Provisional Schedule for 2026

Date	Topic /Activity	Leader
January 12th	Disappearing Shops	Everyone
February 9th	Brinsley Pubs	Helen
March 9th	Lost Businesses	Everyone
April 13th	History of Trams - Ripley rattler / Local Gentry	Alan /Madeleine
May 11th	The Pentrich Revolution	Jim
June 8th	Bennerley Viaduct visit /talk	Janet
July 13th	Local Chapels / Churches	Everyone
August 10th	No meeting
September 14th	The Temple Estate	Richard & Diana
October 12th	Planning meeting	Everyone
November 9th	War Memorials	Everyone
December 14th	TBC

Recent Topics discussed included

Local Chapels / Churches - At this meeting, we shared ideas about local churches and chapels. We discussed how some villages had lost many of their original churches, whereas in others, new denominations flourish, like the New Horizons Christian Centre at Langley Mill.

The Churches looked at included ranged from the very old to the relatively new such as the 13th century Nuthall Church and the 20th century Nuthall Methodist Church. We learnt that in the 17th century, a significant number of Quakers were living in Eastwood, although a meeting
house was eventually built nearby. Many of the local churches were non-conformist and the proliferation of chapels in Kimberley and Eastwood reflected the fact that the Methodist Church split in 1800 into two factions – Primitive and Wesleyan. The two halves of the church were re-united in 1932, and thus many of the chapels became redundant. Some of the chapels have been demolished, and others have been re-purposed e.g. Elite Carpets in Eastwood, or
turned into single / multiple dwellings e.g. Kimberley St. Paul’s at the top of James Street.

The Pentrich Revolution - Following the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, the simultaneous demobilisation of 300,000 servicemen coincided with a post-war economic slump, a textile and iron industry recession, and rapid industrialisation that replaced manual labour with machinery. Ordinary citizens faced a failing parish welfare system, a monarchy in disarray under the extravagant Prince Regent, and global crop failures caused by the 1815 Mount Tambora volcanic eruption. Facing imminent starvation during the infamous 1816 "year without a summer", desperate citizens formed underground socities known as Hampden Clubs across the country, including one in Pentrich, Derbyshire.

On June 8th, 1817, Jeremiah Brandreth, known as the “Nottingham Captain,” led a meeting at the White Horse Inn to urge a march on Nottingham, Newark, and London, promising participants cash, food, and alcohol upon arrival. Supported by leaders Isaac Ludlum and William Turner, the group believed they were part of a wider national uprising. However, that intelligence came entirely from William Oliver, a paid government informer. This allowed the Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth, to actively incite the would-be revolutionaries in order to make an example of them.

At 10 pm that night, the poorly organised group set off from Hunt’s Barn in South Wingfield to hoping to gather men and arms, on their way to Nottingham. It is said that by stopping at multiple pubs along the way did little to help this quest. By early morning after a 12-mile march to Giltbrook near Kimberley, the panicked marchers dispersed upon encountering the 15th Regiment of Light Dragoons, instantly ending the revolution. In the aftermath, 47 men were tried, leading to 23 transportations to Australia and the hanging and beheading of three leaders for treason in Derby. To complete the devastation, local landowners like the Duke of Devonshire exacted revenge by evicting the rebels' families and demolishing their homes.

A moving note to this terrible tale is that 17 years later, supporters of the Pentrich revolutionaries petitioned parliament and obtained a full pardon for them

History of Trams - From the first public passenger transport in the Nottingham area was in 1848 by a horse-drawn bus service between the Midland Railway Station and Nottingham town centre. Electric trams were introduced from 1889 and double decker trams introduced around the turn of the century. Of special interest was the “Ripley Rattlers”, the trams which gained their name because they went to Ripley, and they rattled as they went! The Ripley route was considered to be the most dangerous in England.

Visitors to nearby Crich Tramway Museum can see some of these the old trams that have been lovingly restored.

By 1926, the increase of car ownership and considerable competition from buses led to the gradual closure of the tram lines. In 1936, the last tram ran to Annesley and trolley buses (using wires, but not tracks) and buses took over. More recently, NET has built a modern network of lightweight trams to service commuters into Nottingham, and uses much of the same routes.