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Old Stoke Golding  (1)  and some not so old images    (Best viewed in Internet Explorer)         

Page 2 Old Stoke Golding Photos

Page 3  Old Stoke Golding Photos

Local Photographs menu

The village in 1999/2000

                 S G Stores                                                      St Margaret's Primary School

                       

 

         A J Cox's Factory (closed Feb 2002)                                    Croxall's Hosiery Factory (closed July 2003)

                       

                                                          

                         New Row - 1992/3                                         ... and being demolished -1994                                                   

                               

                                                                                       

Coach House, Wykin Lane, 1995                                Edward Hill's Farm, Wykin Lane - now Tythe Close

                         

 

The Infants' School, built in 1897 from public subscriptions, now School House, a private dwelling.

                                                                               1991

 

Baxter Hall (formerly The Workmen's Hall, then St Margaret's School) with toilet block in playground

                                 

                                                                                                                       Toilet block demolished 1991 (Geoff Hulme's dog, Duke, in foreground)

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                                                    Blacksmith's Yard before renovations

                                                                         

                                                       

                                 Albert and Lillian Hunter's Retirement from the Post Office - Sept 1974

                                                                     

 

                                                                                 1960 Gala

 

    St Margaret's Church bells - 1910                                 St Margaret's Church interior (pre 1910)

                                         

The photograph of St Margaret's Church bells was taken in 1910, when restoration work was being carried out on the church tower. On the left of the photograph is Rev. George Maxwell Edmonds, in the centre is Mr Shilton and on the right is Mr Harry (Skip) Stoneley, who was leader of the bell ringers.

The old oak bell frame needed replacing and an iron frame was installed in its place. The four existing bells were taken down and sent to the foundry of Messrs Taylor at Loughborough where they were retuned. Two new bells were added at this time; one, a treble bell, was given by local subscription and the sixth bell was donated by Rev. W. W. Worthington of Netherseal.

The bells vary in weight from 3cwts (149Kg) to 9cwts (448Kg), the oldest being the present fifth bell, dating from about 1575.

I am indebted to Mr Tony Collett and the late Mr T. W. Hall for their writings on the bells of St Margaret’s Church, Stoke Golding.

Jill Webster

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                    An old print of the church (date unknown)                                                                                         Date unknown     

 

                                  c. 1940                                

Church Spire in Storage

In the early days of the Second World War the spire of St Margaret's Church would have been a danger to aircraft landing and taking off from RAF Nuneaton airfield built on the Lindley Estate. It was decided to remove the spire (60ft high on a 60ft tower) stone by stone and re-erect these on a concrete base o the ground. It was built back course upon course, and as the stonework tapered towards the top so the rings became smaller.

                                                    

                                    Church Walk    c.1950                                                                

The white cottage on the far distant left is the only one left. The church steeple shows a white layer of bricks just above the battlements which is the level to which the steeple was taken down.  The building on the right is the rear of the St Margaret’s Infants School.

 

                                     The Old Vicarage, which stood in Wykin Lane

                                                             1900

 

     1910               Front                                                                  Rear

           

 

                                                   Last Vicarage Fete in Wykin Lane - c1980

 

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         Sandstone House (known as the 'Village Lock-up') on the corner of Main Street and Hinckley Road

                             (Pulled down March1925 for road widening)

                                                

                                       Mr and Mrs Rose (Abraham and Sarah) in foreground

         'Chip Shop Corner'

                                  

                                                    Hinckley Road - looking towards the cemetery

                                                          

 

Lower High Street -The Barracks, 1910                                      Looking towards The White Swan, High Street

                    

 

     The Old Grammar School, Station Road                                    The George and Dragon - early 1900s

                          

 

 

                             Middle Stores, 1910                                                             

                 

                                  

                                                                                                                                              The War Memorial in the centre of the village

 

                                The Old Lodge  - demolished to make way for St Martin's Convent and Church

                            

                                        Front                                                                                                            Rear                                                                                                                                                         

  St Margaret's Church Orchestra, 1878

Mr Brian Vallance of Hinckley provided this wonderful family photograph. There are still people in the village who have Vallance blood in their veins and what illustrious ancestors they had, serving the village as Parish Clerks from 1822 to 1924 – a total of 102 years!

Thomas Vallance was born in 1768 and died in 1848, serving as Clerk from 1822 to 1848. His son, Thomas junior, was born in 1807 and died in 1878. He was appointed Clerk by Stoke Vestry in 1848 and held office for 30 years. His son Frederick was born in 1846 and died in 1920 and was Parish Clerk from 1878 to 1920 and organist for many years. Frederick’s son Edgar was Parish Clerk for just three years from 1921 to 1924 when the Vallance connection ended.

W. T. Hall M.B.E. wrote in his ‘History of Stoke Golding’ that the position of Clerk was held under auspices of the Church and listed the duties and fees paid as: "Looking to the clock, £1.0s.0d per annum, Easter dues £1.0s.0d, Dues for marriages 1s 0d (5p), Christening if no meal 6d (2½p), With a meal 4d (2p), Burial fee in the Church 3s 0d (15p), In the Churchyard 1s 0d. In 1878 Fred Vallance was paid 5 guineas in wages (£1.25p). In bygone days the Clerk wrote the Parish Registers on parchment if the Curate was absent.

"Mr Hall interviewed an old resident Thomas Shilton, who lived in the late 1800s who said, ‘Before the new Church organ was built, the choir sang to the tune of an harmonium and the stringed orchestra. By 1843 the choir and orchestra were accommodated in the new gallery. They sat at the north end and had a large harmonium played by the clerk, Thomas Vallance, and for years after by his son Frederick. Before the harmonium arrived they were led by the stringed orchestra. The choir was composed, as far as I can remember of the Vallance family who were also the bell ringers. The Clerk was a fine, tall man and quite a clever musician. Later the Woodwards occupied the leadership. George Woodward was a striking man with a lofty forehead and fine iron grey hair.’

To return to the photograph, Thomas Vallance junior, front right, died in 1878 and so we may presume that the picture was taken in that year.

On the back row from left to right are Isaac Wright, Frederick Vallance and George Woodward.

On the front row are William Lee, Edward Bickley and the redoubtable Thomas Vallance.

Denis Cash

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          Wykin Lane towards Main Street                                              Hinckley Road / Main Street

                  

 

                                   Lower High Street                                                   Towards Ivy House Farm, Baptist Chapel on left

                                

                                                                           

                                             Station Road

Photos of old Stoke Golding page 2

Photos of old Stoke Golding page 3

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