The Gainsborough and District Heritage Association is celebrating it’s thirtieth anniversary this year. We would like to thank the volunteers who have worked tirelessly during the last 30 years to create a museum for Gainsborough with a fantastic archive, collection and displays of Gainsborough’s heritage.

The story began with a four-day exhibition in 1993 held at Richmond House that highlighted some of the most prominent happenings in the town from the last 170 years. The exhibition run by Paul Kemp and Andy Birkitt formerly members of the Gainsborough Heritage Society was a massive success and led to the future development of the Gainsborough Heritage Association a year later. The exhibition helped Paul and Andy succeed in their plan to prove to local government officials that a museum in the town was essential. The exhibition in February 1993 saw an amazing 1,200 visitors attend over the process of the event.

A report in the local Gainsborough News stated that ‘Almost 1,000 people visited the show over the two days it was open to the public, coming from as far afield as Metheringham, Retford and Market Rasen. At one point on Sunday the doors had to be closed on a long queue of people until some of those milling around the exhibition had left. “We were swamped,” said Coun David Lomas a member of the Gainsborough Museum Forum who organised the exhibition. “We could not let anyone in for a while as there was a danger of being overloaded, but no-one in the queue was fretting or getting annoyed, they were very good.”

The exhibition consisted of documentation and historical articles under glass cover detailing some of Gainsborough’s history. “I think that we have got is a recipe for the future,” said Coun Lomas. “This was just an appetiser, put together very quickly.” He revealed that since a number of people had been disappointed this time around, the exhibition would be put on again at the end of the month. The exhibition was also opened to schools for two days, and 300 young people visited. Pupils from Benjamin Adlard School wrote letters to the Standard about how much they appreciated the show.

Topics covered a large selection of dramatic photographs of some of the bigger Aegir’s seen on the River Trent, the floods of 1940 and 1947 when a large area of the town was under water from Ropery Road to Lea Road. One whole room in Richmond House was dedicated to Roses and Marshall’s with memorabilia ranging from a brass Britannia figure which once adorned the front of a Marshall steam road roller to a tin of Roses chocolates – named after the Gainsborough company which provided the wrapping and packaging. For those people old enough to remember the numerous pubs and inns in the town there was a photographic journey around the favourite watering holes.

Listen to Andy Birkitt and Paul Kemp talk about the Richmond House exhibition below:

However, calls for a museum in Gainsborough have been seen before with a letter to the Gainsborough News appearing in 1933, see below:

“Dear Editor

On many occasions has the need for a museum at Gainsborough been brought to the notice of the public, but never has any attempt been able to secure a suitable building for the purpose, with the result that many local discoveries which should have been retained for the town have been deposited in the County Museum. That a Museum should be obtained for Gainsborough becomes more apparent every day. When we remember how many thousands of articles may be found in the homes of old Gainsborough people, surely here is a nucleus of a collection which would do justice to the old town. Unique and historical discoveries are continually being unearthed for which there is no public accommodation.”

Those campaigning for a museum drew attention to other nearby towns, and museum collections that had already developed in those areas. In fact, Gainsborough was way behind many other towns and cities. A series of public museums were developed across England from the early nineteenth century. Some began with natural history collections. Many were established as a source of local pride. After the creation of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1852 others were established, based on what became known as the ‘Kensington Method’ – as a “schoolroom for everyone” – and as sources of design they became inspiration for local trades people. A second wave of independent museums grew out of the ‘New Social History Movement’ of the 1960s and 1970s, as local people reacted to the closure of traditional industries and the associated rapid changes to their communities. Yet such initiatives largely bi-passed Gainsborough, however, local people who were interested in their local area began to research and collect photographs or memorabilia. Discussion groups such as the Delvers were created for people to find out more and discuss their local heritage. As these grew, it became increasingly apparent that there was a need to preserve items of historical importance and create a space for sharing and learning about Gainsborough’s story.

As part of the campaign in 1993, Paul sent a letter to the Gainsborough News in addition to a copy of the letter that was sent to the paper in the 1930s: “When will the people in power who can do something about this, realise that very shortly all the history that is attached to the older generation of Gainsborough folk will disappear with them if there is no place for them to leave it to. We have proved there is concern with nearly 2000 people in four days attending our Old Gainsborough exhibition at Richmond House. Will Gainsborough have to wait another 63 years, and my son to write the same letter again before we can get a Museum.”

Thankfully support in the early 1990s led to the creation of the Gainsborough and District Heritage Association so the town did not have to wait another 63 years for a museum. The Association was officially created on 16 March 1994 when a public meeting was held at the White Hart Hotel in Gainsborough. Appreciation was expressed to Nettleham Engineering Company Ltd who offered premises within Marshalls old Offices for the first Heritage Centre based at Britannia Chambers, Beaumont Street. A vote at the public meeting showed everyone in attendance being in favour of the formal establishment of the Gainsborough and District Heritage Association, a massive achievement for the town.

“This Association has, accordingly, been established as an independent voluntary body to establish and develop a Heritage Centre with the objects of researching local history, collecting and recording information, documents and artefacts relating to local heritage, and arranging public displays and exhibitions.” As part of the opening celebrations there was also a display of Marshall made products in No 1 Yard. 

The grand opening of the Gainsborough Heritage Centre in the old Marshall’s factory buildings took place on 15 and 16 October 1994. On the Saturday morning a private opening for staff and management including the Association’s members took place with Sir Nicholas Bacon officially opening the Centre. A special meeting was held on Monday 3 October at 7pm to arrange a rota for the big forthcoming event.

A year or so later and the Heritage Centre had its own premises in the building formerly known as Marshall’s works and the Centre had many successful exhibitions with a vast array of exhibits permanently on display for all to see.

Jump forward a few more years and the volunteers of the Centre were dealt a heavy blow as the developers of Marshall’s Yard a new shopping Centre told the volunteers the Heritage Centre had to move to new premises and the long arduous task of finding storage for items began. For what must have seemed like a long time, the Heritage Centre volunteers kept themselves busy behind the scenes in the attempt to locate premises that would be suitable to get them back on their feet again.

After a lot of searching for locations and much hopefulness the volunteers landed a building that was due to become available in the town. The terms were agreed for use of the Old Post Office as the new home of the Heritage Centre. After years of struggling the future of the Association was finally secure thanks to the generosity of Gainsborough funeral directors Cliff and Carlton Bradley who handed over the former general post office and telephone exchange building in 2008.

In the beginning each room was in need of major repair and renovation, walls were removed and others built till the Association ended up with a building that was barely recognisable as the one that was originally offered. Research room, shop area, toilets and kitchen were created. Volunteers cleared rubbish, cleaned and painted off scaffolding to ensure the Centre opened. At the time the Centre had very little to offer but it was the catalyst that led to the next big development.

Dorothy Pearson recalls volunteering during this time in an oral history interview from 2015:

Mr Archer he was Chairman right from beginning and I was sort of his assistant really and helped him a lot in various jobs and then he turned ill and he died in 2003 I think it was and Mr Woodhead he was vice chairman at that time but I knew there was something wrong with him at that time and one of the others said why don’t you go in for Chairman so I decided to because I didn’t think Mr Woodhead Clive was able to do it so I took on the job. I was elected at the Committee at the Annual General Meeting and carried on from there and I say my duties were just keeping in control of everything and chairing meetings and everything.

I was Chairman during the period that we had to move everything out, pack everything up in Marshall’s and all the time we were looking for premises and just couldn’t find anything and there wasn’t enough money to buy anywhere. Marshall Yard tried to help us by suggesting various storage places and various premises we could have and nothing was suitable so in the end we moved everything out first of all into […] the Half Moon Inn pub on Heaton Street I think it’s called. We moved into there and we worked in there for a while it wasn’t really very suitable next to the pub. Eventually we got a room in in South County School, Lea Road School and that was alright the rest of the exhibits we found a disused chapel down at Morton to store everything in there but that was alright Marshall Yard paid for that, paid the rent for that so that was alright.

Like as I say in the meantime we were just looking everywhere for premises but nothing, there was just nothing then I think in about 2003 I think it was no probably 2007 I had a phone call […] to say that the Old Post Office premises were becoming vacant and there was a computer company had a shop in here and they were going to come out and move somewhere else and would we be interested and the premises were owned by Cliff Bradley the undertakers. So I rang Cliff Bradley and he didn’t know anything about it and he rung and he said I will ring you back and very fortunately he did. He rang me back a day or two later and and much to my relief he said yes the premises are becoming vacant he said you can have them. He said I’ve made my money in Gainsborough and I want to give something back to the town and I was absolutely thrilled to bits. He wasn’t going to charge any rent it was all free so well I said well we will have to have a proper contract drawn up and everything and so which we did you know and so it was just wonderful, the news after all those years after trying to find somewhere and so that’s how we came to be in here.

Well we made quite a lot of changes, it when we moved in it was such a mess, everywhere was such a mess um to start with there was rooms full of just rubbish boxes and everything and I think we had to have about seven skips to get rid of it all. There was old furniture, boxes just rubbish and all the rooms wanted decorating.

Well I think we’ve decided that we wouldn’t have every object that we’ve got in the collection out we would put on a series of exhibitions on a certain subject and then run that for a few weeks and change it because we found that when we were in Marshall’s um we we had everything out, nothing was stored away and people would come once and then they wouldn’t come anymore because they’d seen it all so we decided that it would be best to have themed exhibitions so that people could come and see that and come again to the next exhibition so that’s what we decided to do and we also decided on the layout of these rooms because we decided downstairs would be the large room downstairs would be like an exhibition room and then the small rooms would be a shop and a reference library and the kitchen was also altered. That was a little bit different took a few walls down and various things and then we decided the middle floor would be the exhibition floor upstairs would be just storage for the archives and exhibits as it I say it was all in quite bad condition and upstairs in particular there was a series of little rooms some walls were knocked down and needless to say we have a lot of help from the Bradley family. Mr Bradley Senior he was a joiner and he did a lot of work to the windows and Carlton and other members of the family they all helped. We are grateful to the Bradley’s for their interest and work they did.

The Heritage Centre was awarded a grant of £25,000 from the Lincolnshire CO-OP in 2011 as part of their birthday awards, to enable the ground floor exhibition room to be made useable and for visitors to start exploring their heritage. £25,000 sounds a lot but it really does not stretch very far when the project includes plastering, electrical and plumbing works to be completed. For the Association this was a massive step forwards and allowed the Centre for the first time to be able to have a dedicated changing exhibition area. And then the hard work and determination started by volunteers to create the Old Post Office building into a museum including an archive for family history researchers.

The building was originally a General Post Office and Telephone Exchange building built in 1904 and opened in 1905.

Sidney Pearson recalled in an oral history interview his life living at the General Post Office and Telephone Exchange now the Gainsborough Heritage Centre, (23.05.2015):

Right well the public entrance to the old to this post office was on Spital Terrace down there that was the public entrance. Now behind that, there was a large area which was the sorting office for the post men to sort them into what have you and where we come in the side entrance now that was quite a large open space. There was some cycle racks there where the postmen kept their bicycles. There was a small room off for a postmen’s rest room and then at the far end there was another large door which led into the sorting office which I’ve already told you that, into the sorting office. So we go up the stairs to the first floor and on that floor there was a large storeroom, there was a postmaster’s office and other offices for the various clerks and the messenger boys. They were on that first floor.

And then upstairs to the top storey of course led to our flat and the telephone switchboard and that’s the building. There was a living kitchen at the far end; there was a pantry in the far corner there. There was some cupboards on one wall and cupboards and draws on another wall and that was the living room. There was a pantry, a living come kitchen. Then further along the corridor, there was a large lounge, a really big lounge, really big, and beyond that was the bedroom. And then out of the flat onto the Roseway side was the telephone exchange. At one time there was just a single switchboard in those days but when we left there was about five or six switchboards and bigger staff of course.

Because my father was appointed night supervisor or manager whatever you call them and leading from the switchboard place there was a bell and there was a bell in our bedroom and if anyone Gainsborough wanted to use the telephone overnight, my dad had to get out of bed go to the switchboard, take the call, then come back to bed [laughing]. Like I said the switchboard was there and when they built a new post office next door they had a passage to it directly from this building.

Yes I think they were very busy because they had quite a large staff, quite a lot of postman, three messenger boys who used to have to take out the telegrams. Yes it was very busy, and of course the switch the telephone exchange expanded as I say when I first remember as a young boy there was just the one switchboard but over the years more and more people in the town had telephones they could afford a telephone and as I’ve already told you there was five or six women working in the daytime and my dad had four or five operators at night time.

[Laughing] well one it didn’t happen every night just some nights we went right through the night without anybody ringing at all but, the most user overnight was Mr William Rose in charge of Rose Brothers and he’d have an idea and he couldn’t wait till the next day at the factory. He used to ring us his own staff up during the night and tell them about the what he’d thought about to do with this that and the other. He was the main daren’t call it offender because I mean they weren’t he was the most most user of night telephones. I mean in those days only a handful of Gainsborough people had telephones there were few and far between, yeah.

The Centre was finally re-opened in September 2016 and over 100 visitors explored what we now had to offer… including our new permanent exhibits and living history characters which made the opening weekend a glowing success. All volunteers and members involved in the project were proud of their hard work and achievements.

Former Exhibitions Officer James Titley reflected that: “Over the past 10 months we have planned, pieced together, and now built a series of exciting and interesting displays that cover a variety of topics. But perhaps our most significant display is our reconstruction of a typical early 20th Century street; including period shops, a post office/telephone exchange and a house. Our rich industrial past is the focus of the ground floor exhibition room and includes displays of machinery and Gainsborough made products. Our successful research library and archives have also received a revamp and are now housed in their own room near to the archives on the 2nd floor, away from the hustle and bustle. The refurbished Heritage Centre now also houses ‘The Exchange Tea Room’ – a quirky telephone exchange themed tea room where our visitors, or those who are looking for a relaxing atmosphere to unwind over coffee or a cup of tea, can enjoy our light refreshments.”

Gainsborough born, actress Julia Deakin officially opened and launched the new and enhanced Gainsborough Heritage Centre on Saturday 3 September 2016. This special event began with a few words from Councillor David Harris the Deputy Lieutenant of Lincolnshire followed by an impressive speech from our new Vice President, Julia Deakin. An official plaque was unveiled which marked the official opening, and the moment will be remembered for years to come by all who attended.

Actress and TV star Julia Deakin reflected on the opening and said: “I was delighted to be asked to officially open the Heritage Centre’s new permanent exhibitions and the opening was a great success. I was born in Gainsborough in 1952, about 100 yards from where the current Heritage Centre site is based here at the Old Post Office. My parents Wyn and Bill Deakin ran shops in the town until the early 70s when they retired to Springthorpe. I attended Gainsborough Girls High School and it was the best thing that happened to me as it was pivotal in gaining my self-esteem, having fun and it was a great education. I remember as a small child the workers from the Marshalls, Roses and Spillers factories in the town and the children all being summoned home from play by the works buzzers. My mum performed with the Gainsborough Operatic Society and I first went to the Kings Theatre on Trinity Street aged 2 and this developed my interest in musicals and I performed in a musical called “Annie Get your Gun” aged 9.”

The Association’s Vice President Julia Deakin with the official opening 2016 plaque below:

“I left for Teacher Training (French and Drama) near Manchester, and qualified but I then went to London and worked as a French Translator for GPO. I then did an evening course at Mountview Theatre School in North London and auditioned and received a rare Equity card and became a Professional Actress in 1978. My first years working at the BBC TV Centre required at times for me to loose my regional accent as dialects were not so welcome in those days. Now I am proud to say that I have gone from disguising my roots to being very very proud of them. I have linked up over the years with Lincolnshire Actors Jim Broadbent and Julie Peasegood. I am now finding my old affection and admiration for the little Market Town which gave me a safe and rich education, and yet a real curiosity to explore further afield.”

Chairman Andrew Birkitt said, “I am pleased with the success of the Grand Re-Opening of the new look Heritage Centre. For the first time since moving to the new building we are now able to offer areas on all three floors of the Old Post Office to the general public. There are loads of new exhibits to see, that give visitors a real flavour of the towns past. Of course this has been brought about by massive investment from WREN and ourselves of approximately £45,000, with £22,250 from WREN and the rest raised by our volunteers and numerous supporters to whom we will always be grateful for making this happen.”

Exhibitions Officer Lynne Birkitt continues to look to the future of the Heritage Centre’s exhibitions and said: “The redevelopment of the Heritage Centre and the increasing of the publicly accessible space has come from much fundraising and grant opportunities, most recently from WREN for the sum of £22,250. As the new redeveloped Heritage Centre grows, we shall be looking at ways that we can make displays more interactive and we hope to be able to secure funding in order to achieve this in the near future. We are also offering an area which is a dedicated changing exhibition room. This will allow for one or several subjects or topics to be displayed to enhance the several room layouts that we have created as permanent exhibitions. The very best way to see our growth and development will be to come and support us by visiting. We look forward to welcoming visitors of all ages and in the future would welcome visits by local groups and schools.”

The Centre now has a working research library, shop, tea room facilities, and permanent exhibitions including industrial exhibits, a street scene, post office, shops, house and yard as well as a temporary exhibition space. 

There have been many highlights over the last 30 years, opening the new heritage centre is one of those, but we must not forget the great work done by volunteers to fundraise and support the development of this new heritage centre.

The Heritage Association in 2012 organised a Marshall Tractor Rally to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the last of the iconic Field Marshall Tractors and to raise funds to install a lift in the Heritage Centre to allow access to all of the three floors.

The Marshall Rally memories by James Titley (published in the Gainsborough and District Heritage Association newsletter February 2013).

Who would’ve thought even in the days running up to the rally that it was going to be such a successful event. Well it was, and how pleased we were too! It all started for us, the organising committee, almost three years before when the suggestion was first put on the table. However, physically, it all started on the Monday before the weekend when the first part of the rally took shape – the water supply. In an empty field of approximately 60 acres stood four random looking standpipes, however for us it was the start.

Throughout the course of the week we marked out the site, which included; hammering in over 300 exhibit marker pegs, taking delivery of fencing, generators, marquees, table, chairs, coal, to name but a few. The first exhibits arrived on Thursday evening courtesy of Carl East, with the majority of the rest turning up on Friday. The whole weekend went according to schedule and by Saturday morning we were ready to accept visitors to the rally field. Having become an avid follower of every weather station in the country for over a week, it was more than pleasing that the forecasted bad weather kept away all day and as such failed to disrupt the event. Having been scooting around all day doing this, that, and everything in between – I was blissfully unaware of how popular the event had actually become.

At lunchtime I, and Robert (who I can’t thank enough for his help in organising the rally), boarded the vintage double-decker into town to collect the invited dignitaries. It wasn’t until I returned from this journey to see how full the car park field was, that the realisation of just how many people had come to our event was – to say I was amazed is an understatement. This, and the comments received over the weekend from visitors, filled me and I’m sure the rest of the team, with great pride and a sense of fulfilment.

Shortly after lunch what may be described as the highlight of the event took place. A Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight made not one, or two, but three low passes over the rally field. It was certainly a sight to behold and I recall having never seen so many people jump from seats in a tea and beer tent to run outside and look. About an hour later I received a phone call from Flt. Lt. Parkinson who said ‘I hope you enjoyed the flypast, and I wish you success with the event, it looked great from where I was!’

On Saturday evening we received rain that had thankfully held off all day, but we still carried on, welcoming ‘off limits’ to the beer tent as the evening entertainment before we made presentations to exhibits. Sunday was just as successful as the previous day, however we did have an overcast looking day throughout.

Here are a few statistics from the weekend;

• Over 300 exhibits throughout the classes
• At least one tractor from every model that Marshalls built
• The last tractor ever produced by the company
• Just short of 2000 visitors (including from as far as Canada)
• The largest gathering of Marshall products ever, in the world!

All in all, I think it is fair to say that the event was a huge success and that it put not only the Heritage Association on the local map, but also the town of Gainsborough on the national map. The organising committee cannot express enough how proud we are to have organised such a great weekend that has received wonderful praise from visitors, exhibitors and councillors and has had great reviews in the national vintage magazines. We thank everyone who supported us in this way. I’d like to personally thank the team (Carlton, Andy, Roger, Sue, Lynne and Robert), the volunteers who manned the gates, car park, stalls and vehicle movement, and also Craig and the staff at Williamsons Farm for all their support and continued assistance.

The Marshall Rally was an incredible event and the volunteers over the years have also organised 1940s dances celebrating VE Day back in 2015 and the Association’s 25th anniversary in 2019 raising essential funds for the Centre.

The volunteers have worked on many projects over the years and we have always been thankful for their support and involvement including the fantastic Peter Bradshaw who researched and wrote 5 books on Gainsborough’s fallen soldiers. A highlight of the last 30 years was the creation and work towards a War Memorial located inside the Heritage Centre. It is the only War Memorial in the town that commemorates the names of every Gainsborough person (556 men) who died during the Great War. Gainsborough has a cenotaph outside the Gainsborough Old Hall however, it does not have the names of the fallen commemorated. 

Chairman Andrew Birkitt said, “Thanks go to the work of local Historian Peter Bradshaw as well as the Gainsborough Heritage Centre and the Friends of the General Cemetery. They have all worked tirelessly over the last few years to share knowledge with the local community about the Gainsborough men who were killed, injured and fought during WW1. Alongside our new current exhibition focused on the stories of local men who served for our country, the Centre is unveiling a permanent memorial to those who died. On Saturday 3 November, we welcome the community to help us commemorate over 500 men who were killed during the War. The memorial will be the first in the town that will record all of the names.”

Photos below show the unveiling of the WW1 memorial at the Heritage Centre courtesy of Paul Kemp:

Peter Bradshaw’s speech shared information about the research and stories of the men who were killed in the Great War including Rifleman Archibald Frank Hewitt whose relatives came to pay their respects.

Mr Bradshaw said, “I was pleased and proud to be asked to unveil this War Memorial that will be a permanent fixture in the Heritage Centre for people to see for years to come. Thanks to the support of Sue Edlington and the Gainsborough Heritage Centre, the stories of all of these men have been recorded in my books and on this new War Memorial.”

Peter Bradshaw and Sue Edlington pictured above with photo courtesy of Paul Kemp.

Chairman of the Gainsborough Heritage Association, Andrew Birkitt said: “On Saturday 3 November, we were so pleased to see so many people visit and take part in the commemorations. A big thank you to everyone who has supported this fantastic project over the years. The memorial is the first in the town that records all of the names of our brave soldiers who were killed in WW1. We welcome the community to visit the Heritage Centre and see the War Memorial for yourself.”

A massive thank to our supporters and volunteers from the past 30 years who have helped to make the dream happen, but to continue to sharing Gainsborough’s Heritage as we face new challenges new volunteers and support is always welcome. The Centre is open every Tuesday and Saturday 10am to 4pm. Pop in, have a chat with the team, there are many different opportunities available to assist from working in the research library and archives, to serving in the Exchange tearoom, talking to visitors about our fascinating heritage to helping with school sessions to the creation of exhibits and much more… 

To celebrate the Heritage Association’s thirtieth anniversary, the team are opening the Heritage Centre for free entry on Saturday 19 October 2024 and if you sign up as a member in the next month you will get 14 months free entry. Membership is £15 a year for 12 months and your membership helps to continue the great work of the Heritage Centre.