The Interviewees

 

Mary Peatfield, Elston's second oldest resident, came to Elston in 1918. She only a fortnight old and came to escape the bombing in Nottingham. She first lived at a little cottage near "The Horse and Gears" that was subsequently pulled down. For most of her life she lived, with her husband Don, at Appleacre on Low Street. She was a school teacher and taught at Elston Primary School but most of her teaching career was at Hawksworth Primary School.

 

 

David Smith was born in 1938. He moved into the village in 1942 when his mother took over the running of one of the village shops. He became a motor mechanic and subsequently ran his own business at Rosedene on Low Street. Sadly David died in February 2010.

 

 

Olive Gilbert was born in 1918 and moved to Elston when she was a baby. In 1942 she gained a scholarship to the Lilley and Stone Girls High School in Newark. She lived first in a small cottage on Top Street now called Cobwebs and then at an old farm house in Bottom Street near the end of The Big Scutchel. This second house has now been pulled down. Later, when the new houses were built, the family moved to number 6 Toad Lane. She now lives in Newmarket.

 

Stan Wright was born in 1924. In 1940 he moved with his family from Newton to Chapel Farm in Elston. Subsequently he moved to Hollies Farm in 1958 and now, retired, lives at Holly Byre in Low Street.

 

 

Alice Walker was born in 1905. She was the daughter of John Rawson, a basket maker in Elston. She lived at Rose Cottage, now called Sharah House, in Lodge Lane. Latterly she lived in Home View until her death in 2001. Home View had been built in the garden of Sharah House.

 

 

 

Ivor Walker was born in 1940 and has lived all his life in Elston, first at Rose Cottage, these days called Sharah House, and then at the bungalow next door called Home View. He is the son of Alice Walker, the twin brother of Keith and brother to Noel and Theodora.

 

 

 

 

Brenda Castle was born in 1934. In 1956 she married an Elston resident, George Castle. His mother ran the shop at "The Horse and Gears" pub. Brenda now lives at The Old Forge in Low Street.

 

 

 

 

Ray Horner is a retired farmer. He was born in 1944. He lived and worked at Stokefields Farm, Elston, in partnership with his brother David and sister Doreen until 2008.

 

 

 

Colleen Lievesley moved to Elston in 1981 and lived at Tudor Farm, a derelict mushroom farm. The site was subsequently sold and developed for housing in 1999. Colleen now lives at Primrose Cottage in Low Street.

 

 

 

 

Chris Crawford was born in Elston in 1944 and had lived there all his life apart from an eight year period when he was first married until he left in 2010. Chris and his wife Ruth moved from Elston to live near their daughter in North Wales.

 

 

 

Margret Grundmann, Elston's oldest resident, was a Jewish refugee from Germany and was born in 1917. She came to England in 1939, married in Sheffield and came to live in Elston with her husband Ralph, another Jewish refugee, in 1942. Ralph, who died in 1980 worked at Stokefields Farm, at that time owned by Brownlow Horner. She still lives in the same farm cottage on Low Street she and her husband occupied when they arrived.