The Society meets every third Tuesday of the month from September to April at 7.30 pm at The Stable, High Street Newmarket (unless otherwise noted) when we have a visiting speaker. During the summer months (except August) we usually arrange trips to local places of historic interest.

N.L.H.S. SITE INDEX

Calendar of Meetings How to join NLHS Newmarket's Origins Newmarket and Horseracing Forthcoming events Correspondence & Queries Family History research Recent Events Mystery Places View our Guest Book, or add an entry Links to related sites Alex Henshaw MBE Oaks Lodge/Park history

Frederick Archer Past Personalities Local Fire Tragedies Crime & punishment in the 19th century Memories of the Home Guard Memories of two World Wars Local History & Other books Committee members Contact Us Old Icewell Hill. Woolworths history Rous Road Architecture The History of the Telephone Service in Newmarket The Admiralty Shutter Telegraph The Houldsworth Valley Nissen Huts

Two Great Survivors, a tribute to a remarkable lady and her car.
Picture and story below.

                         This recent picture is of a 1937 Austin Ruby saloon, the lady in the driver's seat is Mrs Alice Day, the original owner, now 98 years of age.
                         Both were very lucky to escape with less than fatal injuries when Newmarket was bombed on 18th February 1941.
                         Alice Sturgess, as she was then, was working as a hairdresser in the family business situated on the top floor of Eaton House in the High Street.
                          Five people died in the building destroyed by a direct hit but by a chance of fate Alice's life was spared.
                         Her car, the Austin Ruby, was parked outside and was damaged by falling masonry and also had a bullet hole through the scuttle.
                         Alice's dramatic story of her escape is told on pages 49/50 of the Newmarket Local History Society's book 'The Bombing of Newmarket'.
                         The car was stored for many years but has recently been made roadworthy and passed its first MOT in February 2012.
                         It is now in use by Alice's daughter Jennie who has taken her mother for a ride in it.
                         Note for car enthusiasts, the car was supplied new in 1937 by Turner & Hore Newmarket and has their plate inside the passenger door
                          We are indebted to Austin Severn enthusiast Mr Gerald Walker who brought the car back to life and supplied the photograph.

What's New

April 23rd 2012. Not so many people living today can recall the Nissen Huts of Houldsworth Valley. These ex-military huts provided accommodation for newly married couples in the early post-WWII years and bring back mixed memories of basic living. For the story with pictures select here

April 17th 2012 The Society's AGM was held, for a short report please go to Recent Events (pg 2),

April 2012. How did The Oaks Business and Commercial Park off Fordham Road get its name? An enquiry from Mike Browne (see Correspondence March 1st 2012) led the trail to an eccentric Italian trainer of the early 20th century and to the post WW II success of a world leading Newmarket enterprise that employed hundreds. For the story of Oaks Lodge and Oaks Park select here oakspark.htm

February 18th 2012. How often do we see a man smoking a pipe these days? Rarely, yet up to the 1960s pipe smoking was very common, and users were generally regarded as reliable and trustworthy. Notice I do not mention women pipe smokers as although they did exist they were definitely looked upon as odd if not downright eccentric! Among the many interests of Tony Pringle, NLHS member and frequent contributor to this website, is his large collection of pipes. Read about Tony's collection at www.smokingmetal.co.uk

February 13th 2012. A happy conclusion to a long search! See our Correspondence pages Correspondence 7

February 2012. Thanks to Racing Welfare Charity the old Rous Hospital building enters a new phase of its life, for details and pictures go to Personalities3A

More on Icewell Hill. As more information has become available we have a second page devoted to Icewell Hill.
The old Icewell Hill complex was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the present day flats. The properties were becoming run down and living conditions were not deemed acceptable for the post war world. Today many people remember with affection the community spirit that existed in the narrow streets and tightly packed cottages of Icewell Hill.
Thanks to local historian Peter Norman, former resident of Icewell Hill Derek Coombes and NLHS archives we are able to look back at what life must have been like for those living in Icewell Hill. To start go to Page 5 of this site from where you can move to the second page. select here

For those who have not yet discovered the Francis Frith collection of photos of early to mid 20th century Newmarket take a look at Francis Frith's Newmarket Ninety one good quality photos that can be purchased if required. What a far sighted man to go around the country taking pictures of towns and villages that were fast changing

Calendar of Events 2012

All events commence at 7.30 pm unless otherwise stated

Tuesday March 20th - Postcards from Newmarket - WWI and before,
     Roger Newman

Tuesday April 17th - AGM and talk on the History of Medicine, Sandra Easom

Tuesday May 15th - Visit to Burwell Church, Joan Shaw

Tuesday June 19th - Visit to Isleham - Vernon Place

Tuesday July 17th - Visit to be arranged

Tuesday September 18th - Talk on Crisswells Garage, Joe Moore

How do I join the Newmarket Local History Society?
It is quite simple really, you may do so by attending one of the programmed meetings, the doors open at 7 pm, and you can then join whilst there, the cost is just £8 per head, or you may wish to visit for one evening without commitment, this will cost £2 and you can go away and decide.

NEWMARKET'S ORIGINS (notes provided by N.L.H.S Committee Member Sandra Easom)
Mention Newmarket and most people think of the pounding hooves of horses and rolling expanses of green turf. The town is justly famous for both of these but its very long and varied history goes far beyond what most people expect.
Unlike most mediaeval towns, Newmarket is not centred on either of its parish churches, St. Mary's or All Saints. Rather, it is centred on the initial reason for its existence - the ancient Icknield Way - the oldest road in Britain. Its route approximated to the present High Street. People have journeyed along the Icknield Way since the Stone Age when flint was mined in Grimes Graves in Norfolk and then supplied an extensive trade network.
The area where Newmarket now stands has springs of water and a small river which is essential for any settlement. Bronze Age barrows, showing evidence of early occupation, were scattered across Newmarket Heath until the 19th century when they were cleared to make better conditions for horse racing.
Later, nearby Exning was a main settlement of the Iceni tribe (best remembered for their famous Queen Boudicca or Boadicea who led a major rebellion against the Romans). The Iceni were renowned breeders of horses and dogs, so the Heath has probably seen many more races than we are aware of!
The area where the town now stands was given as dowry to Sir Richard de Argentein in 1200 A.D. when he married Cassandra, daughter of Robert de Insula, Lord of the manor of Exning. Sir Richard encouraged development of the town and was granted a charter for a market almost immediately by the King. In 1223 Newmarket received its first charter for an annual fair. It is important to note that the Plague arrived at Exning in 1227. Therefore, the Victorian theory that people left Exning to start a new town at Newmarket at this time cannot be true (although it is very persistent!).
Newmarket thrived because of its market and a lucrative trade in accommodating travellers and so it continued for centuries, until King James I "discovered" its Heath in February 1604 as a great leisure venue for his court and Newmarket's sporting associations began.....

NEWMARKET AND HORSERACING
The local history of Newmarket is inextricably tied up with the history of horseracing. The town is home to the National Horseracing Museum, at present situated in part of the Jockey Club building. An enlightening article on Newmarket's racing history and the work of the museum written by the former Museum Director, Hilary Bracegirdle appears on this site select article here
The museum also has a very good website of its own www.nhrm.co.uk where much information on Newmarket's racing past is available.
Newmarket Local History Society and the National Horseracing Museum have much in common in that we both receive many queries from people on topics related to horseracing. Often people wish to enquire about their forebears who were jockeys, or in some way connected to racing. As Hilary says in her article, it is difficult to trace individuals unless they were high profile personalities. The best approach for persuing ordinary family history queries is through the Bury St Edmunds County Records office (for Suffolk related queries) or The Cambridgeshire Family History Society (for the Cambridgeshire part of Newmarket). Both the Museum and our Society wish to be as helpful as possible and welcome any queries of general interest. Queries to the Museum should be addressed in writing to Graham Snelling, Curator, National Horseracing Museum, 99 High Street, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8JS. Our Society's postal and e-mail addresses are given on page 3.

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