Local History

DWWIPP-13 MIDLAND RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE WORKS

9th July 2019 by

The former Midlands Railway Locomotive Works (now part of Derby College “The Roundhouse”). The left-hand part of the building in the photograph has been tentatively identified as that in the photograph below. Image reproduced with permission, Julian Tubbs.

The Alexandra Hotel (DWWIPP-12), The Brunswick Inn, The Queen Victoria and other pubs in the railway station area may well have been patronized by some of the 500 women employed at the Midland Railway Locomotive Works (now part of Derby College) as “Munitions Girls”. These refurbished cartridge cases, demanding and potentially dangerous work that involved long hours.

Cartridge cases being refurbished at the Midland Railway works. Image reproduced with permission, Derby Local Studies and Family History Library.

It is estimated that by the end of the war 700,000 or more women were employed producing shells in various factories in the UK. To put this into perspective, 1.5 million shells were fired in the preliminary bombardment at the Battle of the Somme alone.

Between 1914 and 1918, the national percentage of women in employment jumped from 24% to 37%. In Derby itself, the pre-war figure was 31%. Predominantly young and unmarried, the 1911 census records them as employed mostly in domestic service; marriage would have consigned them to the home looking after children and husband. The end of the war returned many women to these roles.

The declaration of the Armistice on 11^th November 1918 brought the crowds out onto the streets of Derby in celebration. The Temperance Society were delighted that the Derby Daily Telegraph was able to report that there was “no greater amount of Bacchanalian revelry in the streets”.

The peace celebrations on Saturday 19^th July 1919, a fortnight after the war had formally ended with the Treaty of Versailles, brought them disappointment. Lloyd George had declared this day a public holiday. Most of the troops had returned: there was a “March of Victory Heroes” through the centre of Derby; a carnival had been organized for ex-servicemen plus two guests each on the County Cricket Ground, which was then in the centre of the Derby racecourse, with a beer tent. Each ex-serviceman was given ten shillings worth of tickets to spend as they wished. Elsewhere Derby pubs were given an extended licence to 11pm.

With beer back to near pre-war strength levels, the results were unsurprising. Temperance Bells (see DWWIPP-2) reported “Drink brings disappointment and disgrace”. The Derbyshire Advertiser had a more muted “zeal outran discretion” but added that the “drunkenness on the County Cricket Ground was universally condemned.”

The end of the war brought the vote to 8.4 million women, those over 30 who were better off or better educated. It was not until 1928 that women gained equal voting rights with men. The war had given women the opportunity to prove that they were perfectly capable of “men’s work”, but the party had now ended, return of the armed forces meant that the opportunities for employment were much reduced.

The Grade II* Roundhouse complex is one of the sites of Derby College and cannot normally be accessed by the public. However, parts of it are occasionally open for tours and events such as the Derby CAMRA Winter Beer Festival. For further details of dates and ticket prices, visit https://www.roundhouse-events.co.uk/ ; https://www.derbylive.co.uk/whats-on/roundhouse-tour ; and https://derby.camra.org.uk/winter-beer-festival/index.html .

This Wonder is one of a series of thirteen researched by the Derby World War One Pubs Project (DWWIPP). In describing the wonders, we also develop an underlying narrative on how the war lastingly affected pubs and the brewing industry, and society itself. For this reason, it may be preferable to read them in sequence, DWWIPP-1 to DWWIPP-13.

The thirteen wonders in this series and other stories featuring the effects of WWI on pubs and breweries can be found in a special Armistice Centenary Edition of Derby CAMRA’s magazine, Derby Drinker. It, and the current edition, can be downloaded free of charge at https://derby.camra.org.uk/derby-drinker/DerbyDrinker/DerbyDrinker_WW1special.pdf . You can also download an ‘Ale Trail’ leaflet featuring the thirteen Wonders in this series from https://derby.camra.org.uk/

The DWWIPP team are grateful for the support and encouragement of many organizations and individuals, in particular to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and all National Lottery players, for the funding; the Derby Branch CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale); the Derby Local Studies and Family History Library; and the Buxton Mu

DWWIPP-12: THE ALEXANDRA HOTEL

9th July 2019 by

The Alexandra Hotel. Image reproduced with permission, Julian Tubbs.

Although cavalry horses get the glory, the war could not have been won without the working horses and mules that were essential to bringing supplies to the front and to enable large-scale troop movements. The huge numbers of horses deployed by the British army (one estimate puts it at one million) required large numbers of men to handle them.

One such man was Thomas Piggin. He was an experienced horse-handler and quartermaster for the Derbyshire Yeomanry. He came from a large farming family, starting his working life on the family’s farm on Sinfin Moor before managing the Derby Racecourse. Although he was over 40 at the start of the War, and running the Alexandra Hotel, he volunteered to use his experience to benefit the war effort.

DWWIPP-11: THE EXETER ARMS

9th July 2019 by

The Exeter Arms. Image reproduced with permission Tim Williams.

The Exeter Arms is one of Derby’s oldest pubs with a long history of brewing lasting until 1970. It illustrates how small pubs were at the time of WWI. Even in the 1960s it was tiny, just the bar area without the openings either side of the fireplace that were made when it was extended into the cottage next door sometime later. (The extension into the third cottage is even more recent.)

DWWIPP-10: THE OLD SILK MILL

9th July 2019 by

The Old Silk Mill, built in 1928 to replace the original, see below. Image reproduced with permission, Julian Tubbs.

The Silk Mill exemplifies one of the changes brought about, or at least accelerated by, the war. In 1914, although working-class women could be found in pubs with their husbands, many pubs were ‘male drinking dens’ which no ‘respectable’ women would enter, except possibly into the ‘Jug and Bottle’ to fetch beer to drink at home. These would have a separate entrance and be partitioned off from the rest of the pub.

DWWIPP-9: THE (NEW) FLOWERPOT

9th July 2019 by

The Flowerpot. Image reproduced with permission, Julian Tubbs.

Some wounded soldiers were sent back to Britain for hospital treatment or convalescence. Mobile patients were allowed to go into the town but were forbidden to drink or enter public houses. Unfortunately for them, they could be easily identified by their grey uniforms.

There were suspicions around the town that convalescents were obtaining alcohol and the New Flower Pot (as it was then) became the centre of a surveillance operation. And so it was that a police sergeant observed three wounded soldiers enter 21 Chapel Street, just around the corner. Shortly afterwards Mrs Hynes, the occupant, left the house with “something bulky under her apron” and went into the Flowerpot. A little later Hynes returned home “still carrying some bulky object”.

The sergeant attempted to follow but found the door locked. On gaining entry he discovered an empty three-pint jug, glasses of beer and three soldiers in hospital uniform.

DWWIPP-6: MR GRUNDY’S TAVERN

9th July 2019 by

Mr Grundy’s Tavern/Georgian House Hotel. Image reproduced with permission, Tim Williams.

Mr Grundy’s Tavern is housed in part of 36 Ashbourne Rd, a fine Georgian property, now The Georgian House Hotel. It has the distinction of being the only pub in Derby named in honour of a WWI veteran. The on-site microbrewery is also named after him and the names of its beers have a WWI theme, such as ‘1914’, and ‘Bullet’ and ‘Sniper’.

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