Here are 14 strange and quirky tales from the past which have appeared in The Hinckley Times including the fish and chip shop scandal which stopped us enjoying our mushy peas and the great sherry shortage of 1942...
1) March 5, 1948: Councillor Tom McGrah “was up in arms” that the Ministry of Food was preventing Hinckley fish and chip shops from selling cooked peas (mushy peas).
He said: “A body of officials can sit at desks and determine what we in Hinckley can eat. If they should be a bit ‘liverish’, or the wife has burnt the bacon, we suffer!”
2) August 2, 1948: after threatening for three days, the storm clouds finally burst over Hinckley. Torrential rain poured down and there were many floods in the district. In Hawley Road a Co- op van nearly went into a hole that opened up in the road. The hole was widened and became 10 feet deep. Water was gushing from the hole at 1,000 gallons a minute. The fire brigade was sent for but it took two days to stop the water.
3) November 1951: Christmas trees fuelled a lively debate when arrangements were given for the 1951 Christmas tree in The Borough. Councillor Dearing immediately spoke up for other parts of the district. He mentioned Stoke Golding and then said Wykin would also have to be considered.
It was then said if the council went on like that, having trees here, there and everywhere, every street in Hinckley would want one. Councillor Cramp, who was to lead the carols around The Borough tree, said he wished he had never been given the job.
He went on: “I thought the occasion was one of unanimity and good will among all the Urban District and instead it was giving rise to a parish pump attitude.”
Councillor Cramp’s last shot was: “I’d like to see a tree in every street.” Councillor Dearing demanded: “Both ends?”
4) October 16, 1961: Hinckley’s first female school crossing warden began her duties. Lily Beasley of Charles Street, a grandmother of two, was on duty at the Leicester Road, Priory Walk crossing. Children on the first morning asked Mrs Beasley: “Are you the new lollipop lady?”
5) September 20, 1968: natural gas arrived in Hinckley. The Hinckley Times gave a streetby-street guide to the conversion. Hinckley was one of the first three towns in the West Midlands to receive the gas.
6) May 26, 1900: Hinckley Urban District Council (HUDC) found itself in a rather difficult position.
As most people were aware Station Road belonged to the London & North Western Railway Company. The HUDC did not like sending its men and their water cart along Station Road unless the railway company contributed to the cost. There was more wear and tear on Station Road than almost all the other streets in the town put together. If the road was taken over it would cost the council £100 per year to keep it in repair.
7) May, 1907: in an advertisement in The Hinckley Times for the White Swan Inn, Stoke Golding, proprietor George Beasley, said: “The popular calling house for cyclists. Ales, Wines, and Spirits of the first quality.
“See the OTTO (sic), recently captured in the district. Supposed to be the largest in captivity!”
8) March 17, 2010: Hinckley’s New Public Baths, Station Road, were opened. They were erected at a cost of £2,500, which did not include the price of the site.
The baths were open for inspection from 1am to 5pm.
Before 2pm the crowd had grown enormously, and become so pressing that the police had to be called to control the entrance and exit.
The pressure was so great inside the building that a door of one of the collapsable boxes was broken off, and there were fears for the safety of those inside. Later in the day a swimming gala was held.
9) July 27, 1912: famous British avaitor Gustav Hamel brought his aeroplane to the Outwoods and gave a demonstration of powered flight. This would have been the first time that most Hinckley people had witnessed a motorised aeroplane.
The aeroplane flew over Burbage and Sketchley. Many people in Mount Road saw the plane as it flew low over their heads. A mishap at the conclusion of the flight made any further flying that day impossible.
10) February 28, 1930: a battle between the roller skating rinks in Hinckley started. The Palladium Cinema closed, with the pending introduction of the talking cinema into the town, and re-opened as a roller skating rink. Already there was the Mill Hill Road Rink. In addition there were rinks at Earl Shilton and Nuneaton.