Fire in a Loughborough building

Although we've had two posts about Bernard Nixon Wale, there is a little more to his story, and that of people and places, in connection with him, but we'll continue that in a future post. 

Today, having heard of the fire in Fennel Street, yesterday, it seemed appropriate to report on a fire that happened in September 1884.

The site of a fire in 1884

Report of a fire at Loughborough

The ‘Nottingham Evening Post’, 9 September 1884, carries the following report on page 4:

“Serious Fire at Loughborough – About half-past five o’clock yesterday morning a serious fire broke out on the premises of the Co-operative Society, Wood Gate, and resulted in much damage to the property and a heavy loss of stock. The outbreak seems to have been noticed first by Mr Yates [a wine merchant], living opposite, who, perceiving smoke issuing from the shop, at once, aroused the manager, Mr Reeve. The manager, on hearing the alarm, hastened downstairs, and as soon as he entered the shop was confronted with a volume of flame and smoke. The fire brigade were immediately communicated with, and under Supt. Blunt arrived in a few minutes. A good supply of water was obtained, and in about a couple of hours all danger was at an end. It was not until then that the extent of the damage could be ascertained. The fire was confined to the shop, the large windows of which were broken, the roof damaged, and some of the fixtures destroyed. Very little of the stock escaped , and from this cause the greater loss will endure. The fire appears to have originated under one of the counters, amongst some matches, but how it arose is impossible to say. The stock and property are insured with Mr J. Walkup in the Alliance Office.”

The former Co-Operative Society shop on Wood Gate

Alfred Reeve gives himself up

The report from the ‘Nottingham Evening Post’ 12 September 1884, page 2 says:

“The Recent Fire at Loughborough. Yesterday morning Alfred Reeve, the manager of the Co-operative Stores, which were partly destroyed  by fire on Monday last, damage being done to the extent of several hundred pounds, gave himself up to the police on the confession of having been the cause of the outbreak. The origin of the fire could not be discovered, but was supposed to have originated amongst a quantity of matches. Reeve states that he went into the shop at five o’clock in the morning, that he struck a match and threw it down, that the place caught fire, but that he did not give an alarm.”

 On 20 September 1884, the ‘Leicester Chronicle’ reported as follows on, page 6:

“The Fire at the Loughborough Co-operative Stores. The Manager Before the Magistrates. At the Loughborough Police Court on Friday morning, before F.W. Paget Esq., Alfred Reeve, late the manager of the Co-operative Stores, Wood Gate, was charged on his own confession with having set fire to the premises on the previous Monday.”

Loughborough Magistrate's Court and police cells to the side

Mr Reeve was represented by Mr Hands, and pleaded not guilty, although he had volunteered a statement to Inspector Pike. On this occasion, Mr Reeve was not granted bail, but was remanded until Wednesday, and having been brought before W.B. Paget, Esq., Rev. R. Burton and F.W. Paget he was charged with having set fire to the store on 8th of September. Mr Reeve was defended by Mr Henry Deane. Although a medical examination of Mr Reeve by two medical men was refused, he was examined by Dr A. Eddowes, and Mr Deane reported that Dr Eddowes was not convinced that Mr Reeve understood what was going on. Mr Deane further suggested that Mr Reeve’s condition “may have been made worse by being locked up in the cell.” Nonetheless, the case proceeded. There appear to have been a few question marks over the confession made by Mr Reeve, most notably that he merely answered the [leading] questions put to him by the Inspector, rather than volunteering the information.

Mr Reeve had been manager at the store for three years, and lived there with his wife. The fire caused damage to the value of £433. 6s. 10d.. The account books were in good order. The magistrates decided that there was a case to be answered and Mr Reeve should be committed for trial at the Leicester Assizes. Mr Deane said: 

“If this man is committed for trial, I venture to think it may be that that will be the very turning point between his mental health and his mental incapacity for the rest of his life … Unfortunately, this man comes of a family where there have existed mental disturbances. His father died in a lunatic asylum and his brother has been in a similar institution. Undoubtedly this man’s mind was very much distressed, and whatever disturbance existed before would be increased by the occurrence of the fire.”

The report concludes:

“The Bench, after a short consultation, decided to send the prisoner for trial to the next Assizes, and Mr Deane applied for bail. This was granted, prisoner in his own recognizances of £50, and two sureties in £25 each.”

The case had lasted nearly three hours.

The Leicester Assizes met on Saturday 1 st November, and this was reported on page 6 of the ‘Leicester Journal’ 7 November 1884. The judge was the Right Honourable Lord Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice of England, and the event took place at Leicester Castle. 

The judge stayed in Judges House on the Friday evening before the assizes

Leicester Castle looking towards the front

Leicester Castle from the rear in Castle Park

The judge's seat to the left of the picture as it is today

The Grand Jury consisted of: Sir A.G. Hazlerigg, Bart. (foreman); Sir H. Halford, Bart.; Sir F.T. Fowke, Bart.; I. Harrison; T.C.D. Whitmore; Hussey Packe; G.T. Mowbray; W. Winterton; H.C. Woodcock; G. Shaw; A.W. Arkwright; H.E. Smith; G.W.L. Johnson; R.G. Pochin; T. Arthur; J.W. Bailey; P.P.P. Goodchild; G. Wright; A.M. Cochrane; T. Cope; J.D. Moore; J.Y. Stephens; F.A. Wollaston, and W.H. Ellis, Esqs..

Alfred Reeve, who, as we know, was on bail, was indicted for maliciously and feloniously setting fire to his dwelling house at Loughborough, which was above the Co-operative Store on Wood Gate of which he was the manager, and where he lived with his wife and her sister, Miss Clara Fanny Brooks. At the trial, Mr J. Parkinson, the secretary to the Co-operative Society spoke, saying: “[the] prisoner had been manager of the company for three years, and had always borne a good character. Shortly before this occurrence he seemed very reserved and unwell.”

Mr Weightman, putting forward the case for the defence, said: “a doctor … would have no hesitation in saying that prisoner was at the time suffering from an extreme attack of melancholia, and that being so his case would be that prisoner did not set fire to the place at all, but that after the event, being in a state of melancholia, he went to the police station and made a statement which was entirely untrue, and the result of a delusion.

The case seems to have been quite contradictory, and the judge’s summing up was extensive, unlike the “few minutes” after retiring that it took the jury to return a verdict of guilty.

When Alfred was brought up for sentence, there was some questioning between the judge and a variety of people, before the judge eventually passed sentence, saying:

“Well, I have considered carefully what I will do in this case. You have borne an excellent character, but to my mind I never saw a clearer case on circumstantial evidence only; it seems to me the clearest case I ever tried. What motive you had I don’t know, and without saying it irreverently, I don’t care. It is not my duty to inquire into the motive. It is said that you were in a melancholy state. That is very likely, but such a state of mind would easily be cured by the administration of proper medicines, and you are said to be now in a perfectly healthy state of mind. I do not know that it is seriously denied that you are the person who set fire to the place. What am I to do? A person sets fire to a place, and not only destroys a great deal of property, which is very bad, but might have destroyed life, which in my judgement is a great deal worse. If the Secretary of State investigates the matter, and finds that you are no responsible for your actions, you may be shut up for the rest of your life or during her Majesty’s pleasure. But if you were responsible, and knew what you were doing, it was a very bad case. I cannot do less than sent you to penal servitude for five years.”

Alfred Reeve was one of quite a number of people tried at the Assizes on that day:

o   William Jones for assaulting with intent to rob Thomas Ironmonger at Hemington
o   Joseph Hammond for committing a burglary at Aylestone Park
o   Arthur Martin and William Toone for stealing at Great Bowden
o   James Gavin for stealing in Derby
o   George Savin for wounding someone in Belgrave
o   Edward McGore for using someone else’s trumpet in Derby
o   Thomas Moss a clerk in Hinckley for embezzlement
o   Arthur Shipston stealing at Thrussington
o   William Turner for house-breaking and stealing in Derby
o   Francis Rhodes for burglary at Glossop
o   Curt Von Altroch for taking money under false pretences
o   Jabez Moore for wounding his wife in New Humberstone

Alfred Reeve was sent to Pentonville Prison, and then on to Chatham to serve his sentence.

However, there was quite some disquiet about his committal. News of Reeve’s sentence reached Southampton, and in the ‘Southampton Herald’ of January 13th 1885, it was reported that “Great interest is being excited in Leicestershire by the conviction of Alfred Reeves … It is believed that the man has been wrongly convicted, and his so-called confession is accounted for by the fact of his father having died insane.”

And sure enough, 9 months later, the ‘Leicester Chronicle’ of  12th September 1885 ran the following article:

“The fire at the Loughborough Co-operative Stores: Release of the Prisoner. On Sunday information was received at Loughborough that Alfred Reeve, formerly manager of the Co-operative Society’s Wood Gate Stores, who was undergoing five years’ penal servitude for arson, was to be released by order of the Home Secretary.”

The report goes on to say that there appeared to be no motive – the accounts were in order, the books were well kept, there a positive financial balance, and Reeve had no insurance for his furniture. Mr Parkinson, and Mr Huram Coltman, having connections with the Co-Operative Society, had not taken part in the prosecution. Reeve’s friends made efforts to secure his release, and petitions were signed, which analysed the evidence and Reeve’s state of mind. The committee of the Co-operative Society aided Reeve’s cause, and did his neighbours. Mrs Reeve and her sister also described the events of the night, which were in direct contradiction to the confession, and so “This conflicting testimony was laid before the late Home Secretary (Sir. W. Harcourt) … When the change of Government occurred the facts of the case were laid before the present Home Secretary (Sir Richard Cross) …On Wednesday morning he [Reeve] was met by his wife [at Chatham prison] and at once started for Loughborough, arriving home about noon. The release was unconditional, and … solely upon the merits of the case … during the incarceration the Co-operative Society have employed Mrs Reeve at the stores, and that it is highly probable they will reinstate Reeve.” 

A miscarriage of justice, that was eventually put right. One can only hope that Alfred Reeve was able to live a long and happy life.  

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2020). Fire in a Loughborough building. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/10/fire-in-loughborough-building.html [Accessed 25 October 2020]

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Grudgings the Needle-makers

The needle-makers of Loughborough

A couple of weeks ago you may remember I posted a couple of articles on needle-making and promised you a blog post on one specific Loughborough company of needle-makers, but before I introduce you to that family, here's a quick update on other needle-making firms that appeared in the 1872 Loughborough street directory:

• Thomas Armstrong in Pinfold Gate and at 11 Leicester Road
• J T & C Grudgings at 7 Woodgate and on Packe Horse Lane
• W Hammond Bearded Needles & Sons, one factory on Havelock Street (factory demolished in the 1960s was on the site of the current Goods Yard Close) and another on Bridge Street, on the corner of Limehurst Avenue opposite the former Fire Station (now ATS Euromaster) and Bridge Street, probably demolished in the 1980s, though left derelict for sometime
• William Hubbard in Union Street (now the tiniest little cul-de-sac off Ashby Road, opposite the Old English Gentleman pub)
• There is also another potential needle-making factory, as yet unidentified (by me, at least) along the jetty leading from Duke Street to Meadow Lane, which in 1925 could be W & W Hubbard  

There are, of course, other trades related to the hosiery industry and needle-making but let's get back to the Grudgings!

The Grudgings family had at least three needle-making factories in Loughborough:

• on Woodgate/Packe Horse Lane (opened in 1850-1 and certainly around in 1872) 
• School Street (J T & C Grudgings - being Josiah, Thomas and Charles Cross) 
• and Albert Street (Daniel & Bros.).



Grudgings, now GTG Engineering, Albert Street

If you've read my previous posts you'll know that the Albert Street factory is still standing and is used by GTG Engineering, a company which was established as long ago as 1959, and provides "precision engineering, mechanical testing and metallurgical specimens and equipment to the aerospace and allied industries."


Grudgings, now The Needleworks, on School Street

The other two factories have disappeared, one on Woodgate - with an entrance also on Packe Horse Lane - at number 7 Woodgate, next door to the Marquis Of Granby pub, which was on the opposite corner of Packe Horse Lane from the Old Packe Horse Inn (now the Organ Grinder) - and the other being partially demolished and re-built as flats (28 School Street).













The Grudgings family who owned and worked in needle-making factories in Loughborough originated from Ratby, where Daniel Grudgings (let's call him senior) was in the needle-making trade (as was his father, also Daniel). His son, also Daniel (let's call him junior), moved to Desford and took needle-making there, and some of his sons brought the work to Loughborough, and created the Grudgings needle-making factories mentioned above. Years later, one of Daniel junior's grandsons took needle-making to Kegworth.

Between 1871 and 1881, members of the Grudgings family, either needle-masters, or needle-makers, were living in various dwellings in Loughborough, including numbers 1 & 2 Albert Street, number 4 Albert Place, number 8 Bedford Street (which appears to be on the end of the terraced houses, exactly where Browns Lane now cuts through), 2 Southfield Road, and 58 Woodgate (approximately where the Print House is). In later years, members of the family can be found living on Paget Street, Herrick Road (numbers 116 & 118), Beacon Road (numbers 14 and 20), 40 Moor Lane, 32a Cobden Street, 2 Corporation Road (no longer standing), 234 Forest Road (no longer standing), and more recently Charnwood Road.


Charnwood Road

116 & 118 Herrick Road

These days we probably struggle to conceive of the number of needles that would actually need to be made in order to support the hosiery industry: Needle-making was a skill and in high demand, as Loughborough and the surrounding area were major areas of hosiery production. Now, I'm no expert on the hosiery industry of the past, so I'm not sure whether they would have been producing latch needles or bearded needles, although, given that another firm, Hammonds, were publicised as bearded needle-makers I'm erring on the side of the bearded variety.

I do have it on good authority that if you were an engineer maintaining one of these hosiery making machines, you would be sure to wear a suitable boiler suit as, clambering under the machines you would come out covered in needles! And, if you worked on the milling machine, you needed to be careful not to get the beards caught in your fingers: They hurt and were very hard to get out!

In later years, the Grudgings family branched out from needle-making, so in the late-nineteenth century, early-twentieth century, we find school teachers (one at Cobden Street), in 1901 a trainee teacher was boarding on Uppingham Road, Leicester, also shoemakers, iron workers and I'm sure many of us will remember Grudgings tobacconist and confectioners who last traded on Swan Street.

Regarding the fortunes that were made in the Grudgings' needle-making enterprises, Daniel senior died in 1870 leaving under £100. Daniel junior died in 1876 and left effects under £450. Charles Cross Grudgings who died in 1918 left £5658 5s. 6d..

In 1871 there seems to have been some kind of industrial dispute, which may or may not have included the Grudgings needle-makers. on Tuesday October 17th, 1871, the Birmingham Daily Post reported:

"Strikes in the hosiery trade. The strike amongst the hosiery needle-makers of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire still continues, with no prospect of a settlement at present. The master needle-makers will not acceded to the demands of the journeymen, which must cause great inconvenience to the hosiery manufacturers generally, if a speedy settlement does not take place. The men still remain firm in their demand, and it is stated do not intend to resume work until their demand is complied with."

I would like to end this post by mentioning that at least three members of the family were involved in WW1. Henry Archer Grudgings, son of Daniel (himself grandson of Daniel senior), born in 1892 died in battle on 13th May 1915, aged 23. William, also a great-grandson of Daniel senior, an elementary school teacher, joined the war in 1916, and survived. His story is currently being told on Twitter. Henry Ernest, also a great-grandson of Daniel senior via a different line, was a Gunner in the Royal Artillery and also survived the First World War.

I would like to thank a number of people for their help with my research including (but any factual inaccuracies, spelling and grammar mistakes are all down to me rushing as usual):

Stephen, Tony, Ray, Steve, Rob, Roy, Ernie, Margaret, Karen and the lovely folk at the Forge Mill Needle Museum in Redditch.

Magistrate's Court, Police Station and the Wheatsheaf Pub

Magistrates, police and spar ornaments

Yesterday morning I had an early start for a Saturday as I had to be at Heathrow Airport to pick up number one son, whose flight from Central America arrived at 9.40. Worried that the Bank Holiday traffic queues would be enormous, and that the world and his wife would be travelling to Heathrow, and the airport would be really busy, I set off at 7am, with some trepidation. Luckily, I arrived at about the same time as the flight and managed to find a space in the short stay car park reasonably easily. The airport was fairly quiet and I had no trouble finding said son in amongst the other disembarkees.

Number one son playing bowls

As a result of this speedy operation, we were on our way home by about 11am and finally arrived about 1.15. He had some lunch and then I whisked him off to the bowls club to take part in a doubles match, which left me with a free afternoon, having not scheduled anything because I hadn’t been sure what time I’d actually get home.

What's left of the police station

Hubby wanted to nip into town, and I also needed a few things, so we walked in together. Usually, we walk along Albert Street, but today we went via Southfields Park, where we passed the new police station. I’d forgotten they were demolishing the old one, but we had a good view of the pile of rubble that is now the former police station.

Which set me thinking …

The Magistrate's Court on Woodgate

Police cell on the right

Now, I know I should know the answer to this, and I have read it somewhere, but, I think the police station which is currently being demolished was built in the late 60s / early 70s. This new building replaced the former police station, which was situated within the Magistrate’s Court on Woodgate. If you walk down Town Hall Passage from Woodgate, you can see 3 windows at ground level on your right, but there is also a window at waist height, which is the old police cell, where prisoners were kept.

The police department left this building to move into dedicated premises, but the Magistrate’s Court continued in this capacity until about 2007 when the new Magistrate’s Court was built on a plot facing the NHS Walk-In Centre, being at right angles to Sparrow Hill. I must admit, the new Magistrate’s Court looks nice, and even won the Building of the Year Award in the Leicestershire and Rutland Society of Architects at the annual award ceremony. Strangely, when, rather belatedly, I settled down to read this week’s local paper, there was a letter in there about the court being underused, and a comment about it now being on the inner relief road, and therefore being seen as the architects intended. Ok, it’s great if the need to use the building is less than expected, but a shame that such a new building has already lost its sense of purpose.

The other thing that happened, because we chose to walk into town a different way, was that I met an old friend in a shop I wouldn’t normally go into because it’s not on my route into town, and how fortuitous that turned out to be! She had recently been clearing out her parents’ home and had come across loads of old photos of Loughborough: I love old photos, especially ones showing people and buildings together, which help to piece together the history of the town.

The Orange Tree (formerly The Wheatsheaf)

My friend also told me about the shop next to the Orange Tree (formerly the Wheatsheaf pub): Apparently, there were spirits in there, which explained why no-one would stand near the till, and also an elderly lady in the back room who didn’t like the constant comings and goings of people. She also told me that long ago that if you went down the passage at the side of the shop and the pub there were houses there, and that there had been a big fire, which burnt them down. This was of great interest to me as this is where Henry Moore was a spar ornament maker. I’d already worked out that the Wheatsheaf Yard contained lots of little houses around a central courtyard, but it was so great to have it confirmed!

The Town Hall

After this I visited the Town Hall to see the new exhibition of local art and paintings. This was fantastic and there was some wonderful stuff on display, which is well worth a look if you have time. 

The Hospital mural

Finally, I walked past the site of the former hospital on Baxtergate and noticed that planning notices had been pinned to the mural: Applications have been submitted by Pizza Express, Bella Italia and Centro, so it looks as though we will be getting another cinema, along with at least two new restaurants.  

That’s all for this week, folks! See ya next week!