Aerial photographs – new page added

Richard and Mary (Rippon) Brooks – Using DNA to solve family history ‘brickwalls’ and the path to George Warren.

Can you help us fill in some of the gaps?

The family of George Warren have undertaken a fascinating process, using DNA, which has traced their family back to Richard Brooks in Hickling – follow how they did this on this link.

In the 1881 Census we have a record for the family of Richard and Mary Brooks; by the time of the 1891 Census, they have four daughters but they have gone their separate ways and Mary and her daughters are living alone.

We are trying to find out what happened to both Richard and Mary.

Mary was born in Hickling – she was a member of the Rippin (Rippen/Rippon) family and several related households of this name can be found in Hickling and Kinoulton from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. The 1881 census seems to place Richard & Mary Brooks close to her parents and close to the canal.

Richard Brooks was born in Enfield and was recorded as a boatman – working on the canals may explain how he came to be in Hickling. After leaving Hickling, he started a new family under the name of George Warren, living close to the canals in Runcorn in Cheshire.

Can you help?

The family of Richard Brooks are keen to know what happened to Mary and their daughters; particularly Mary. She seems to have moved to Upper Broughton, living in the household of William Allen but we haven’t been able to find a burial record for her. Any information about any of these three families would be much appreciated!

Click here for the Scarecrows 2022 page: photographs, the stories, the competition winners.

Click here

We are keen to record your memories of the Queen and any stories or anecdotes about the Queen or King Charles that you would like to share; please contact us or message us, below.

For example, we know that Prince Charles (as he was then) visited Hickling when he rode out locally – do you have any memories of these visits? Or, perhaps, your thoughts and experiences over the last few days.

We have just heard that the Scarecrow Weekend is going ahead but it will, of course, be slightly different following the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The village scarecrow committee have taken advice from Rushcliffe Borough Council and received feedback locally which has encouraged them to keep going with an event which is an opportunity for our community to come together and which raises large sums of money for charity. These are both things which were very dear to the heart of our late-Queen.

The weekend will be conducted with the utmost respect; flags are being flown at half-mast and there will be no bunting on display.

(10.30am Friday 9th September 2022)

The Scarecrow Festival has a dedicated Facebook page; for news and updates, click here.

It’s been a huge job but our Grantham Canal pages are ready for you to view:

~ What were the waymarkers really for?

~ Who did a handstand on the parapet of the old canal bridge?

~ Who was Crutchy?

~ Have you seen the Whale that turns in the Basin at the dead of night?

~ & all you might ever want to know about Nottingham’s night soil …

Whether you fancy a quick dip or a long read, we have created a timeline and history of the canal and galleries of old and new images plus the canal ‘in the news’ – we hope that you enjoy them.

We’re always looking for new material, information and photographs; please contact us if you have anything that you would like us to include.

Hickling Scarecrow Festival 10th -11th September 2022.

Just a reminder that Hickling Scarecrow Festival makes a welcome return this year. We will be back to our usual all singing, all dancing format after a very small scale 2021 and an absent 2020! This year’s theme is Lords and Ladies, so residents of Hickling and Hickling Pastures, get your thinking caps on!

We have uploaded all the photos of the Jubilee weekend that we have so far – please keep sending them in & we will add them as we go!

Follow the links on the Platinum Jubilee page for galleries of each event.

New page published for the Hickling Cricket Club!

The Belvoir Angel headstones are amongst our most distinctive and intriguing village artefacts; in recent weeks we have been working on updating the Belvoir Angel webpages and there is lots of new material to explore:

• Belvoir Angels: general page including their style and history plus links to research, photos and a complete database of Angels across the Vale.
• The Hickling Belvoir Angel Headstones: All about the Hickling headstones plus the story of the re-discovery of a 34th headstone which we thought had been lost – it is tiny and rather sad but also very beautiful.
• The Cobblestones Angel: The story of a headstone found buried in a local garden and the hunt for the original stonemasons.
• Angels but no Angels: The headstones which have all the right characteristics but which have no angel carvings.

We hope you enjoy exploring!