The Gimsons of Stoneywell

Barry Hill 69 Views

After a couple of extremely well-attended outdoor meetings in September, when we visited the historic gardens of Melbourne Hall and November, when we were at the unique and very special Staunton Harold Church, we had our first indoor meeting since the start of the pandemic.

Our first meeting was at Ticknall Village Hall and the event was attended by 40 members and guests. It was a good feeling to get back to some kind of normality even though we were all wearing facemasks.

The speaker was Mark Temple from the National Trust who talked about the Gimsons of Stoneywell. Stoneywell is the largest of a small group of cottages designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Ernest Gimson. It was built in collaboration with Detmar Blow in 1899 for Ernest’s brother Sydney Gimson as a summer residence, and along with much original furniture, it remained in the Gimson family for over a century.

Mark gave us details of the family and how they came to build properties in Charnwood Forest. He illustrated his talk with wonderful slides both old and new, supplied by the family and the National Trust. The talk was very well received by the members and Mark was more than willing to answer questions from the audience.

After the talk festive refreshments were provided and were much enjoyed by everyone concerned. There was a very friendly atmosphere in the Hall and everyone seemed to welcome a chance to meet up and have a chat.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 25 January 2022 at 2.00 pm when the speaker will be Peter Liddle whose presentation will be on the Vikings in Leicestershire.

As always, everyone is most welcome.