Nailsea & District Local History Society
Members Newsletter

Published by the Society for its members

email: <editor@ndlhs.org.uk>

As usual the Society will be prominent with its bookstall at the Nailsea Traditional Christmas Fair [formerly the Victorian Street Fair] on the evening of Friday December 5th. The organisers promise a very new and exciting event run by a community group which includes the Nailsea Chamber of Trade, Nailsea Town Council, Church Groups, Schools, Youth Leaders, Somerfield and Nailsea Town Centre. Hopefully we shall be outside Boots the Chemists as before, so do come along and support the Society as well as having a most enjoyable evening [5.30 - 9.00pm]

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The Avon Industrial Buildings Trust, which is supported locally by the Nailsea Historic Monuments Trust of which many of you are members, has been offered a 15 year lease of the scheduled site. Details are still being negotiated with North Somerset Council, but the current sticking point is the matter of legal costs. NSC is demanding that AIBT pays these in full at the rate of £120 per hour up to a maximum of £3000! Obviously this is not acceptable since the site is a liability, not an asset.

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Members who live locally will know that earlier this year further archaeological excavations took place around the perimeter of the site between TESCO and the Royal Oak Garage. This was to determine whether the periphery of the scheduled area could be developed without disturbing any underlying features. Excavations revealed significant remains and unfortunately these were near the surface. This does not mean that development satisfactory to English Heritage cannot take place, but that it will be more expensive. It is better that developers consider a scheme knowing all the problems, and the cost of overcoming them, rather than encountering them later. On the positive side it does mean that the bulk of the undeveloped site has been fully recorded and interpreted to add to the very comprehensive archaeological report already published.

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Those members who some time ago supported a BBQ hosted by 2467 [Nailsea] Squadron Air Training Corps, may remember a proposal to erect a plaque in memory of the three RAF airmen killed when their plane crashed near Tower House Farm, West End Lane, in 1942. The ATC has been progressing this and hopes to unveil the plaque in the late Spring of 2009.

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From time to time the Society takes the opportunity to purchase interesting items relating to Nailsea and area. Notable acquisitions have been a pattern sheet of the Nailsea & Stourbridge Glass Co., a Nailsea banknote and a 1833 watercolour of Nailsea Court. After making copies and taking advantage of any commercial gain for the Society by way of selling reproductions, such items are usually deposited at the Somerset Record Office or offered to the Museum at Weston. Our latest purchase by way of E-bay is an 1815 indenture between Joseph Durbin and John Durbin for the lease of land at Netherhurst.

A short article about this will appear in the May 2009 Newsletter.

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As you can see from your new Programme Card, Mike Phillis and Neil Andrews have put together yet another fascinating series of monthly talks for 2009. Unbelievably they are already planning for 2010!

However, the visit for June 2009 has yet to be agreed, and Mike would value your input. You will recall that this year we had a most enjoyable trip to the St. Fagans Museum of Welsh Life in Cardiff. Despite a reasonable turn-out of members, we were still unable to fill a coach, and this resulted in a financial loss for the Society.

Below are some suggestions for the 2009 visit:-

CABINET WAR ROOMS off Parliament Square, London. Could be combined with a visit to the War Museum or HMS Belfast. Cost, including entry, in the region of £23. Coach.

OAKHAM TREASURES & FARM SHOP, Portbury Lane. A nostalgic journey! Reconstructed shops and pub of yesteryear, farm implements and over 100 tractors, stationary engines, shop, cafeteria. Cost approx £5/6. Car share.

RADSTOCK MUSEUM. Specialises in local mining, John Wesley, Somerset Coal Canal, Rev. John Skinner and much more. Cost approx £3. Car share.

BLENHEIM PALACE. Sir Winston Churchill & the Battle of Blenheim exhibits. Cost, including entry, in the region of £23. Coach.

A “FISHPONDS WALK” with John Bartlett. Approximately 1.5 miles and 2 hours, taking in the birthplace of Hannah More, the ponds, and the prison now a hospital. No charge to N & DLHS members. Car share.

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