Guest Book

Fielding family history research.

I am researching my ancestor’s family history which was all based in and around Snarestone and Appleby Magna in the early 19^th century.

Using census records I find my 2^nd great grandfather, James Fielding, born 1807, lived in Long Street, Snarestone with his 7 children. One of his sons, George H. Fielding, born 1837, became postmaster of Snarestone and his wife Harriet, the postmistress and they lived on Quarry Lane. They went on to have 13 children! One of James daughters, Mary, married a well known farmer’s son, William Taverner of Snarestone in 1874.

If anyone from Snarestone has any historical information, or remembers the ‘The Fieldings’ I would be pleased to hear from them.

Thanks,

Anthony Fielding (James’s 2^nd Great Grandson)

Hello,

My name is Geoffrey Pallett who lived at Appleby magna in BLACK HORSE HILL, I was one of two brothers and have one sister, and as a family walk we used to get water cress from Snarestone brook.

But having a disciplined father bordering on being a bully, he made us walk to the tip at Snarestone and collect cinders what had been half burnt and disposed of by ,the then called dust men, I recall it was dangerous as we used to scramble down the heaped rubbish and pick the best out.with a large quantity of water in the hole,how deep I dont know suffice to say if one got in it ,it would be difficult to get out. A fall would have been disastorous to say the least, but these were the lengths we went through to have a fire in our grate. further to this the bends to this tip from Snarestone itself were very acute and worked for our benefit. Lorries from the Measham main colliery were all day along that road taking coal to various power stations ect, My father had the idea of us taking bricks with us and placing them in the vehicles path on the road so tipping it as it come around the bend and when the vehicle was out of site we swept it up and riddled lost slack or coal,then took it home....Yes I remember Snarestone, the trains labouring from Measham ,the changing seasons ,the wonderful autumn colours and the singing of the birds, yes the popular song then was Yellow bird high in the banana tree, I used to sing it all day long between the shafts of our two 9 inch cast iron wheeled barrow, it was hard going I can tell you. I now live at Seckington and I walk my Black Labrador dog most days around Snarestone as I am retired 40 years in medical profession. Happy days. Geoffrey....

(Dec 2007)

(January 08)

wishing jez and debbie all the best at the globe.

Simon.

(April 2008)

Hello .

I am geoffrey Pallett of Black Horse Hill Appleby Magna, Have two brothers and one sister, see previous jottings in this guest book, Anyone around remember the Victory coaches based at Ibstock and picked up the children from surrounding villages and Appleby Magna calling at Snarestone, Swepstone and Heather before arriving at Ibstock, I think the coach we used was a Tilling Stevens, Also anyone remember the Pallets that went to Ibstock and remember Miss Kendal. Mr Slack {woodwork teacher} Buck Jones,Metalwork Mr Parfit,Sports Rugby..I hated it ,so cold in shorts... Mr Harrison, Gardening teacher, Mr Broughton, Jim.. Mr Timmis, upper class ,should have been at Eaton.. and not forgetting the science teacher Mr Jackie Fought, and finally Mr Warner the Head teacher..I remember their was a discipline on the coaches home no roudyness and bad behaviour,I travelled daily with my best friend Patrick Gothard also of Appleby Magna and still is.. but a few were travel sick on occasions.I can smell the engine of the bus/coach today, I remember they smelt different in those days, but we were impressionable...anyone remember me/us do get in touch.I live at Seckington now.. Wonderful site ..thank you Geoffrey Pallett...

(July 2008)

Hello lovely village of Snarestone! As we brace ourselves to face another day of Midwestern summer sunshine, blue skies, and temps nearing 100 F (37+ C), we paused a moment this morning to visit Snarestone (via the Website!) and fortify ourselves with friendly faces and fond memories. We so enjoyed the recent "mystery trip" pics. Ahhh, bracing winds, "fresh" air, strong tea...the stuff dreams are made of. Enough to make us homesick! Sending love to all our friends in Snarestone and hoping some of our heat blows your way soon.

Beth and the 3 Blokes

(November 2008)

I must thank you for putting the World War 1 casualties on your Snarestone village site. My great Uncle Sam Tilson is one of the men named.

Please keep up the good work on your web site.

best wishes

Patricia Gould

(December 2008)

I really enjoyed reading about Snarestone, and looking at the lovely pictures. It is my hope to one day visit this tranquil, and lovely place. Thank you. Yours Truly Jacqueline Madden Fields, Humble Texas, USA

Hello again , I have sent two notes about various things in the past under Geoffrey Pallett originating from Black Horse Hill Appleby Magna see previous jottings, I often take a walk quite regularly around Snarestone with my faithful 6 yr old black Labrador named Alfie,

Just before Christmas I decided to park my car at the old canal bridge going out of Snarestone towards Twycross and venture along the old canal side ,I must say it was rivetting to hear the birds singing and the distant sound of the agriculture at work providing our bread for the table , the constant ebbing two and fro of the waters edge, seeing the occasional water rat and voal and hearing the distant gas guns which as a boy we never heard , it didnt seem necessary to use them, As I walked I decided to venture up on the old railway which crossed the canal and found the bridge had been taken down, I was part of British Railways in the 50s being employed by them and lived in a railway house along the old line, I felt a deep sadness at the passing of the railway and I could hear the trains in my mind and see them day and night with their firebox open and the fire glowing in the night sky as they passed our station house at Measham and I visualised the fireman working so hard to keep the steam going by building the fire constantly, how hard they worked I thought. and I came across an old wooden railway line key that kept the line secure and brought it home as a reminder of better times. Yes I spent many hours watching the trains labour to and from Shackerstone the sky blackened by their smoke also to the annoyance of the wife of a railway worker who lived at the Snarestone station house whose washing had been sooted,cant recall her name. As I paused I reflected on where it had all gone wrong and I came across the answer and agreed with myself that it was PROFIT. After the Xmas feast myself and my wife decided to take a night drive around various villages and see the christmas lights in the windows of the cottages, I have always been impressed with Snarestones efforts and we were truly delighted, again I asked myself where has it all gone wrong, again I came to my previous conclusion PROFIT...When I was a boy we didnt have a great deal but I cannot say everyone was like our family, I remember getting a sixpence and an orange and nothing else ,we didnt expect it, Since these times are in my memory I in adult life have felt the effects of this austerity in so much since I got married 41 yrs ago I seem to have been spoilt and each christmas I am showered with various gifts and feel the pain of embarrasment as old habits die hard as we never received such presents as a child. because I know now that where they have been purchased it involves profit/commercialisation the very thing that has brought us to being greedy and distroyed the true meaning of christmas I dont condemn businesses they are in it for a living but when you see things supposedly reduced by £400 and they are still making a profit , I question the real mark up price to customers, I think it is shameful....Recently I have been poorly and still being able to get about I have come to the conclusion whatever your class , whatever ones possessions the most important thing you cannot buy is.. GOOD HEALTH..Hoping to submit some more Jottings/observations in the future a wonderful site thank you. I wish all the readers and the people who dwell in the lovely little cottages of Snarestone a very happy and healthy new year Geoffrey of Seckington North Warwickshire

January 2010

Hello Snarestone

Your home looks a great place to live. My family roots are in Snarestone but going back to 1800's early 1900's - family name Bonser - I have never visited but will do now that I have seen what a wonderful place it is.

Sally Bonser

February 2010

Hello Snarestone Guestbook,

I have been reading you web site, enjoying the photographs and especially enjoyed the letters you receive to the 'Guestbook' portion.

I grew up in Appleby Magna, living first as a baby in Church Street, and then as a young girl oh so happily at Lower Rectory Farm with my Grandparents Annie and Charlie Bates. I left to live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada with my parents Margaret and Charlie Bates in 1951 at the age of 13 years. My mother was Margaret Sutton - the eighth daughter, one of the ten daughters of Herbert Sutton of Beanfield Farm in Snarestone. Yes, ten daughters and he a farmer who would have liked to have a son. Those ten daughters are now all gone.

It was the three letters to the Guestbook by Mr. Geoffrey Pallett which prompted me to write to you.

Mr. Pallett I do not remember you, I am a little older than you I believe. I do remember the Victory buses, or the school buses, for I am not sure of their name. All my Appleby and Snarestone friends took these buses to Ibstock to school. I went in a separate direction because my Grandfather Bates sent me to Ashby Ivanhoe School. I never knew the reason why, but in those days we didn't ask questions - we just did as we were told. Now I wish I had asked more questions.

Mr. Pallett wrote of getting watercress from the Snarestone Brook, this may well have been from where the brook ran through our lower meadow. I too used to go and gather watercress for my Grandmother Bates. This would be for a Sunday tea when her sister Lizzie Rowland or her sister in law Annie Rowland (both of Top Street - opposite the Black Horse Pub) would have been invited. That was 'great' watercress and I have never found any as good since that picked in the late 1940's.

Mr. Pallett mentioned the bridge over the old railway line in Snarestone being gone now. That lane was one of the routes used to go to Beanfield Farm in Snarestone and my mother would tell us tales of picking blackberries along that lane with her many sisters. There is another driveway into Beanfield Farm of course, this one from the Swepstone direction. Also there were foot paths which we could walk across through the fields. My mother was very homesick for England and most particularly Snarestone and she would tell my sister, brother and I stories about growing up in lovely Snarestone.

Another name which has been written in the 'guestbook' is by a member of the Roach family of Appleby Parva. Norman Roach who lives in Brisbane, Australia now. I remember a young boy named Roach and I believe he lived at the farm next to the Appleby Grammar School. He was a good young friend and I believe he died before he was a teenager. I also well remember the two Gothard families. My Bible is one given to me by Mrs. Gothard and the Sunday School Class when I left to live in Canada. I still prize that Bible.

For the past 15 years my husband and I have visited Leicestershire and Derbyshire every second year and it is always a thrill to drive the byways of Appleby and Snarestone.

I retired three years before my husband and finding time on my hands and waiting patiently to move from Ontario, Canada, back to Vancouver Island, I found time to write five 'stories' for the Appleby web site. I did this because my memories of growing up in Appleby Magna are all good, happy memories. Appleby Magna also has an excellent web site. Marilyn Dunkelman has done an amazing job and the history articles by Mr. Richard Dunmore I find very interesting.

Congratulations on the excellent Snarestone web site. The photographs are always good to view and bring back memories.

Thank you, Margaret ANNE SILINS (nee Bates) of Chemainus, Vancouver Island, Canada.

February 2011
Hello, my friend Pete Britton has a very dear friend who once lived on Quarry Lane and he's really wanting to find her again. They were very close and he believes she might have passed away and I am trying to help him find out one way or another or if she is still alive, (which would be so wonderful) I would love to give her his information so she can reconnect with him. Her name is Margaret Woodward and she went to school with Pete at Minsthorpe High School. If anyone knows her or anything that might help, it would very much be appreciated. ;) Thanks in advance. Tina Anderson

You can get in touch via guest@snarestone.org.uk

February 2010

Hello Snarestone Guestbook,

I have been reading you web site, enjoying the photographs and especially enjoyed the letters you receive to the 'Guestbook' portion.

It was the three letters to the Guestbook by Mr. Geoffrey Pallett which prompted me to write to you.

For the past 15 years my husband and I have visited Leicestershire and Derbyshire every second year and it is always a thrill to drive the byways of Appleby and Snarestone.

Congratulations on the excellent Snarestone web site. The photographs are always good to view and bring back memories.

Thank you, Margaret ANNE SILINS (nee Bates) of Chemainus, Vancouver Island, Canada.

February 2010

Hello Snarestone Guestbook,

I have been reading you web site, enjoying the photographs and especially enjoyed the letters you receive to the 'Guestbook' portion.

It was the three letters to the Guestbook by Mr. Geoffrey Pallett which prompted me to write to you.

For the past 15 years my husband and I have visited Leicestershire and Derbyshire every second year and it is always a thrill to drive the byways of Appleby and Snarestone.

Congratulations on the excellent Snarestone web site. The photographs are always good to view and bring back memories.

Thank you, Margaret ANNE SILINS (nee Bates) of Chemainus, Vancouver Island, Canada.

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