How
YOU can Investigate YOUR Local History
and some information I have found about the area
around where I live... The Village of Selston, 12 miles NW of Nottingham
The first Place to
check for documents and records is your local library.
Check if they have a collection of Old Maps... the Ordnance Survey maps of the
Mid 1800's can be
useful indeed.
There is also a few On-Line Old Maps Resources
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genmaps/
Many areas of the UK have Local History Societies, again check for their existence at your Library.
Another good tip
is to place a small advert in your locals shops , Post offices etc...
It's surprising how often this simple act brings you into contact with other
locals who
are also into finding out about your local area.
And so on to details of the area around where I live.
The Village of
SELSTON sits in Mid Nottinghamshire to the west of Junctions 27 and 28 of the M1
Motorway.
Selston Parish is the LARGEST in the UK... the Church of St Helens Selston sits
on top of the Ridge
forming the highest point in the village... close to it's Northern border.. the
County border between
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.... at a height of around 500 feet above Sea
Level.
Some Facts
about the Village and a few links to village web sites
SELSTON or SALESTUNE as it was called was mentioned in the Doomsday Book
The "Gypsy
King Dan Boswell" is buried in St Helens Churchyard.
Gypsies from all over the UK come to visit the grave.
The Main road
through the Village the B600 follows the route of the
Nottingham to Newhaven Turnpike laid in the 1700's.
Recent work carried out by Severn Trent Water uncovered the original Turnpike
road surface for a
distance of nearly a mile at the southern part of the Village.
Selston sits on
SIX HILLS... for such a small area the roads are quite steep
in every direction. The Village is frequently "cut off" during heavy snow falls
during winter time.
A very Interesting work "From the Six Hills of Selston" by Harry Richards can be
requested
at any Nottinghamshire Library and could be available country wide although it
was not widely published,
and was issued as a Mid term Thesis to the Selston WEA in 1965
Selston grew in
the late 1800's due to the high level of Industrial incursion and Mining.
Local Coal deposits resulted in a total of 9 Coal Mines in the Village.. all of
which are now closed... the last one closing in the 1950's.
The feature Film
"The Return of The Soldier" made in the late 1970's starring Glenda Jackson
was filmed in the Village. The area where the family in the film lived still
stands and is known as
"The Crescent" ... consisting of several rows of Coalminers cottages.. a few of
which are untouched architecturally.
The Selston branch
of the WEA.. Workers Educational association.. now not in existence...
wrote several
books / booklets dealing with many facets of Selston Village Life.
The titles are:
Selston.. A History and Date Book
From the Six Hills of Selston (mentioned above)
Selston's Portland Road
Selston's Victorians
Victorian Selston
Selston's Wansley Hall
Some aspects of Selston's Mining
Selston 1913 End of an Era
ALL of the above can be requested at any Nottinghamshire Library... ALL are
now out of print !
Some other very
Interesting reading covering the area around Selston
Some Aspects of Brinsley Colliery and the Lawrence Connection by
R.W.Storer
(ex Tutor of Selston WEA now deceased)
Covering details of the Colliery at Brinsley and adjoining village and details
of D H Lawrence
who was born at Eastwood, a town 6 miles away from Selston.
Almost any
book written about the works of D H Lawrence will cover details of Selston
and the surrounding area. Lawrence used many local places, and people in
his Literary works.
The
Butterley Company 1730 - 1890 by Philip Riden
The Derbyshire Record Society Vol 16 , 1990
A fantastic work covering the history of the Butterley Company that employed
many local inhabitants
and still exists today at Ripley, Derbyshire
The Cromford
Canal Portal to Portal
by Dan Greenwood
Some Links to web sites covering the Selston Area
St Helen's Church
Selston
http://sthelenschurch.org/sthelen/index.htm
Jacksdale &
Westwood Villages
http://www.jacksdale.org.uk/
The Village of
Brinsley
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/vonhube1910/brinsley1.htm
Moorgreen in the
bordering Parish of Greasley
http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/vonhube1910/moorgreen1.htm
D H Lawrence 1885
- 1930
http://www.lawrenceseastwood.co.uk/
I hope you have
found the information listed above useful and will want to explore the History
of the area around you as a result.
Good Luck
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