From the Chair
Another August: the heatwave is over and already I have heard the dread words “The nights are drawing in.” But, hey! Let’s look at the good things of Autumn, principally, in our case, Monday evenings in the Village Hall with another fascinating series of talks, included later in this Newsletter. The focus this season seems mainly local and thanks are due to Helen for the time and effort given to arranging speakers and visits.
Unfortunately, one of our summer visits had to be cancelled because of our guide’s family health issues but the other two were very pleasant and successful.
We are hoping this year that attendances at the meetings will continue to increase, following the initial post-lockdown slump. A reminder that talks will now begin at 7.45pm rather than 8pm. We did attract some new members last year and more would be very welcome. Spread the word!
And if anyone feels like augmenting the Committee, they will be welcomed with open arms.
Hooray for Winter!
Phil White
Eleanor Bagot’s Diary
A talk given by Allan Howard on 3rd April 2022
Eleanor Bagot’s diary was written in 1827 when she was twelve years old. The diary is now kept in The National Library at Aberystwyth. The diary describes a holiday Eleanor went on with her father in 1827. The journey started from the Bagot family home in Blithfield and it finished at the family estates in North Wales. Accompanying Eleanor on her journey were her sister, Agnes and Agnes’s fiancé John Newton Lane from Kings Bromley. Eleanor was born in 1814. She had four older brothers and sisters, Louise born in 1808, Agnes born in 1809, William born in 1811, and Henry born in 1812 and she had a younger brother Alfred born in 1816. Eleanor’s mother died at the age of 28 when Eleanor was still a young girl. Eleanor never married but stayed home to care for her father. At the time of the journey, he was fifty-four and she was twelve.
The party started from Blithfield on Monday 4th June 1827. They travelled in a horse drawn carriage and the first day they travelled to Hawarden, a journey of 70 miles. On the way, they visited Doddington Hall in Nantwich, Chester, and Harden Hall and castle. They stayed the night at Harden Rectory. On Tuesday they visited Eaton Hall, they then went for a walk, and it rained. Wednesday, they took a trip to Gresford and visited the church. Thursday, they visited Chester for the second time and went to see the armoury. Friday, they left Hawarden and went to Ruthin where they stayed at Pool Park. On the Saturday they spent the day at Pool Park and on the Sunday, they went to church.
The following week on the Monday, they took a trip to see her father’s new plantations at Pen Tor. On the Tuesday, they rested at Pool Park. On the Wednesday they drove along Lady Bagot’s drive. Thursday, they visited Denbigh Castle and Friday they went to Bangor, Carmarthen, and Llangollen. Saturday, they travelled from Cernig to Bangor and on Sunday they went to service in the Cathedral.
Monday 18th June, they visited Penrhyn Castle, and the newly built Menai Bridge. They took a boat trip to Carnarvon and saw Plas Newydd. Tuesday took them from Carnarvon to Beddgelert. Wednesday, they went from Beddgelert to Tan y Bwich. They climbed Snowdon, at least some of them did Eleanor remained behind. Thursday, they went to see the Raven’s nest and Pistilli. Friday the outing was from Tan y Bwich to Firgrove. From Saturday to the following Tuesday, they rested at Pool Park. Then on Wednesday 4th July Eleanor’s father gave a dinner for 81 workmen from his estate.
The following January Agnes married John Newton Lane at Blithfield Church, and they went to live in Kings Bromley. This was considered an advantages match for Agnes. The Lanes were a wealthy family having inherited money from their Newton relatives who had made their money from sugar estates in Barbados.
Eleanor never married but after her father died, she was left an inheritance by Mary Howard, a relative who was seriously rich lady. Mary left Eleanor Elford Hall, where Eleanor lived for the rest of her life.
Meryl Mattey
RHS Walk in Search of the Lost Village of Brindley – Friday, 20 May 2022
How many of us have rambled across different parts of Cannock Chase with, maybe, only the slightest inkling of the history that lies beneath our feet?
It was a dull morning on Friday, 20 May, in fact there was the prospect of rain. Sat nav technology meant that some of our group were mis-directed. Eventually, the full complement gathered together and that hidden history was revealed and brought to life by our very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide, Linda Barratt. We walked in her footsteps as a child. She was born, lived and went to school in Brindley village until its abandonment in 1955.
We learnt how in 1916 a military hospital was opened on this part of Cannock Chase to cater for the needs of injured and sick First World War soldiers. After the war had ended it remained open to treat shell-shock, the condition now known as PTSD, and victims of the Spanish ‘flu pandemic. The hospital finally closed in 1923.
The whole of the site and infrastructure was leased to a mining company. They removed a number of the wooden and asbestos huts that had served as wards but converted others into living accommodation for mining families. They were quite luxurious for that time; in that they had electricity and indoor toilet and bathroom facilities. The first families moved in in 1924 and by 1929 it had morphed into a village community of 58 families. There was a working men’s club, a youth centre, a church, a school and a general-stores. Life was, as far as Linda was concerned, idyllic. This was a unique tight-knit community.
To the unobservant or untrained eye this area with its overgrown rhododendrons was simply a rather wild area. Linda pointed to the evidence of where various buildings had been, such as some foundations of the hospital, the fence posts where the school playground had been and the flag pole base. Incidentally, the now overgrown rhododendrons had been planted by the PTSD patients as part of their therapy treatment, an idea ahead of its time.
By 1953 the houses were showing their age and it was becoming uneconomical to keep repairing. A ‘new’ Brindley village was built nearby, where as many of those who wished to, moved. The working men’s club closed in 1956 and the school in 1959. The village was then razed to the ground. What we had seen reminded me of a poem I learnt at school, ‘The Road Through the Woods’. With apologies to Rudyard Kipling.
They shut the village in the woods Seventy years ago. Weather and rain have undone it again, And now you would never know There was once a village in the woods.
Helen Sharp
A Visit to Freeford Manor – 3 July 2022
During last winter Ridware History Society had a lecture on Freeford Manor: its history and the history of the family who have owned it since 1549. We were privileged to hear this story from the current owner of Freeford, Richard Dyott, and so it was particularly interesting and appropriate to receive an invitation to visit the manor in person. I had a vague idea of where it was located, but had never noticed the black-and-white lodge on the Tamworth Road before. It was intriguing to wind our way up the drive to the early 18th century house, in a beautiful setting of parkland, with a lake in front.
The hall of the house has portraits of many of the Richard Dyotts who owned the manor, as well as other family members. This was really helpful, because very few of the owners were called anything other than Richard, and the current Richard referred to them as Richard the VI or VII, but was also able to point them out on the walls. This room contained many of the family relics, most famously the musket with which John ‘Dumb’ Dyott shot Lord Brooke from the Lichfield Cathedral spire during the Civil War. He was the brother of the owner, Sir Richard Dyott, who was a staunch Royalist. The hall also contains a Civil War cannonball dug up in Gaia Lane.
As we moved into the dining room, we moved chronologically into the 18th and 19th centuries, with a series of splendid portraits. Richard VI was the first President of the Staffordshire Agricultural Society and a sporting gentleman: one of his horses won the Oswestry Cup. His younger brother, who inherited the estate, was General William Dyott, who was born in 1760 and died in 1847. There is a dashing portrait of him in uniform, standing in front of his horse and flourishing his sword. It was interesting to see items of his various uniforms on display, in fantastic condition, but smelling slightly of mothballs!
All the Dyotts were buried in St Mary’s Church in Lichfield and, by a curious tradition, this took place at midnight. A torchlit procession went from Freeford to the church. On the last occasion such enthusiasm was shown by the populace that the police became involved and the tradition ended. A torch from the final procession has been preserved by the family.
Another curious relic was a piece of the rope that hanged William Palmer.
The grandfather of the current Richard Dyott fought in the First World War, when the house was used as a home for Belgian refugees. He died in 1965 and ‘our’ Richard Dyott told amusing stories of the house as he first encountered it as a young man: freezing cold in winter and with only about five, 5-amp electrical outlets in the entire place. It looks considerably more comfortable today, and we finished the afternoon with a splendid tea. Always a big draw for Ridware History Society members!
Marty Smith
Winter Programme 2022/2023
Monday 3 October
AGM followed by
Mithra Tonking – Almshouses of Abbots Bromley
Local land owner Lambard Bagot died in 1702 and bequeathed £800 to build an Alms House for widowed or single poor men in Abbots Bromley. Mithra will trace the history from then until the present day.
Monday 7 November 2022
Jono Oates – The Suffragettes of Lichfield.
Discover the story of the battle for Votes for Women, from the early days of the mid-19th century to its successful conclusion at the end of World War One. Local Lichfield historian, tour guide and author Jono Oates also describes the impact the campaign had on the city and the direct impact it had on one significant, but often overlooked, Lichfield woman.
Monday 5 December 2022
Bill Durose – The History of English Folk Music
During the talk Bill will play a variety of folk instruments, such as melodeon, concertina and ukulele and sing songs that the audience can join in with. He will also include folk dance including Morris moves and social folk dancing. The talk follows the history of 500 years of folk customs up to and including those that have continued until the present day.
Monday 9 January 2023
Richard Ewing – ‘Anatomy of a Parish – Armitage-with-Handsacre’
This talk describes the structure of the Parish, its development and looks at the changing ‘centre of gravity’. It starts with the basic outline with the northern boundary governed by the river and (very briefly) covers Neolithic, Iron Age, Romans, Anglo Saxons before moving on to the Normans and feudalism. After the collapse of feudalism, the skeleton of the village began to be set out and the building of the canal, and later the railway, allowed the development of a strong industry largely based on the pottery. It’s location on the edge of the coalfield, also created jobs for the ‘villagers’.
Monday 6 February 2023
Members of the LHCRT (Lichfield Huddlesford Canal Restoration Trust)
A presentation on the history of the Ogley Locks Section of the Wyrley & Essington Canal, its closure in the 1950s and its Restoration by LHCRT with the revised name of the Lichfield Canal. We may even have a visit from the father of canals, James Brindley!
Monday 6 March 2023
From Coalface to Fireplace.
A member of the mining museum at Hednesford will give a talk that will explore the history of the Cannock Chase Coalfields, in particular the Valley Colliery and Mining Training College. The speaker will outline the early beginnings of coalmining within the area to the demise of the industry in the 1990s. Also discussing the technological advancements that changed the way coal was mined for quicker and safer production. Objects relating to the talk will also be bought for people to peruse.