Category: GOING OFF AT TANGENTS

• Rev George Kendall

  An Enquiry In April 2025, I received an email enquiry from Tim Kendall, the grandson of Rev George Kendall OBE. He was researching his grandfather’s time as Superintendent Minister of the Sutton and Kirkby Methodist Circuit from September 1944 to August 1948. As part of that research, he had come across this website and noted…

  April 23, 2025

• A Friendship with The Fawthrops

  A Request In April 2025, John Fawthrop contacted me as he had seen photos of his parents on the website and he wondered how his parents and my family had become friends and how long the friendship had lasted. He noted that he had been born in 1946 and his sister, Susan, six years later.…

  April 22, 2025

• Forest Motor Company

  An Invoice Recently, I came across this invoice for sale on eBay. I was intrigued by the proprietor’s name and the location of the Kirkby Office. So, I decided to buy it even though I did not know precisely what it was! Forest Motor Company The business issuing the invoice was Forest Motor Company. I…

  March 6, 2025

• Hewett School Open Day

  On 9 November 2024, I was one of more than 2,000 people that attended an open day at the Hewett School ahead of its planned demolition. I am grateful to the school, Melita Morgan and others for having organised it and for having advertised it through various Facebook groups including Hewett School and one specific…

  November 11, 2024

• Kirkby Smallpox Hospital

  Redundant Kirkby Hospital is for Sale When going through the archives of Notts Free Press held at Sutton Library recently, I stumbled across an article from 1950 entitled “Redundant Kirkby Hospital is for Sale”. This referred to a Smallpox Hospital on Doles Lane and a report about it to Kirkby Urban District Council. Apparently, the…

  September 30, 2024

• John Barrie Smith

  A Thanksgiving Service On Thursday 3 September 2024, I attended a thanksgiving service for the life of J Barrie Smith. It was held at St John’s Methodist Church in Sutton and celebrated his life following his death on 5 August 2024, aged 93. Mentioned in Family Diaries Barrie knew my parents, Roy(le) Drew and Sheila…

  September 6, 2024

• Station Street Then and Now

  Introduction In order to better understand Station Street in Kirkby, where my grandad had a business for many years, I initially compiled a walk up and down Station Street. This developed into detailed posts for each building on Station Street. I have presented these to two local Facebook groups in the format of a walk up and down…

  January 11, 2024

• Market Hall/Festival Hall/Leisure Centre

  Introduction In order to better understand Station Street in Kirkby, where my grandad had a business for many years, I initially compiled a walk up and down Station Street. This developed into detailed posts for each building on Station Street. As part of that process, I wrote posts for each of the roads that intersects…

  January 5, 2024

• Buses in Kirkby

  Buses in the Diaries The family diaries contain quite a lot of detail about different means of transport. Given that grandma and grandad did not get a car until 1955, it is not surprising that there was a lot of emphasis on using buses particularly before that time. Mansfield to Bulwell One of grandad’s first…

  December 3, 2023

• 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…

  November 17, 2023