Kerry's Blog

Feed

Gloucester Folk Museum

Dec 16th 2015

By: Kerry

No comments

It is a museum of social history housed in 500 year old buildings. I was lucky that the day I chose to go was the annual day for free entry and cider pressing by Fergus the horse. The exhibits were varied.

Click on the photo if you want to read the writing.

Gloucester Folk Museum

One of the displays at the entrance

More retro house appliances – fridge and 2 washing machines

More household cleaning aids

The carved wooden dog from a demolished pub. It was found by chance a few years ago.

Jemmy Wood a famous Gloucester identity. See next photo.

Information about Jemmy Wood. The sad story is that a similar thing happened following the death of a Vick great great aunt who left a very sizable estate in Brisbane which was discussed in court 50 years later and long after her heirs had died.

Part of an exhibit on World War 2. The booklet is about identifying bombs. Gas masks were adapted to encourage young children to wear them.

Part of the top floor used to be a pin factory

Painting of how it was

Information about painting and pin manufacture

The forge used in manufacture of pins

Information about pin making processes – more than you’d imagine

Photo of painting showing use of pin heading machine at home

Information about use of pin heading machine

Example of a pin heading machine

Tudor style mattress. One room was partly styled as a Tudor bedroom with the bed being an example of one where the mattress was held up by ropes, which may or may not be the origin of the expression, “good night, sleep tight” .

Fergus the horse having a feed after working

Fergus harnessed and pulling a mill stone which ran over apples crushing them into liquid. Gloucestershire used to be known for its orchards and cider making.

Human powered methods of crushing apples. Visitors were offered a taste of the apple juice and it tasted pretty good.

A double lever cast iron cheese press

The museum included an old fashioned lolly shop and a restful cafe where I had a cuppa. A trio of musicians/singers provided a musical interlude. Morris dancers had been there earlier in the day but I missed them.

The church of St Nicholas opposite the museum. Pretty sure I’ve seen a record or two of Vick births, deaths or marriages in it. It’s possible to visit it by obtaining the key form the museum but I wasn’t up to it by then so I headed back to the hotel.

Family History, Gloucester
Gloucester Pubs

Dec 16th 2015

By: Kerry

No comments

My initial thoughts on the first day after walking through Gloucester’s main streets was that few old buildings remained apart from a couple of very distinctive ones. Once I’d learnt to look up I realised many were partly camouflaged by modern shopfronts or hidden down small alleys. There are so many old buildings of interest that I’ve had to divide street scenes into several posts.

There are a couple of photos of writing which may be hard to read. Click on the photo to read it more clearly.

Robert Raikes’ House pub.

The building dates from the mid 1500s and was the home of Robert Raikes who inherited a publishing business from his father. He is known as a philanthropist and for starting the free Sunday School movement as a means of educating poor children away from poverty and temptations of vice.

The upper section remains from a pub called The Fleece which covered a large area in the vicinity. The council has restoration plans.

Cross Keys Inn is said to be the smallest in Gloucester and dates from the 1600s. A pub run by some Vick relatives in the mid 1800s was supposed to be in the same lane but is gone.

The Old Crown Inn

Information sign

The remains of the priory mentioned above is near the docks and canal and photos appear in the post on the Gloucester docks.

I visited the Folk Museum and the sign below comes from there about the events mentioned above.

Comment on siege warfare and a children’s rhyme. The original had a line drawing of Humpty on a wall but it’s inclusion made the writing too indistinct to read.

Line drawing of Humpty Dumpty

The Dick Whittington front and side entrance with an 18th century facade.

The side of The Dick Whittington showing the Tudor overhangs. The building was built for a relative of a different Dick Whittington of nursery rhyme fame. Queen Elizabeth 1 is supposed to have stayed in it in 1754.

Information from the Folk Museum about Dick Whittington. Dick Whittington and his cat are popular motifs around Gloucester

Information from the Folk Museum about the real Dick Whittington

The New Inn

I had considered staying at this pub. However, it’s reviews indicated some problems and given the 3 of us stayed at the Station Hotel for the first night I decided to remain as while its reviews weren’t really any better, it was more convenient and I couldn’t be bothered lugging my luggage around town.

Left hand corner of the building

From the side alley with the walls showing the Tudor overhang

History Its rather hard to read but basically it’s really, really old being built in the mid 1400s for the monks to house pilgrims visiting the tomb of King Edward 11 (photo in Cathedral post), has connections with Lady Jane Grey, strolling minstrels, maybe Shakespeare and benefited from the stagecoach trade.

Looking from the street entrance

View from the back of the courtyard looking towards the street entrance

http://www.thecityofgloucester.co.uk/dbimgs/Historic%20Pubs%20Guide%20DL%20web.pdf has information and photos of old pubs.

Family History, Gloucester
Gloucester Docks

Dec 14th 2015

By: Kerry

No comments

The Gloucester docks were the heart of commerce in the early 19th century with the import and transshipment of goods, especially grains and timber. Numerous buildings and warehouses remain.

The photos taken around the docks area were taken on a couple of different days and at different times of the day. Daylight saving had just finished and twilight arrived very early as seen in the photo below.

This is the first section of dock just off Southgate St

Looking back across a dock towards the first photo

Crane used for loading and unloading vessels in previous times. Warehouses are in the background.

View back to Southgate St from another position and showing some of the narrow boats moored. The pot plants give them an air of permanency.

More narrow boats, warehouses, modern housing and the mariners church.

Inside the church

Moored yachts

A yacht refurbishment business remains

I went for a walk down the canal and encountered the remains of Llanthony Secunda Priory. It was founded as a retreat for monks from nearby Wales in 1136 and grew significantly until lost to the church by the Dissolution of the Monasteries and later was significantly damaged during the Siege of Gloucester in 1643 during the Civil War. I could have walked down to the priory grounds and had a wander around but didn’t feel up to it.

Some of the damaged buildings

Rather impressive looking buildings which survived the siege

A former lighthouse ship moored in the canal and empty warehouses on the other side of the canal

There is a large factory outlet type commercial building very far to the right of the above buildings. I went over and had a wander around and while I did do some shopping I find such large shopping centers pretty hard work these days.

A couple of days later I returned for a boat trip on the canal as the boat was unavailable on my first visit.

This is the boat used for the canal trip. It was one of the small boats used to rescue soldiers during the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.

The middle boat is the tour boat and the Waterways Museum which runs the tours is in the converted warehouse immediately behind it. Red tartan blankets to keep us warm were provided on the boat. A few people used them but they were not necessary.

Bridge raised for a passing narrow boat. Museum and Queen Boadicea 11 behind.

Old and new buildings and moored vessels

Old warehouse was burnt a couple of weeks before my visit

Heading down the canal from the main docks area

An arm of the canal containing moored narrow boats

One of the many timber yards still beside the canal. The white and blue structure contains wood shavings from the timber business.

Looking back down the canal

Marine business which had two narrow boats within its wet dock

A swing bridge closing behind us

A fisherman at the turnaround point of the trip. Another one had started to set up just before that point.

The boat trip was not very long which was rather disappointing. The boat returned to dock and I visited the Waterways Museum, a converted grain storage warehouse. My back was not very happy so I didn’t take in a great deal of what I saw and read. It had several vessels and a small train outside the building. The narrow boat was open for inspection so I looked inside it.

The tall building is the museum and a sign in white points to a narrow boat moored beside it which was open for inspection. It’s virtually impossible to see to see the boat in the photo but it was similar to the Cafe boat although the Cafe boat has a wooden upper structure.

The swans and cygnets loitering beside the Cafe above were everywhere. It didn’t seem to matter which section of the docks or canal I was at, they were there too. The family comprised 2 adults and 7 youngsters.

Inside the boat and looking along its length

Inside and looking back to the entrance. Painted woodwork and tinware is a feature of narrow boats and part of the traditional culture.

Guess it would be the mid section and maybe where the family slept. The section behind would have held the cargo.

The narrow boats and their way of life declined with the expansion of railways for the transportation of goods and many canals in England became derelict. There is action to recover canals due to increasing enthusiasm for boating holidays and for boats as a viable lifestyle/housing option.

Gloucester
Graffiti

Dec 13th 2015

By: Kerry

No comments

I didn’t see much graffiti in Gloucester but most of what I saw is below. I have no idea of the symbolism of most of it.

This one was on the end of a wall in one of the alleyways off a main street

Einstein on a bridge underpass down beside the canal Thought the caption was apt given I was hunting relatives.

Seen from an upstairs window at the back of the public library

This one greeted drivers as they drove towards the entrance of the multistory car park opposite my hotel

This one is also on the wall of the multistory car park. The artist had mapped it out and was standing with his spray can when I walked past on my first trip to the archives. He offered me a chance to have a go. Not sure how he’d have reacted if I’d agreed.

Gloucester
89 Southgate St, Gloucester

Dec 13th 2015

By: Kerry

No comments

I spent 2 days in the archives during my time in Gloucester. On the first day I read some letters to a journalist by a descendant of the Vick family about a branch of his family. Some months previously I had read the article about which the information related. The people mentioned in the letters and article are very distant cousins and as yet I have spent little time researching most of them. The information I noted at the archive was the exact address of the family’s business. When walking down Southgate St before seeing the letters I’d looked for any likely spots for a saddlery business and found nothing. The location was the bottom end of Southgate St near the docks where I intended returning as canal boat trips were unavailable on my first excursion there.

Recently I found the advertisement below. The originator of the business in 1814 was Silvanus Vick, father of the advertiser and cousin of my 2 times great grandfather. They also shared a name which made identification and verification of records tricky and I actually needed to buy a death certificate to ensure I had identified the correct ancestral death. Actually I backed the wrong horse in a 2 horse race and bought the certificate for Richard Martin Vick’s father. Later, being curious about the circumstances of my 2 times great grandfather’s death I bought his certificate.

Advertisement Far more diversified than I’d imagined. Richard Martin Vick died at a relatively young age, 9 years after this advertisement was published.

Pub beside the sale site including the building on the right with the blue trim, small window glass which includes a piece of bulls eye glass.

Location of Silvanus and the then Richard Martin Vick’s saddlery business

Entrance to the club, an unusually named social club. The appearance of the location of the saddlery business is much changed from the 19th century and the site is currently for sale.

Another entrance on the left

I read somewhere online that there is a very large hall behind the front facade and Google Earth shows a very large building behind. I wasn’t able to find a way to reach the back of the property.

The Gloucester Citizen published an article about the sale of the club in February 2014 and the For Sale signs remain.

Opposite side of the street

The area looks quiet these days but I imagine it must have been pretty active in the heyday of the docks and horse drawn vehicles.

Family History, Gloucester
- <
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- …
- 31
- >