Issue No. 50 June 2025 (£2.00)
Wollaton Hall's Walled Kitchen Garden (3 pages)
Wollaton Hall's walled kitchen garden was under construction between 1783 and 1788. It consisted of some four acres and was situated some distance from the Hall close to the Wollaton Road and next to the Hall's home farm. Many of its walls were constructed so they could be warmed by a set of horizontally-linked flues which allowed the smoke and hot air from coal fires to travel through the wall heating up the brickwork before exiting through a 'chimney' positioned at the top of the wall. Our article looks briefly into the history of this walled garden up until the time when Nottingham Corporation bought the Hall and surrounding parkland in the mid-1920s.
Frederick William Parkes: Wollaton Hall Gardener (2 pages)
The head gardener at Wollaton Hall for much of the first half of the twentieth century was Frederick William Parkes. Alongside his gardening prowess he exhibited a keen interest in photography. Mr Parkes took many photographs of the area in and around the walled garden. The Wollaton Walled Garden Project was given access to these photographs along with a potted history of the family by Celia Emerson, Frederick's grand-daughter. His photographs are featured in both of our articles. This second article provides a brief biographical insight into how F.W. Parkes rose through the ranks, starting as an under-gardener at Baldersby Park, Thirsk in North Yorkshire, finally being appointed head gardener at Wollaton by Digby Wentworth Bayard Willoughby, 9th Baron Middleton in 1903.
Paul Armstrong, His Grandfather and Lenton Bowling Club (3 pages)
One of the photographs included on our Lenton Recreation Ground web page on the Lenton Times website is the one featured here. At one time the accompanying caption used to read: Lenton Bowling Club celebrated its golden jubilee in 1962. To mark the occasion there was a special dinner at the Reform Club in Nottingham and this photograph of the current members was also taken. Given the apparent age of the young lad on the right of the photograph there is a chance that he might still be in the land of the living. Paul Armstrong recently got in touch with us to say that he was the young lad in the photograph and was indeed still in the land of the living. What follows is his story.
Nottingham Forest F.C. and William Wragg, Professional Footballer (9 pages)
The 1897-98 season ended with Nottingham Forest F.C. winning the F.A. Cup. Our article begins by looking at this cup run and the final played at Crystal Palace on 16 April 1898 when Forest beat Derby County F.C. 3-1. William Wragg played for Forest in every round and in the final when he received one of the eleven cup winners medals on offer. Courtesy of Diane Pearson, his grand-daughter, we feature a photograph of that medal while going on to tell the reader William Wragg's life story. Born in Lenton in 1873 Wragg had played for various local teams before being signed by Forest at the end of the 1895-96 season. Wragg continued to play for Forest until February 1899 when he was transferred to Leicester Fosse F.C. Among his other football clubs would be Small Heath (later to become Birmingham City); Watford; Hinckley Town; Chesterfield Town; Accrington Stanley; Brighton & Hove Albion.; and Grantham Avenue. Our article looks briefly at how William Wragg fared at each of these clubs. He was also a good cricketer and was taken on as the paid professional at a number of cricket clubs playing his cricket both in Wales and in Scotland.
In late 1906 Fred Karno, the famous theatre impresario, put together a musical comedy sketch called The Football Match which started to tour the nation's music halls. Along with a number of professional comedians and jobbing actors the cast always included a handful of ex-professional footballers. In February 1908 William Wragg was signed up to join the tour. He seems to have continued to tread the boards until at least October 1910.
At the time of the 1911 census we find William Wragg, his wife, Alice, and their first three children staying with Alice's parents at a property in Spring Close, Old Lenton. In the census William's occupation was given as 'professional athlete' which suggests that he was between jobs at the time. After this the family moved to Scotland where William was engaged both as a professional cricket player and as a cricket coach. Later he would be taken on by one of the Scottish cricket clubs as their groundsman. In the 1920s he returned to the East Midlands and at one time became a gardener at the Nottingham Boys High School. There would also be an unfortunate incident in Lenton which resulted in William Wragg being sent to prison for twenty-eight days.
We conclude the article by outlining what subsequently happened to William Wragg, his wife Alice, and each of their four children.
F. W. Smith & Son: Nurserymen of Lenton & West Bridgford (6 pages)
The starting point for our article is this early twentieth century picture postcard shown here. On the picture side is a colourful array of flowers along with the photographs of two men. The card was created to promote F. W. Smith & Son's Parkside Nurseries then based in Lenton. So the obvious questions to ask are: Who were F. W. Smith and his Son? And whereabouts in Lenton were the Parkside Nurseries?
Our article explores the horticultural exploits of Frank William Smith and his son, Thomas Smith. Their business began in Lenton but in the mid-1910s was forced to relocate to the Lady Bay area of West Bridgford. We also focus on Frank William Smith's exploits in the military. He would become one of Nottingham's last surviving Crimean veterans. Had his old regiment not been otherwise engaged in the Great War at the time of his death in September 1914, his burial at the General Cemetery would undoubtedly have received a major military send-off. As it was, his relatives and fellow mourners had to make do with the Nottingham University College Officers' Training Corps firing their rifles in salute and the High School O.T.C. bugler sounding 'The Last Post.'
Emily Mayfield & William Ewart Caunt: Their Story (2½ pages)
Emily Mayfield was married at Lenton Parish Church in March 1912. The following month her husband, William Ewart Caunt, died in a disastrous event that led to the deaths of almost 1,500 people - aboard the R.M.S. Titanic. Our article provides the reader with the salient details of these two individuals.
Roy Dwight & His Very Slight Connection With Lenton (2 pages)
William Wragg, one of Nottingham Forest's 1898 F.A. Cup winners, features prominently elsewhere in this issue. His inclusion in the magazine is because Lenton was his place of birth. In 1959 Nottingham Forest won the F.A. Cup for the second time. Roy Dwight played for Forest that day. He has only the very slightest of connections with Lenton but it is enough for us to regale the reader with his story.
Roy's father was Edwin George Dwight whose two younger brothers were Percy William Dwight and Stanley Dwight. Stanley Dwight married Sheila Eileen Harris in 1945. Their only child was Reginald Kenneth Dwight who was born in Pinner in 1947. Reginald Dwight would later become better known as Elton John. So Royston Edward Dwight and Sir Elton Hercules John are cousins. One of Elton's first public musical appearances was performing at the wedding reception after Roy Dwight married his wife, Constance Carver, at Dartford in late 1954. He was called upon to play because the band booked to appear turned up late.
Society Snips (1½ pages)
Lenton Times - issue 50 - Downloadable PDF Version
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Next Issue: Lenton Times No.51 should be available in December 2025.