Birmingham Back to Backs
We expected our outing on Saturday to be enjoyable but it far exceeded our expectations.
Members of our Society journeyed by train to Birmingham to visit the Birmingham Back to Backs – a National Trust project and the last remaining courtyard of this type of houses in the Midlands.
It is located in the heart of the city and just five minutes walk from the Bull Ring Shopping Centre.
We had an excellent guide who, as a child of the 1930’s had lived in the area and could tell us from experience what life was like before the complete demolition of all but these last few properties in the mid 1960’s.
It was like stepping back in time to go into these small red brick houses and see them set out in exactly the style of the day.- the furniture, the photos and in some cases the gas fittings! (Can you remember the fragile mantles?). We were told of how the wallpaper was stripped back, through many layers to the very first one. This was then photographed and re- copied by a wall paper company.
Up the curved staircase there might be a bedroom with 3 single beds, sleeping 6 children top to toe, and a double bed for Mum and Dad. No wardrobes though, just a few hooks on the back of the door.
The kitchen was a delight- it looked as if Mum had just made a meal. The floured board, rolling pin and the remains of the pastry, the spices ingredients and utensils drew you to the table.
Close by on a small bench were the tools of Dad’s trade, according to the 1890’s Census he was a watch and clock repairer, working from home .
There was no “don’t touch” rule here, it was so nice to be encouraged to examine the items and even sit on one of the chairs should you be feeling weary. Of course like the Irthlingborough Yards their washing and toilet facilities were across the yard.
There were also a numbers of old toys— and those of us who thought we were good at it couldn’t resist “having a go at the whipping tops”.
Behind the house were the shops, built so that their back wall and the back wall of the houses were one and the same. The last remaining shop belonging to George the Tailor was preserved exactly as he left it when he retired.
The Back to Back project is well worth a visit and the Historical Society members can recommend it to anyone looking for a super day out, but you do need to book your tour before you go.
Report by Jean Rowland
St. Peter’s Way
The ancient lane, known in previous centuries as Higham Way and Post Office Lane is still often called by its more recent names of Gosham Road or Meadow Lane by the older residents of the town, despite being renamed St Peter’s Way several years ago.
Here and there were a number of terraced houses, some built entirely of stone whilst others had brick fronts and stone backs. Some of the cottages had two rooms both up and down but many were half that size. Almost all had just one door and water was fetched from standpipes.
The first row of cottages was on the right hand side of the road and in 1901 the widowed householder of the middle cottage had turned one room into a grocery shop whist still living there with five adult children. More cottages stood on what is now the driveway leading to the car park of the former Kwik Save Supermarket.
Along the Church Walk and facing the Churchyard was the lovely old stone built house owned by Joe and Fanny Britchford and their family. St. Peter’s House had an attractive stone built frontage with 5 windows, one of which had stained glass, and an imposing front door. The lounge and a living room were separated by a long hallway leading to the cellar. There was an additional bedroom under the stairs and the single storey kitchen had its own door. Upstairs there were three bedrooms with a staircase which lead up to the attic. The toilet and pump were in the garden.
Nearer to the Church the cottages had the postal address of “The Square”.
The narrower part of the road after the Royal Oak Public House was usually called The Lane and here the householders had the great inconvenience of their washhouses, barns and shared toilets being on the opposite side of the road to their cottages.
The last brick built terrace of just three houses which faced the cemetery gates were occupied in the 1930’s by Maurie Cox , Bob Abrams and Jack Morris. Maurie Cox was a meter reader for the Gas Company and children would often be sent to him for help when Mum got a penny stuck in the gas meter, always being instructed to call him Mr. Cox and not Maurie. He was always happy to oblige.
The Lane continued on to Higham Ferrers until 1992 when the pleasant walk changed dramatically with the extraction of our sand and gravel. Former residents of the “Old Gosh” would still recognise the first and second bridges but the landscape of deep lakes would be completely foreign to them. Higham Ferrers can now only be reached by walking across the steep footbridge over the busy A45.
It is fitting that the bungalows which now replace the former cottages carry on the old name of Oak Way, Meadow Walk and Gorseholm Court.
Jean Rowland
Battle of Waterloo Film
It is over ten years since the Historical Society, under the guidance of member Bob Thorogood, unearthed the whereabouts of the surviving parts of the film The Battle of Waterloo.
When shown in Irthlingborough for the first time in over ninety years the film drew capacity audiences during its three night run at the Methodist Schools. This event was covered in great detail in the local press, and by BBC and ITV who both sent film crews to the occasion. Later the discovery of the film was the subject of a fifteen minute programme recorded in Irthlingborough by BBC Radio Four.
From press reports of the time, we know that the filming in Irthlingborough at the beginning of June, 1913 had a tremendous effect on the life of the village, and we also know that it was regarded as a ‘block-buster’ of its day, having cost in excess of a mammoth £5,000 to produce.
“Rarely has there been such excitement as when the film company moved in to stage full-blooded sequences of cavalry charges, infantry fighting among the farm buildings, and artillerymen working their old-fashioned canon. It was like half a dozen circuses coming to town on the same day!
Never before in the annals of Irthlingborough have there been scenes so exciting and magnetic as those enacted this week in the making of this historic film. For three days the battle raged, and whether in the town itself or on the stretch of land lying behind the Three Chimneys, or on the sloping surface of the Feast Field, or in the large meadow lying off Finedon Road, a crowd of immense proportions gathered to see the spectacle being presented before the camera.” reported the Wellingborough News on 13th June, 1913.
During recent research Jean Rowland unearthed further evidence of the film’s success. Just over a fortnight after filming was completed in Irthlingborough the London Daily Chronicle, referring to Irthlingborough as just a tiny village near Northampton, reported that the recently produced film had been shown privately to buyers at Pykes Theatre in Charing Cross Road. The general impression was that it would be a success. A week later when all the titles had been added, for this was, of course, a silent film, it was shown to the Press and Exhibitors.
On 11th July, 1913 the Wellingborough News said, “It was almost more than the London Palladium could do to find room for the enormous crowd that besieged the place on Tuesday to see the famous Battle of Waterloo by the British & Colonial Film Company. Something quite unusual was evidently expected, nor were they disappointed, for no sooner was the film running than the audience burst in with hearty applause to show their approval of the stirring life-like incidents portrayed.
2,000 soldiers, 1,000 horses and 50 cannon are employed in the 115 scenes. From the famous ‘ballroom scene’ with which it begins, right to the exile of Napoleon there is interest and excitement. Local picture palaces will have a great time when this wonderful film is brought into the district, and little doubt the same scene will happen wherever the picture is exhibited.”
The same paper later published a letter from Messrs. J.Nurrish & H.W.Dickerson who had seen the film at the Colonial Theatre in Toronto, Canada. They reported that it was a great success and attended by huge numbers of people.
Unfortunately there was no picture palace in Irthlingborough at that time so local people, many of whom had been employed as ‘extras’ in the film, had to crowd into the original tin clad Harmonic Hall in Scarborough Street. The whole showing of the film was surely punctuated with excited cries of pleasure as members of the audience recognised themselves, or their friends and relations on the silver screen.
The first week in June, 2013 will be the centenary of the film being made in Irthlingborough, an occasion that really does need to be marked.
Members of the Historical Society are already beginning to consider ways in which to do this, but we would be particularly grateful if readers of this newsletter and members of the public could come up with any ideas as to how this should be done. Obviously we cannot guarantee to use every suggestion but we really would appreciate your ideas.
Please get in touch and let us know what your suggestion is.
Remembering the Co-op
Thanks to generous donations to Irthlingborough Historical Society they were able to erect Blue plaques on two of the former Co-op buildings in the town. One in the High Street on the building now owned by G.L. Chambers Developments and one at no 70 Finedon Road where the very first shop was opened in 1885
The family of the late Dave Stevens, who had been a member of the Society for a number of years, asked for donations in his memory and Maurice Rawlins had asked for donations instead of presents on his 80th birthday and these monies enabled the purchase of the two plaques.
The Mayor and the Town Crier attended the unveiling as did the present owners of the buildings along with Society members and families of those who had donated to the project.
Plaques were unveiled by the Stevens family, Maurice Rawlins and Mrs Gill Marshall, who is the Great Granddaughter of George Dickenson who opened the first Co-op shop.
Mr.Gordon Chambers of G.L. Chambers Developments, who kindly erected the plaques on both buildings, was cheered by the crowd as he fetched a ladder and climbed up to adjust the “curtain” which failed to open successfully!!
Our thanks to all who made this project possible.
We hope that this Newsletter finds you all well and we send our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. We appreciate your comments and thank you for your continued support.
If you are resident in the area and would like to join us, the Society meets on Tuesday evenings at 7-30pm in the Methodist Schoolrooms and would be pleased to welcome new members.