Cornucopia
Manchester’s Victoria Baths Make a Splash!
Twenty-
four years since its closure, Manchester’s historic Victoria Baths held the first public swim in its Gala Pool this summer. Following an extensive, on-going restoration project the Grade-ii* listed building, which opened in 1906 and was described as “a water palace”, is being brought back to life.
The baths, in Chorlton-onMedlock, won the 2003 BBC television series Restoration and the efforts of a dedicated charity trust and a team of willing volunteers have seen the gradual revival of this magnificent municipal treasure. Featuring exquisite mosaics, stained glass, terracotta and decorated tiles, Victoria Baths are a stunning example of artistry, architecture and social history.
Commenting on the historic swim, Gill Wright, Project Development Manager for Victoria Baths, said: “This was the most wonderful day. We knew it would be a special event, but seeing the pool filled with people joyfully experiencing the opportunity to swim in this stunning setting, even though it was just for one day, surpassed our expectations.”
She continued: “What’s been clear is the love there is for this building and the shared passion there is for securing its future.”
It was an occasion that enabled people to relive memories and make new ones. Whilst some had swum in the Gala Pool before, others had waited 24 years for this moment, and it didn’t disappoint.
Martin Peagan, who travelled from the North East said: “It’s not every day that you can swim in a pool that was used 100 years ago. So many of our wonderful old baths have disappeared, we really have to treasure those that remain. The swim event was fantastic, but I now want to see a time when Victoria Baths is available to everyone to use all the time.”
Helen Antrobus who swam with her mum Alice Antrobus, said: “Our heritage helps to tell the story of who we are and gives an incredibly important focus for communities. For me this was a wonderful opportunity to share memories with my mum, who learnt to swim here whilst at school. Victoria Baths shows what an ambitious place Manchester was in the early 1900s and I hope that the city’s passion today can drive forward the support for this wonderful building, the like of which there is nothing comparable.”
Following works to the roof, exteriors and some interiors, the restoration of the Turkish Baths is the next step in the Trust’s plan, with the long-term aim being to restore the whole building, including having a swimming pool for permanent public use.
To find out more about the history, restoration and fundraising plans visit: www.victoriabaths.org.uk .
Literary Great Returns to The Potteries
Abronze
sculpture of Stokeon-trent’s most famous literary son has been unveiled to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Born at 90 Hope Street, Hanley, on 27th May 1867, (Enoch) Arnold Bennett went on to pen many best-selling novels including The Card, Anna of the Five Towns and Riceyman Steps, drawing on his experiences of life in the Potteries. He also became highly influential in politics and culture.
Talented sculptors Michael Talbot and Carl Payne were commissioned by the Arnold Bennett Society to create the statue which sits on a granite plinth outside the famous Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Bethesda Street, Hanley. The project was funded by the Denise Coates Foundation.
As Vice President of the Society, Professor Ray Johnson MBE welcomed guests and dignitaries, including the county’s Lord Lieutenant, Ian Dudson CBE, and the city’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Ros Irving, to witness Bennett’s grandson Denis Eldin unveil the statue. He had travelled specially from his home in Paris for the event.
It is appropriate that Bennett’s statue is positioned outside the museum, alongside those of R.J. Mitchell, the aircraft designer best known for the Spitfire, and The Steel Man. All are reminders of the city’s proud heritage.
For details of the Bennett 150th anniversary events, go to: www.arnoldbennettsociety.org. uk .
Don’t Miss the New Postal Museum!
London’s
new heritage attraction, The Postal Museum, is now open in Phoenix Place, Clerkenwell. Visitors will be sent on a
journey through five centuries gaining a previously unseen view on some of the world’s significant historical events, and an insight into the earliest social network.
Among the array of exhibits are two- and four-wheeled GPO vehicles from across the ages; documentary films (including the famous Night Mail); post boxes; priceless sheets of Penny Blacks; and the sculpture of Queen Elizabeth used to produce the iconic stamps. Visitors can also decipher Morse code, write a message and watch it disappear through pneumatic tubes, to be received by a stranger at the other side of the museum.
Tickets include access to a subterranean world that — until now — remained hidden from public view. Visitors descend into the old engineering depot of Mail Rail — the 100-yearold Post Office railway — and board a miniature train designed to transport them through its narrow tunnels. The interactive ride passes beneath the Mount Pleasant sorting office, stopping at the original station platforms where an audio-visual display shows how the railway kept post coursing through London for 22 hours a day.
Clever technology transports people back in time to show the impact of the railway on our ability to communicate with friends, family and colleagues across the world. Powerful events from history, including the Blitz, will also be revealed and a theatrical experience brings the station back to its 1930s heyday.
For full visitor information go to: postalmuseum.org operational and is now one of the largest employers locally. The site forms a critical function in GCHQ’S wider intelligence and security mission.
It is a far cry from the days when Cornwall’s rugged coastline was a haven for wreckers and smugglers. At one time Bude was said to be notorious for wreckers who plundered the ships that came to grief off the coast — reportedly more than 80 of them between 1824 and 1874.
Today, this popular seaside resort is a haven for holidaymakers who take advantage of its wide sandy beaches and family friendly attractions. LYNNE HAYWARD
Happy Retirement for Equine Soldier
After
almost 22 years’ military service, Household Cavalry horse Viscount has been welcomed at the Horse Trust’s Home of Rest in Buckinghamshire.
Viscount, a 17hh Black Gelding Irish Sports horse, served with distinction in all aspects of service, from ceremonial parades to training new recruits. He completed his military training aged just five, passing out in 1997 and went on to spend time with the Queen’s Life Guard at all the major State parades. In his last four ceremonial seasons he carried musicians from The Band of the Household Cavalry; a duty requiring calm and consistent horses that can be ridden with limited instruction as the musicians largely give direction using only their legs while carrying their instruments.
After the last of his duties, Viscount went to the Defence Animal Centre before retiring to his new home where he has taken the mantle of “longest serving military horse” from Remus who also retired to the Horse Trust in 2012.
At their Home of Rest, the Trust has specialised in providing retirement and respite for working horses and ponies for 130 years. During the First World War, patrons of the Trust provided the first ever motorised horse ambulance to help transport wounded animals from the front line in France. That ambulance travelled 13,000 miles in just two years and carried more than 1,000 horses to veterinary hospitals. The War Office commissioned more vehicles and, by the end of the conflict, 14 of them were in operation in France, saving thousands of horses’ lives.
Founded in 1886, The Horse Trust, based at Speen, Buckinghamshire, is the oldest equine charity in the world.
Tickets, please! Stars of Steam on Show
Atthe Epping Ongar Railway’s Victorian Weekend earlier this year, visitors were delighted to travel on two very interesting steam locomotives.
The 120-year-old Metropolitan Railway E Class 0-4-4T No.1 is the only one of its kind in existence. It was built in 1898 at Neasden, for services on the Baker Street to Vemey Junction line. After electrification of the track it became redundant and was taken over by London Transport as No.44 in 1936. It was eventually retired in May 1963. Rescued by the London Railway Preservation Trust in March 1964, the locomotive was subsequently restored.
The other locomotive at the event had just been returned to steam following a 20-year restoration and was operating its first passenger services. The British Railways Standard Class 4 tank locomotive, No. 80078, BR 2-6-4T, was used on the London, Tilbury and Southend services between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness until the 1960s. Built in Brighton in 1954, it remained in service until June 1966 ending up in a scrapyard in Barry, South Wales. It was rescued by the Southern Steam Trust and returned to steam. It has since undergone a lengthy overhaul and repaint in BR black by Stewart Robinson in his workshops at Swanage, Dorset. contains an interesting stainedglass window dedicated to the Reverend Charles Butler, who is known today as “the father of English beekeeping”.
Charles Butler was born in 1560 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Despite coming from a poor family, he still managed to obtain a place at Magdalen College, Oxford. Initially admitted as a working student on a scholastic scholarship, he remained there for 10 years studying for a degree in arts. It is likely that he taught there too.
In 1587, he graduated from Oxford with his Master of Arts degree and became rector of the Hampshire parish of Nately Scures in 1593. Two years later he was also appointed as Master of the Holy Ghost School in nearby Basingstoke.
In 1600, Charles became vicar of Wootton St. Lawrence — a post he retained until his death in 1647. There he became interested in beekeeping and in 1609 he published the first book in the English language on the subject.
The Feminine Monarchie: Or a Treatise Concerning Bees and the Due Ordering of Them, covers such subjects as bee hives and swarming, feeding bees and the value of bees as fruit pollinators. Charles Butler popularised the idea that the leading bee in a hive is a queen rather than a king, as had previously been thought. He also found that bees produce wax combs from the scales of wax in their own bodies. After being reprinted in 1623 and 1634, The Feminine Monarchie became the most influential book on beekeeping for the next 250 years.
An accomplished musicologist, Charles also wrote The Principels of Music which was published in 1636. He even wrote a madrigal for four voices entitled “The Melissomelos”. In this he transcribed into music the sounds made by rival queen bees in a hive.
In 1952, the Charles Butler Memorial Fund was established so that a stained-glass window could be installed in Wootton St. Lawrence Church. At the dedication service, his madrigal was sung by a choir from Worcester and Somerville Colleges.
The stained-glass window shows the Reverend Butler holding a copy of his famous book. Just above him is a honeycomb and some bees, while at the bottom of the window are three old-fashioned bee hives. A beautiful piece of work, the window is a fitting tribute to “the father of English beekeeping”.
Tale of a Tiger’s Revenge in Wiltshire
Acasual
look around the graveyard at Hullavington Church might overlook the gravestone with an unusual poem inscribed on it. This relates the strange and unfortunate tale of a Wiltshire barmaid’s fate.
Hannah Twynnoy is reputed to be the first person to be killed by a tiger in Britain. She worked in the White Lion pub in Malmesbury (now a private house), although parish documents up until 1700 have
Enter an Enchanted Garden this Christmas
Nomatter what your age Christmas is a magical time of year and English Heritage is offering you the chance to experience some real festive enchantment.
The gardens at six of its magnificent properties will be superbly illuminated during the run up to Christmas. Visitors will embark on an enthralling journey wending their way through a wonderland, with trees lit by colourful lanterns, fairy lights twinkling amid foliage and historic houses bathed in dramatic light.
Along the way, history will be imaginatively illuminated and after exploring the magically lit gardens, more seasonal enjoyment is in store as the scene is set for a traditional fairground from times past. Mulled wine and mince pies will be on offer and there’s the opportunity to purchase some last-minute gifts.
You can discover English Heritage’s Enchanted Gardens at the following properties from Friday 15th to Saturday 23rd December: Osborne, Isle of Wight; Audley End House, Essex; Eltham Place, London; Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire; Brodsworth Hall, Yorkshire.
For further information and full details of times, visit the website: www.english-heritage. org.uk .
Splendid
photography makes this a delightful book for all gardeners interested in the natural flora and fauna of their local patch and who want to know how to enhance and improve it. (252pp, hardback)
Sponsored
by the National Churches Trust this is a splendidly illustrated volume detailing 26 buildings from Saxon to modern times, covering both rural and urban parts of the country. Highly recommended. (192pp, hardback)
English Parish Churches and Chapels is available by post from This England. For further details see page 92.