Event - ‘Time travel’ event at Rufford Park

Rufford Abbey Country Park is giving visitors the next best thing to time travel – a free weekend event devoted to the celebration of key historical times in British history, complete with re-enactments.

The Grand Historical Bazaar, will take place in the Abbey’s grounds from Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th May, from 11am to 4.30pm.

Co Coun John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community, said: “This family friendly event takes place annually and country park staff have put a lot of effort into it organising it. I hope people are able to come along and enjoy all the entertainment and demonstrations that we have put on and even dress up for the occasion.”

Paul Norton, Nottinghamshire County Council’s Country Parks Officer, added: “Over the weekend, there will be a varied line up of living history displays and activities from key historical periods, and even some have-a-go archery. Running alongside this will be a large bring and buy sale of all manner of historical, vintage and antique goods. It is an opportunity for all visitors to sell, swap, buy or even give away their old or unwanted historically themed items.”

There is a car park charge of £3 for motorists. For more information about Rufford Abbey Country Park events, tele 01623 821 338.

For further information about booking a selling-pitch for your wares, or camping overnight, tel Howard Giles on 01509 815 645 or email: admin@eventplan.co.uk or book online visit www.eventplan.co.uk

From: http://www.chad.co.uk/community/time_travel_event_at_rufford_park_1_3352089

News - Council set to discuss budget and £33m in cuts (Notts CC)

CITY councillors are meeting on Tuesday to discuss budget plans for 2011/12.

The council is proposing to cut £33 million, which would hit libraries, theatres, schools and museums.

Spending on the Theatre Royal and the Royal Concert Hall will be slashed by two thirds – but the Royal Centre would become an independent trust, allowing it to apply for grants.

The council has also revealed that Carlton Road library could close, in addition to the closures of St Ann's and Bulwell libraries announced previously.

Opening hours at Newstead Abbey, Brewhouse Yard Museum and Green's Windmill and Science Centre, in Sneinton, could be reduced.

The council is considering cutting the workforce by about 370 posts next year, saving more than £11 million.

Funding for capital projects such as roads, schools and housing has also been reduced or scrapped.

City council deputy leader Graham Chapman said: "We have been among the most successful councils in protecting jobs and frontline services but because of the scale of these cuts, there will inevitably be some significant impacts. We are approaching the Government about the damage another settlement like this next year would inflict." Proposals will be discussed by the executive board on Tuesday and ratified at full council on March 7.

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Council-set-discuss-budget-163-33m-cuts/article-3242880-detail/article.html

News - Anger over abbey lodge sale (Newstead)

NOTTINGHAM City Council has announced plans to sell one of the residential lodges in the estate of Lord Byron's former home, Newstead Abbey.

The proposed sale of the grade-II listed West Lodge has provoked fears that the council may "split up" the estate, which it is struggling to maintain.

The Post previously reported that the council plans to close the abbey and its museum collections every day except Sunday in a bid to save cash. It is currently open four days a week.

Ken Purslow, chairman of the Newstead Abbey Byron Society, said the West Lodge was in a "dilapidated state" after being empty for about 10 years. Before that, he said, the caretaker used to live in the lodge."It's a clear indication that they can't look after it," said Mr Purslow."If it's got into a dilapidated state like this, then the solution is to find someone who will put it in decent order."There is a great danger of breaking up the estate if they're starting to do this now – what are they looking at next?"

The council claims it has been forced to reduce the opening hours because it has been hit by a 16.5% cut in Government funding, which is about £60 million. It has revealed budget proposals to save £33 million.

The two-storey stone lodge is about half a mile from the abbey and has a large garden surrounded by a brook and a grade-II listed wall.

The council plans to sell it in an auction with a reserve price on it, to prevent it going too cheaply.

A spokeswoman for the council said she was unable to confirm any other details.

The abbey was given to the people of Nottingham in 1931 by owner Sir Julien Cahn, whose granddaughter Miranda Rijks has written to the council urging it to give or sell the property to another organisation to help keep it open.

The plans for West Lodge were approved by Councillor Dave Trimble, portfolio holder of leisure and culture.

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Anger-abbey-lodge-sale/article-3192821-detail/article.html

 

Grand-daughter of former Newstead Abbey owner appeals against closure

THE man who gave Newstead Abbey to the people of Nottingham in 1931 would be distraught at plans to close it six days a week, said his granddaughter.

 

Miranda Rijks, whose grandfather Sir Julien Cahn owned the abbey, is calling on Nottingham City Council to change its proposals.

Mrs Rijks has written to the authority urging it to consider other options – including giving the abbey, once home to Lord Byron, to another organisation to run.

She said: "My grandfather gave it to the Corporation of Nottingham for them to be custodians so it could be open to the public.

"This year it's the 80th anniversary of him giving it to the public – essentially they're taking it away from the public on its 80th anniversary."

Her appeal has been backed by the current Lord Byron, who has described the proposals as alarming.

Other supporters include Professor Michael O'Neill, chairman of the International Byron Society Advisory Board, and Dr Christine Kenyoun Jones, who is on the executive committee of the Byron Society.

At the moment the abbey is open four days a week in the summer, with the grounds opening every day all year.

Under the council's proposals, the grounds will remain open but people will only be able to visit the abbey and the Byron museum on summer Sundays as part of a tour.

Council leisure spokesman Councillor Dave Trimble said: "Our priority in relation to Newstead Abbey is to protect the legacy of Lord Byron and Newstead Abbey.

"The grounds remain open and we are not closing the park or the abbey. Our aim is to guarantee a sustainable future for this internationally important heritage site."

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Grand-daughter-man-gave-Newstead-Abbey-public-launches-appeal-closure/article-3150532-detail/article.html

University of Sheffield 2011 Field Schools

Manor Lodge Project 2011
Between 13 June and 15 July 2011 The Department of Archaeology will be offering fieldwork training at the Scheduled Ancient Monument at Manor Lodge, Sheffield. The focus will be on the location of the medieval and sixteenth-century hunting lodge of Sheffield. The hunting lodge sat amidst medieval parkland, and was only subsumed within the urban sprawl from the 1930s. One of the most well-known events in the history of Sheffield Manor Lodge was the period in the late sixteenth century when Mary Queen of Scots spent part of her captivity there. She was in the custody of George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, known popularly as Bess of Hardwick. Our excavations seek to illuminate this period of Sheffield´s history, when the Manor Lodge was at the centre of events of national and international significance. Once the property passed into the hands of the Dukes of Norfolk the lodge fell into a ruinous state, and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a pottery kiln was constructed at the site, coal mining occurred and workers´ cottages were built amidst the ruins. All traces of this industrial activity were stripped away in the early twentieth century, and one of our aims is to throw light on this aspect of the site´s history.
 Thornton Abbey Field School - 19 June to 16 July 2011During the 2011 season we will be concentrating our efforts just to the north of the church and the graveyard, in an area that has seen no previous survey or excavation work. Documentary research suggests that this area contained the mill as well as the ‘great barn’ of the monastery, and these are known to have continued in use well into the post-medieval period. On the ground the water channels, or ‘leat’, for the mill are clearly visible as well as the medieval bridge that crossed it (see right).

Students attending the field school will play a central role in continuing the geophysical and topographical survey of this area, as well as taking part in the excavation of the possible barn and mill areas. Whilst all work is supervised by experienced staff from the University of Sheffield, volunteers get to take part in all the key activities.

The field school fee is £180 p/w. This includes supervision, course materials, all meals, accommodation and weekly pick up & drop off at the local train station (Thornton Abbey).

If you live within the County Council districts of North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire or West Lindsey you can attend the excavation for free so long as you provide your own food and make your own way to site.

Accommodation is in the form of camping close to the site, and we have a limited number of tents that may be borrowed if requested in advance.

From: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/archaeology/field-schools-index

Plan to Cut Open Times at Newstead Abbey

NEWSTEAD Abbey, the ancestral home of Lord Byron, faces reduced opening times as part of cost-cutting drive.

Nottingham City Council is set to change the way it runs the historic site in a bid to make savings and balance the budget - and while the gardens will continue to stay open throughout the year, access to the house will be mainly by appointment for pre-booked groups, conferences, weddings, catering and as an event venue.

The proposals would mean that house tours for the general public will only be available on Sundays (between April and October), on Bank Holidays, for Christmas events and for heritage open weekends.

If given the go-ahead, the plans would mean that house tours for the general public will be available on Sundays (April to October) and Bank Holidays and for Christmas, festive events and heritage open weekends. It is proposed that school groups would continue to access Newstead Abbey as before by pre-booking.

Council bosses say that it costs the authority up to £600,000 a year to run Newstead - but these proposals could halve this.

Earlier this month, the Government announced a 16.5 per cent cut in the council’s budget - which equates to a £60 million reduction in grants for the next financial year.

The new operating model will only be implemented after the 90-day consultation period has concluded.

A spokesman from the council said: “The City Council remains open to discussions on how best to continue to manage the house and site in the longer term and is willing to talk to other partners or operators about the site and how best to preserve and conserve this important part of Nottinghamshire heritage.

“In the meantime, it is proposing to change to the new operating model to reduce its costs and ensure access is maintained to this important heritage site.

“The new arrangements would lead to changes in staffing and operations and consultation is currently underway with affected staff and the trade unions.

“Every effort is being made to re-deploy staff where possible and minimise job losses as result of the changes needing to be made.”

From http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/plan_to_cut_open_times_at_abbey_1_2889857

Christies Old Master sales from Portland Collection

At Christie’s, £4.4 million of Old Masters were sold from the Portland collection – the name given to the treasures inherited by the late Anne Cavendish Bentinck, the last Duke of Portland’s daughter and one of Britain’s wealthiest women, who died unmarried nearly two years ago. One of the stars of the collection was a highly-charged, nocturnal nativity scene, The Adoration of the Shepherds by the northern Caravaggist, Gerrit van Honthorst, which sold for a record £1.1 million.

Christie’s had earlier taken £8.6 million for items of jewellery from the Portland collection, which will all, no doubt, go towards running the estates of Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, the family seat. 

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/artsales/8200987/Art-Sales-Records-fall-in-quests-for-the-best.html

Roche Abbey/Mexborough/Next meeting/Spam

This weeks BBC History magazine e-mail contains a link for Roche Abbey: http://www.bbchistorymagazine.com/visit/roche-abbey-yorkshire?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=History%2012%2F11%2F10  The way it describes the monks eviction seems quite polite!

Mexborough's now decommissioned fire station got a mention in yesterdays Yorkshire Post.  The story recounts how the stations plaque has been saved for posterity and donated to the Fire and Police Museum in Sheffield  http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Slice-of-fire-service-history.6622896.jp

Don't forget next weeks meeting is on Monday at 19.30 and recounts the story of one of Sheffield's greatest tragedies when the Dale Dyke dam burst flooding thousands of acres of land and drowning many people and livestock 

Lastly, apologies for anyone who's received a spam e-mail from my personal e-mail address, seems some dodgy people have hacked my account! I've reported it so hopefully you won't receive any more.