Issue No. 46 June 2023 (£2.00)
When Lois Avenue Hit the Headlines (4 pages)
In the early 1920s No.17 Lois Avenue was occupied by Mr and Mrs E.F. Hopper. Recently married at Lenton Parish Church Edward Fitzgerald Hopper worked as a Nottingham warehouseman while Elsie Mason Hopper was employed as a clerk in a business based on Castle Boulevard. In the ordinary course of events this particular couple might well have been able to enjoy a fairly unremarkable everyday existence had Elsie not been tempted to steal from her employers. Once the police were involved something else came to light and the Hoppers became headline news in the local newspapers. It is a story that fails to end well for either of them but it does reveal a number of individuals who had rather colourful family histories attached to them. We also learn something of Arthur Guybon Casebow, Elsie's first husband and how he fits into the story.
The Story of the Trinity Avenue Development (1894 to the Present Day) (9 pages)
This article focuses on the set of properties on the western side of Lenton Boulevard between Sherwin Road and Church Street, New Lenton. Apart from those to be found on Lenton Boulevard itself, we look at the history of those buildings on Trinity Avenue, Church Avenue, Albert Road and Lois Avenue, along with what are now the school buildings that make up Dunkirk Primary School's Abbey Campus. We also look at three businesses formerly located in this neck of the woods - namely the butcher's shop at 15 Lenton Boulevard; the New Lenton post office at 17 Lenton Boulevard; and the corner shop at 1 Albert Road.
David Measham: Former Resident of Trinity Avenue (2 pages)
This article looks at David Michael Lucian Measham, born in late 1937, who went on to become an orchestral conductor of some renown. We cannot claim that he was born in Lenton as it was almost certainly elsewhere in Nottingham. However, by 1947, his family had moved into No.16 Trinity Avenue, Lenton and this property remained his parents' home for the rest of their lives.
Seasons's Greetings from Mr & Mrs E. King (3 pages)
In December 1905 Mr & Mrs Edwin King sent out a personalised Christmas card to all their friends and acquaintances. You may be able to make out their address - 6 Trinity Avenue, Lenton - on the card which is reproduced here. Given this Lenton connection we were prompted to find out a little more about the two of them. For most of his working life Edwin King was employed by Tom Browne & Co., a firm of colour lithographic printers. He ended up as one of the company's directors. In the course of their married life Edwin and Fanny Elizabeth King lived at four different properties in Lenton. The last of these was No.341 Derby Road, a property specifically built for the Kings by Richard Jesse Jewell, a builder who had earlier been based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire but was now a Nottingham resident. Another strand explored in this article is the identification of the two locations seen on the King's Christmas card.
The Fatal Knife Attack on Trinity Avenue (1½ pages)
On December 9th 1975 Angus MacPherson McIntosh Wyllie, a 29-year-old Scot, was stabbed with a knife while on the pathway of No.4 Trinity Avenue, New Lenton. Someone called an ambulance and the injured man was taken to Nottingham General Hospital where he died about an hour later. In due course Agnes Evelyn Conlan was charged with his murder and tried at the Nottingham Shire Hall. The background to this tragic event and the subsequent criminal trial are both recalled in this short account.
Our Sponsor's Story (1 page)
Prominently sited on Church Street, across the railway line from Lenton Parish Church, Siltech Limited quietly goes about its business of developing new technologies for a variety of industrial sectors. Siltech makes lacquers and labels for use as monitors or indicators which sell into the Security, the Food and Drink, the Printing/Packaging, and the Healthcare sectors. Learn a little more about this very innovative business located in Lenton.
F.W. Lee & the Robin Hood Inn, Loughton (2 pages)
In 1945 Geoffrey de Freitas, a resident of Loughton, near Epping Forest, Essex, became MP for the Nottingham Central ward. He learnt that a local brewery was seeking to replace the existing pub sign at an 'old-world' country pub, called the Robin Hood Inn in Epping Forest. Our member of parliament suggested that the brewery should seek new designs from artists based in 'Robin Hood country.' He arranged for the Midland Regional Group of Artists to hold the relevant competition with a prize of £40 for the winning design in 1948. The winner was [Frederick] William Lee of Orston Drive, Wollaton Park. Our article offers a detailed account of the competition while also telling readers a little more about 'Billy' Lee.
Evelyn Gibbs: The Nottingham Years (1 page)
In 1934 Evelyn May Gibbs became a lecturer in the Teacher Training department of Goldsmith's College in London. Away from the lecture hall Evelyn Gibbs was also developing her skills as a professional artist. On the outbreak of war the Goldsmith's College students and lecturers moved operations to Nottingham where they shared some of the facilities of University College at Highfields. For a short while Evelyn Gibbs was among a number of lecturers lodging at a property in Old Lenton. Our article looks at Evelyn Gibbs' time in Nottingham which lasted until 1960 and how she was involved in a number of local organisations concerned with the Arts.
The Ledger Family at Work and Play (4 pages)
Wilfred Arthur Ledger and Ethel Lillian Wisenthal married in Nottingham in early 1942. The Ledgers had two children, Evelyn and Bernard William. Evelyn Gurd (née Ledger) tells us about her parents and their involvement with the Nottingham Co-operative Arts Theatre along with her own time spent treading the boards and working behind the scenes at the theatre. The Ledgers moved to Sherwin Road, Lenton in 1959 and No.29 remained her parents' home for the rest of their lives. Evelyn also writes about the various jobs she had: initially at Boots' company research department; and later in the Genetics Department at Nottingham University. We also learn about her brother's career in the television and film industry in Australia where he is known as Bernie Ledger. He appeared in a number of small roles in films and television programmes but his principal participation has been as a stunts man, stunt co-ordinator and general safety supervisor.
The final part of the article recalls the time that Evelyn sat for two portraits carried out by Evelyn Gibbs. Evelyn Gurd had more-or-less forgotten about the paintings when she saw one of them listed as 'Portrait of an Unknown Girl' in an exhibition of Evelyn Gibbs' work held in Nottingham in 1993. How Evelyn subsequently came to acquire both paintings is also explained.
Society Snips (1 page)
Lenton Times - issue 46 - Downloadable PDF Version
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