruddington, through East Leake to…

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Easter With Our Framework Knitters

Graham Wright

Easter will be a busy time at Ruddington’s Framework Knitters’ Museum with events for villagers and visitors of all ages. This year it’s supporting Knit for Peace by using its historic, Griswold circular knitting machines to knit strips to be sewn into blankets – and is inviting anyone to have a try. Museum assistant Helen Brownett says: “Do come along and join us on any of the Easter weekend days, from Friday 19th April to Monday 21st April, 11-4 to get involved. You can knit on the machines; you can sew the blankets;…

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Marking Our Country Park’s Aviation History

Graham Wright

A special plaque has been unveiled which acknowledges Ruddington’s role in providing a key airfield during World War One. The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust plaque has been installed on ‘Fowemer Hill‘ in Rushcliffe Country Park, commemorating the area that was used as a take-off and landing strip during The Great War by No38 Squadron from December 1916 to August 1917. It was also then used after World War One by local aircraft owner and resident Harold Ashworth in the 1930s – who went on to join the Royal Air Force. Records…

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Footpath Should Reopen Soon!

Graham Wright

It’s hoped a closed footway, which residents on a Ruddington estate usually use to gain easy access to our village centre, should be open again before too long. The jitty between Elms Park and Elms Gardens was closed by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) over three months’ ago when it was reported that a wall alongside it was crumbling (photos courtesy of Paul Witney). Bricks from it had fallen on to the path – so a decision was made by NCC to prevent public access on health and safety grounds. Barriers…

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Exciting Year Ahead for Framework Knitters’ Museum

Faye Stenson

Ruddington’s Framework Knitters’ Museum on Chapel Street is gearing up for what it hopes could be its most successful year to date. Further to securing Heritage Lottery Funding (HLF) last year, plans are now afoot to put the museum’s ambitious redevelopment and expansion project – christened “A Right Good Yarn” – in motion. This will see the site as we know it transformed {artist impressions courtesy of FWKM – top and below}, with a new visitor route, enhanced interactive displays and exhibitions, a new and improved shop and café, and lots…

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‘Fork Handles’ and ‘The Yard’ Take Shape!

Graham Wright

Ruddington is no stranger to new house building in recent times – with considerably more development still to come – but a prominent village plot that’s created a great deal of interest over the past year or so is the site of the former Bostock’s DIY Shop at 70, Wilford Road. The historic business closed in October 2015 after 56 years – when owners Tony and Hazel Theaker retired – and was bought by Ruddington’s Mascari Design Solutions Ltd. New owner Rob and his team then worked with Justin Smith Architects of Derby…

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