Category: GOING OFF AT TANGENTS
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Jack Hibbert
Grandad’s 1933 Diary Yesterday, I was reviewing grandad’s 1933 diary to catalogue any films he saw or books he read that year. This is because I am creating indexes of all the films he saw and books he read. However, he did not record any in 1933. Entry Concerning Jack Hibbert I did come across…
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Cowpastures
Unfamiliar Geography One of the challenges of understanding my grandfather’s and mother’s diaries has been mastering, what to me has been, the relatively unfamiliar geography of Kirkby in Ashfield. This is because although I was born in Kirkby, we moved away when I was a baby and I have never lived there. I have described…
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Visiting 166 Drayton High Road in May 2023
Grandma and Grandad Moved to Norwich in 1963 Grandma and grandad moved from Kirkby to Norwich in October 1963, following our earlier move in 1960, see Chapter 76. Initially, they rented a flat, 45 Lilburne Avenue. Building a Bungalow Grandma and grandad purchased land on Drayton High Road and had a bungalow built there. Building…
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A Nostalgic Walk in the Peak District
August 2023 In August 2023, I dragged my long-suffering wife, Jo, on a seven-day walking holiday in the Peak District. To be fair, she did not need that much dragging as she loves walking and has her own memories of previous visits to the Peak District. Inspired by Earlier Youth Hostelling Trips For me, this…
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A Grocer’s Token
Recently, I came across this token for sale on eBay. I was intrigued by the reference to Kirkby Folly. So, I decided to buy it even though I did not know precisely what it was! Kirkby Folly I already knew that Kirkby Folly was the original name for the East Kirkby part of Kirkby. This…
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Finding the 44 Steps
Unfamiliar Geography Although I was born in Kirkby in Ashfield, I have never lived there. So, understanding the geography of my family diaries, which were set in Kirkby until the 1960s, has been a bit of a challenge. Many of the places, such as Station Street, Welbeck Street etc. were easy to find on modern…
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Kirkby Tribunal in World War One
Encountering Tribunals A Tribunal system operated during the first world war. I became interested in this while researching my grandfather’s diaries. In particular, I was interested in family members’ personal experiences of the war, see Chapter 9. A number of them appeared before Tribunals. Tribunals heard applications for exemption from conscription. Broadly, they could issue…
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Kirkby Street Names
Starting with Station Street I have been researching the diaries of Gordon Parkin, my grandfather. As a result, I have developed an interest in Station Street in Kirkby in Ashfield. For more details see an Imaginary Walk Up and Down Station Street. The reason for this interest is that, for many years, this is where…
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Kirkby Carnival
Constructing a Timeline In the course of reviewing family diaries, I have come across a number of references to Kirkby Carnival. These references are in the diaries themselves, in books and online, particularly on the Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group. So, I decided it would help my understanding if I pulled these various references together…
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Giles’s Trip to London
Grandad Noted in His Diaries the Books He Read and the Films He Saw In his diaries, grandad sometimes noted the books he had read. He did this very methodically from 1917 to 1923. He did something similar with films he saw. Initially I Skipped This Material When I first went through the diaries, I…