friends bulletin no. 18€¦ · they were living at 24 hamilton street, astley bridge, bolton....

Published by the Friends of Smithills Hall working in Partnership with Bolton Council

Friends of Smithills Hall

Patron: The Duke of Norfolk President: Sir William Goring Bt. Smithills Hall*Smithills Dean Road* Bolton*Lancashire*BL1 7NP

Tel (01204) 338722 Registered Charity No. 1038507

www.friendsofsmithillshall.co.uk

FRIENDS BULLETIN No. 18

Winter 2014

Friends of Smithills Hall Executive Committee Chairman: David Williams Vice Chairman: Robin Scott-Smith Secretary: Margaret Koppens Treasurer: Wendy Edwards Members: Ann Marie Elliott-Clark, Joan Sheppard, Ruth Ellison, Dorothy Lee.

Editor: David Williams email [email protected] [email protected]

Introduction

elcome to the latest Friends’ Bulletin. I hope you have had an enjoyable summer.

This Bulletin includes reports on:-

The Garden Party

Walter Battersby – a 14-18 War casualty

Coffee mornings

The Garden Party

On Sunday 13th July Smithills Hall welcomed large numbers of members of the public to its annual garden party. Council figures show that one thousand four hundred and seventy two (1,472) visitors attended. This was the best supported

garden party I can remember. The non-inclusion of the dog show element did not prove to be in any way detrimental to its undoubted success. The weather was warm and dry and the crowds flocked in. By and large the newly built car park and parking arrangements proved their worth. There was something to see or do for everyone and in particular the many children who came to see the animals or listen enraptured to the story teller in the Great Hall. The owls in the Great Hall drew large crowds to the extent that admission had to be regulated to ensure comfort. The Friends were all dressed in costume (see photograph) to add atmosphere to the event and had their photographs taken by the Bolton News.

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As far as I can judge stall holders seemed to do good business and the Friends’ Stall certainly did very well thanks to the efforts of the volunteers who were in attendance for the four hours of the ‘party’. The Friends raised £95. Other Friends volunteers ran the Café in the Devey room and cakes and snacks were sold out and raised significant funds for the Council to help offset some event costs.

Owls in the Great Hall

Timed guided tours were provided at hourly intervals and worked well. Timed tours like this become feasible when there are large numbers of people in the Hall and tours for small groups would require the services of too many guides. All these events were being broadcast live on BoltonFM Radio which also served as a public address system for the event.

Ed.

Ann Marie, Joan & Ruth in costume (Bolton News)

Coffee Mornings

The Friends thought it would be a nice idea to provide members with the opportunity of meeting other friends over a cup of coffee in the pleasant environment of the Hall. Wednesday mornings were set aside. The event was advertised on the Friends website. Regretfully although some members did attend initially, the decision had to be taken to discontinue the event for lack of support. This was disappointing for all concerned but was, none-the-less, worth trying

Website

Just a reminder that you can keep up to date with the very latest news of the Hall by logging on to the


Friends website at:-

www.friendsofsmithillshall.co.uk >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Smithills Chapel 1914-18 War Memorial

Walter Battersby’s name appear third to bottom of the list of 1914-18 war casualties on the centre panel of the War Memorial in Smithills Chapel. Shown below is the result of our present knowledge of him and his story. If you know anything about him or his descendants, or indeed about any of the men who appear on the War Memorial I would be very pleased to hear from you on [email protected], or [email protected]

Walter BATTERSBY c. 1898 – 26 August 1918

n 1901, at the age of three, Walter was living with his parents James (aged 41) and Martha Ann Battersby (aged 39) at 38 McDonna Street

off Adrian Road, close to Halliwell Road, Bolton. He had three sisters Ethel, aged 12, Florence aged 9 and Mabel aged 7. Walter’s father James was employed as a “greyman” in a bleachworks. Greycloth was the term for raw unfinished material in the cotton industry at the start and finishing process for the cloth. Like tanning the work was dirty and dangerous, and with no health and safety to consider exposure to the bleaching agents and fumes could easily have been detrimental to health.

GGunner in RFA 14-18

By 1911 the family were living at 33 Thurstane Street, Halliwell, just down the road from McDonna Street, and also off Adrian Road. James continues to work as a Greyman in a bleachworks. Ethel is a weaver; Florence is a stitcher at a bleachworks and Mabel a “Tierup at Edges Blue works” Walter is at school. By 1918 they were living at 24 Hamilton Street, Astley Bridge, Bolton.

Walter enlisted as a Gunner in Bolton in the “D” Battery, 290th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, and saw action in France & Flanders. The ‘Field’ artillery had light guns drawn by horses. He could have been in the Battle of Amiens which opened on 8th August 1918. The Allies lost 6,500 men killed, wounded or missing but took 17,000 prisoners. The Battle of Albert (just north east of Amiens) opened on 21st August 1918. He died of his wounds on 26 August 1918, aged 20, and is buried at St. Sever Cemetery Extension,

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Rouen, in France. Rouen is about 35 miles south west of Amiens. His name is on the Bolton Artillery War Memorial in Nelson Square, Bolton. He was awarded the Victory and British medals

Gunners in action 14-18

.British Medals of World War I. The award of medals is mentioned in most of the

stories of these men (see above) and a description

of what they are and their history may be of

interest.

There were four main war medals issued for

service in WWI. Three of them were colloquially

known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred, with Pip

representing either the 1914 Star or 1914-15 Star

(only one of which could be awarded to a soldier);

Squeak represented the British War Medal; and

Wilfred represented the Victory Medal.

The other medal was the Territorial Force War

Medal and is the rarest of the medals awarded.

In future Bulletins I will describe each of these

medals and its history. Ed

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Donations of

Books

The sale of second-hand

books provides much

needed funding which

we use to support the

Hall. Stocks need to be replenished from time to

time. If you have any books surplus to requirement

we would be delighted to receive them. Please

contact us via the telephone or via the Contact

Page on the website if you are unable to bring

them to the Hall.

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Friends Annual Accounts

A copy of the audited accounts for 2013-14, which

were submitted to members at the Annual General

Meeting, are enclosed for the information of those

of you who were unable to attend the meeting.

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Heritage Day – Sunday14th September 2014

Over 150 members of the public went around the

Hall on ‘Heritage’ Day, with entry free of charge.

This is a national event designed to attract visitors

to places they would not normally attend. Friends

in period costume welcomed visitors to the Hall

rooms and talked about the history of the Hall and

pointed out items of interest in the rooms.

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Kitchen

The Friends’ representative, Ann Marie Elliott

Clark, is liaising with members of Bolton Council

Museum who are working to provide life to the

empty medieval kitchen area in the Hall.

The original partitioning was removed some time

ago using funding from the Friends and this

development is eagerly awaited.

The intention is to provide an area of interest to

visiting members of the public. It is hoped to

provide displays to illustrate the social history of

the Hall. Visitors should have an opportunity to

learn more about the Hall’s place in history. This is

an opportunity to shed some light on the people

who lived and worked there over the many

generations. It is hoped that the new installation will

proceed in the New Year.

We will keep you informed of developments.

friends bulletin no. 18€¦ · they were living at 24 hamilton street, astley bridge, bolton....

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