The Pre-War Site

A place to play and explore (Part Two)

The more privileged children of the village enjoyed the same freedom to roam as the rest of their age group. John Walker and his younger brother Bob lived at Orchard House on Easthorpe Street:

“One day Bob and I rode our ponies down the farm track from Elms Farm, and I turned right where the track branched off to Moor End Farm. Bob was going too fast to turn and he fell off his pony. I went and caught it and tied it up, then went for help, leaving Bob lying on the ground. When I came back with adults to deal with the casualty we met Bob, plodding along leading the pony with one hand, and with the other one tucked into his jacket. He looked like the figure in the well-known painting ‘The Retreat From Moscow’. Bob had fractured his collar bone and was badly bruised.”

A 1938 map of the site on which the Depot was built, which is now Rushcliffe Country Park. One day Betty Walker, John and Bob’s sister, went for an outing in a pony and trap with three of her friends. As her brother recalls,

“Margaret Richardson, who lived at Moor End Farm, borrowed the family’s pony and trap for the day and set off with Betty, Olive Machin and Marian Attewell for a drive round the familiar lanes around Ruddington at about 9 o’clock in the morning. They took with them sufficient food for the day. After they had driven through one or two villages nearby they headed back towards home ground. They settled down in the fields between Ruddington and Moor End Farm, and when they felt hungry they fried up the bacon, sausages and tomatoes they had brought for lunch, then boiled the kettle for a cup of tea. After tucking in they played around for a time, before eating the remaining food for their tea. They packed up and returned to Moor End Farm to be greeted with astonishment. It was only 12.30pm.”

Harold Ashworth, son of Major Ashworth of Ruddington Hall, was a rich young man who enjoyed a new and exciting pastime. In the early 1930’s he learned to fly and bought a light aircraft, which he kept on the farmland adjoining Gibson’s Dyke. Harry James remembers watching it fly.

“At this time Ruddington had its own airfield. Harold Ashworth flew from field south of the village in the area which became the Ordnance Depot. There had been a large wooden shed in which a plane was housed. It was a two-seater bi-plane, almost certainly a De Havilland Moth, with a red fuselage and silver wings. This was the first time that I had seen an aircraft on the ground and at such close quarters. I was bewitched by the characteristic smell of the canvas covered aeroplanes – a magical mixture of aviation fuel and ‘dope’ which was used to cover the canvas and the sweet smell of the grass which rippled like water in the slipstream of the propellor.”

Helena Giblenn looked forward to Bank Holiday Mondays.

“My father was the manager of the Ruddington Co-op so his time off work was very limited, and family days out were very precious. Always on Bank Holidays we would go down Asher Lane and across what is now Barleylands. I can remember the fields of barley growing there. I can see them clearly, and the growing corn with red poppies later in the year. Sometimes the walk would end at Bunny, and we would go into the pub there for a meal, but I remember best the longer walks when we went as far as Costock. We would take our dog Peter with us, and we would return by bus to the village.”

Local families were not alone in finding rest and relaxation in the peaceful countryside south of the village of Ruddington. As it was easily accessible by train and bus it became a convenient place for an outing. Rambling clubs made it the first stage of a day’s hike, or the final objective at the end. Women’s groups from the centre of Nottingham, such as the Co-operative Women’s Guild, the Mother’s Union or the Women’s Bright Hour, came to Ruddington by train for their annual outing. The area was also a popular venue for Sunday School Treats.

The Story > Chapter 1 > Section 1.02.02

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