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The Bodega, Pelham Street : Part One

Earlier in the year, I was invited to talk to Alan Clifford on BBC Radio Nottingham about my walk The Hine Hike and the buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine. The programme recently got in touch with me to see if I’d like to talk to Alan on the radio again.

They asked if I knew anything about The Bodega on Pelham Street, as it is celebrating 20 years in its current incarnation as a live music venue.

As a detective, I’m even keener than Coleen Rooney, so I couldn’t resist delving into the archives to see what I could find. This building is NOT A FOTHERGILL nor is it related to his work at all as far as I know, but I’m really interested in developing the research side of my work. Here’s what I’ve found so far…

The Bodega, now at 16 Pelham Street, but previously listed as being No. 23 was built on the site of what was previously a pub called The Durham Ox.

The Durham Ox, previously on the site at Pelham Street. Picture Nottingham.

The Durham Ox was the starting point for mail coaches to Lincoln and Newark. It was also in this pub that the Lacemakers and Printers Trade Unions would hold their weekly meetings in the early Victorian era. In 1855, the Inn made the transition to a minor music hall, hosting what were called ‘Free and Easies’, with customers supplying their own entertainment. The New Amateur Musical Society performed regularly at the Durham Ox, the Garrick Society staged dramatic reading there, and it was said to be the most popular of Nottingham’s music hall pubs. By 1900 it wasn’t considered to be quite fit to continue to be licensed. It was bought by The Bodega Company in 1901 and demolished.

They employed experienced London pub architect George Dennis Martin to rebuild the pub. The result was light and elegant, a long graceful archway with a hanging light. Projecting through a hipped roof is an exaggerated dormer with a swollen pediment on top bearing the date 1902.

Sketch/ tracing of GD Martin’s design for “Rebuilding of The Durham Ox”, taken from plans held by Nottinghamshire Archives.

The pub was still called The Durham Ox on the plans and was labelled as having a Bodega on the ground floor and a Club Room on the first floor. The Bar was on the right hand side, and the smaller arch at the front leads to a passageway.

The Bodega Company was started by Robert Banks Lavery (b.1835-6), a Captain in the Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps, who resigned his commission in 1861. Lavery & Co Bodega Spanish Wine Cellars was set up as a Wine and Spirit Merchant with branches in Manchester, London and Birmingham. In 1871 the company held wholesale and bottling vaults at St Pancras and the retail business offered – “each wine clearly and distinctly marked at its price per dock glass, bottle, dozen or quarter cask. The taster pays the proportionate small price for his sample 3d to 1s 3d and is therefore fully able to arrive at an opinion of quality.”

This delightfully verbose news item sums up the “Bodega” method of doing business:

The Bodega. – Few residents in London are unaware of the existence of the wine stores of Messrs. Lavery & Co. in Glass-house Street, Regent-Street, known more similarly by its trademark, “The Bodega”, where wines of the highest qualities are retailed in the smallest quantities, either in the form of the occasional glass for luncheon, or the modest gallon for limited homesteads. This kind of enterprise, it may be said, was altogether unknown in the wine trade, and it can easily be believed that it has excited no little jealousy on the part of the old-fashioned wine merchants, to whom the infringement of the traditions of the trade could but appear to be not only heretical but mischievous. The success that has attended the enterprise of Messrs. Lavery & Co. has proved that the latter surmises were correct. In Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Glasgow, Messrs. Lavery & Co. have opened the same character of wine bar, and with no difference in the result. The visitor “tastes” as a matter of passing convenience, according to his humour, and, if so minded can order more largely upon the sample set before him. The success spoken of has suggested the establishment of similar stores in the City, and yesterday afternoon a few friends were invited to Nos. 5 and 6 Bucklersbury, to inspect the new premises taken for the purpose. The arrangements are similar to those alluded to, both at the West End and in the provinces, and there can be little doubt the good fortune which is rewarded Messrs. Lavery & Co.’s efforts elsewhere will not be denied them in the heart of the great metropolis, where such institutions have not only larger public within reach as regards the daily necessities of refreshment, but one the best calculated to avail itself of the economical opportunities which it is the special province of “The Bodega” and its branches to afford.

27 August 1874, The Shipping And Mercantile Gazette, London.

The Bodega’s offered “wines from the wood” and Champagne by the bottle. In 1876, Lavery took one of his Manchester competitors to court for using the name “Bodega”, alleging that as a name and method of doing business it was not in use before he opened The Bodega Wine Company.

Lavery seems to have done rather well for himself, he disolved his original partnership with Francis Alfred Nicholson in 1871, and in 1881 he was to be found at Gosport taking to the waves in his yawl and cutter. In 1882 the Royal Portsmouth Yacht Club noted that member Mr. Lavery “used to run their refreshment department”. In 1895, Lavery and fellow board member of the Bodega Company, Edward Talbot Wolesley (b. 1849) wind up their interests in the Mexican Tobacco Plantation Ltd and in 1896, Lavery and another Bodgea board member, John Henry Mortimer Scott become directors of the vendor syndicate for the Almaraz Tin Mining and Smelting Company (with interests in Spanish tin mines).

In 1897, The Bodega Company is incorporated and shares are sold. It is described thus: “So long established that no description is necessary in the prospectus!”

1901, Standard Newspaper Advertisement. British Newspaper Archives. Some of these branches are noted on Pubwiki.

In 1901, as Edward Talbot Wolesley was buying up The Durham Ox, The Bodega Company had 10 branches in London, 3 in Birmingham and further establishments in Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dundee, Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Ryde, Wigan, Folkestone, Sheffield, Brighton and Hastings. (28 branches in all).

They provided Wine, Spirits, Liquors, Cigars and even sell their own Bodega Smoking Mixture in branded tins. The Bodega Trade Mark was protected, and the shield device (which can be seen on the front of the Nottingham building), was described as having “black letters on an orange band, crossing a shield with a garter at the foot.”

In 1901, Edward Talbot Wolesley found himself being tasked with purchasing The Durham Ox, and in 1902, GD Martin’s design was realised on Pelham Street.

Bodega shield (sketch) as it appears on the front of the building now.

The pub was licenced on behalf of Wolesley, Chairman of The Bodega Company Limited, London, at the Nottingham Sessions. “A great improvement had been effected. The building would be more open to police supervision than ever the old house was.” The upstairs Billiard Room was sanctioned as long as no side entrance was available for use by the public. Permission was granted.

1902 Advertisement for the Bexhill on Sea branch of Bodega, placed in the Bexhill on Sea Observer in December (around the same time that the Nottingham branch would have opened.) British Newspaper Archive.

In 1903, the licence for the Nottingham Bodega passed from Edward Talbot Wolesley to Cuthbert Johnson Collingwood, a bar manager for several branches of the chain, who had become Managing Director of the Bodega Company.

In 1904 the Nottingham Evening Post reported that Wolesley, former chairman of the company, had been declared bankrupt and resigned his post in 1903 over some irregularities connected to his purchase of the Durham Ox (and other establishments around the same time). He had received £9,180 in “secret commission” which was considered to be fraud!

The Bodega is listed as a “Billiard Saloon” around 1904 and regular advertisements for staff continue to appear in local papers. By 1909 there are 34 branches of Bodega around the country.

The Bodega, as it is in 2019. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Listen out to Radio Nottingham tomorrow (8 November 2019 around 2pm) for more about The Bodega and read the next installment of this blog coming soon!

Events, talk, TC Hine

T.C. Hine at Beeston Library

After the success of my sold out talk at West Bridgford Library back in June, I will be delivering my photo illustated talk on that other well known Victorian architect of Nottingham, Thomas Chambers Hine at Beeston Library on 19 February 2020.

The talk starts at 2pm and should last around 1 hour. Tickets are £3 each. Beeston Library has disabled access and there will be space for wheelchairs.

Tickets are available from Beeston Library or from Eventbrite. Please note I am not selling the tickets for this talk myself, they must be purchased from Inspire Libraries.

Events, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Thanks for the reviews!

A busy August so far with several walks, both public and private. It’s great to share the love for Nottingham’s architecture with so many people. Here’s some of the Facebook reviews I’ve received so far.

A very informative and interesting walk, Lucy is obviously very passionate about the subject. A very hot, sunny Sunday so we were all wilting a bit but loved it and got some good photos. I was born and bred in Nottingham but learnt a lot from this walk. I will walk around in future looking up at the history of our (mainly) beautiful city.

Heather, Facebook, August 2019

Did the walk today, interesting informative and a super guide. I would recommend this to anyone interested in architecture or the history of Nottingham

Brenda, Facebook, August 2019

The next Watson Fothergill Walks will be in September 2019 – there are three dates now booking on Eventbrite.

19 September 2019, starts 6pm, finishing up in Fothergill’s.

29 September 2019, starts 10am, includes tea or coffee and cake at Debbie Bryan.

Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Watson Fothergill Videos from Liberty Gate

The Nottingham estate agents Liberty Gate have a YouTube channel where they post videos relating to the property market in the city. They have posted two on the subject of Watson Fothergill:

A short history of Watson Fothergill:

And, excitingly, a tour of the inside of “Fothergill Chambers”, Fothergill’s Office building on George Street Nottingham:

These buildings and more can be seen on my guided walking tour of Nottingham, The Watson Fothergill Walk.

The next walk with tickets available takes place on 25 August, starting at 2pm and finishing up around two hours later at Fothergill’s (a building designed by the architect, featured in the first video!)

Events, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Extra August Walk & September Dates

Thanks to everyone who has joined me on the walks and shown an interest in the Nottingham architecture of Watson Fothergill. Tickets are now available for The Watson Fothergill Walk on the following dates:

Tickets here 25 August.

An extra Sunday afternoon walk on 25th August 2019, starting at 2pm. This one will finish at Fothergill’s, where food and drinks are available (but not included).

Tickets here. 19 September

The next one will be an evening walk on 19th September 2019, starting at 6pm, and again ending up at Fothergill’s where food and drinks are available (but not included).

Tickets here 29 September (10am).

If you’d prefer a morning walk, then there will be another chance to end your tour at Debbie Bryan (refreshments included) with a walk on 29 September 2019, starting at 10am.

Tickets for Heritage Open Days Walk here. 14 September, 11am

There will be a repeat of the Beauty in The Details: Lace Market Taster Walk for Heritage Open Days this year, it will take place at 11am on 14th September. The tickets are free, but MUST be booked in advance as places are limited. This walk starts at Debbie Bryan.

All the forthcoming Watson Fothergill Walks can be found on Eventbrite here.

Inside, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Inside Fothergill House (Jessops)

Once again I’ve made it inside one of the Watson Fothergill buildings that features on The Watson Fothergill Walk.

Lucy in action on King Street. Photo: Lamar Francois

Thanks to Alec Frusher (a keen Nottingham food blogger who follows me on Twitter, and who just happens to work in one of the largest Watson Fothergill buildings in the city) I was able go inside the building on King Street now known as Fothergill House. It was built as a Department Store for Jessop & Son circa 1895.

The Jessops building has 7 floors and a tower and I was going as close to the top as I could! Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Some changable summer weather struck just as I arrived to meet Alec to explore the floors at the top of the buildings but we pressed on and I took a few photos as we went.

This part of the building is now called Fothergill House in honour of its architect. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Photo: Lucy Brouwer

At the firm where Alec works they have meeting rooms with appropriate names. (They’ve also commemorated Zebedee Jessop, one of the founders of the Store.)

Through a locked door to the disused upper levels… Photo: Lucy Brouwer

We went up two flights of stairs to access the rooms that now hold tanks and heating. I think originally they were part of the staff accomodation.

The upper rooms were in a bit of a state, but some of the features had been uncovered… Photo: Lucy Brouwer

The paint was peeling off, strip lights had been added and it was a bit dusty. There were some exploratory holes in the walls in places, but otherwise the structure looked in decent shape.

It became apparent that the view from the windows would be pretty impressive, even on a misty wet day. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

There seemed to be original leaded windows on each side, and lots of strudy woodwork to support the structure.

And so it proved. Across the gable roofline of the rest of the building with characteristically large Fothergill chimneys. You can see the corner of the old Elite Cinema (in white). Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Some of the views of Nottingham are blocked by more recent buildings, but you can imagine that the view from here (and from the tower itself) was very impressive when this was built in 1895 – it would have been one of the tallest structures around.

A pretty special view of Queens Chambers (King Street’s other Fothergill) and Nottingham rooftops even on such a murky day! Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Queens Chambers shares some of the features of Fothergill’s late 1890s Vernacular Style with Jessops and was the next building he built.

This unprepossessing step ladder led up inside the tower, I wasn’t allowed to step inside but I managed to see the rafters… Photo: Lucy Brouwer

We kept going up so I could have a look inside the tower. We didn’t dare go inside it, but I could see that there was a viewing platform at the very top. Was it just built for the view or did it ever have another purpose?

Up inside the tower, you can see the woodwork, the windows and the brick patterning. All looking fairly solid. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

I imagine that the rafters and timbers here are a larger version of the kind of craftsmanship that Fothergill had built into the turrets on his other buildings.

Alec was saving the best bit for last… through this door to the roof. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

After a look around inside, we braved the rain to have a look out on the roof platform. There were metal walkways, so it was very safe to explore inbetween the air-con units added to the modern offices.

We turned round to get a lesser-seen view of the tower. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
And a view down the back of the roof (towards Parliament St.) Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Jessops was expanded to the back of the site in 1933 when the stone became part of The John Lewis Partnership. From this quick inspection, I’m not sure if the flat roof is part of that or a more recent renovation.

Great Fothergill details, even at the back of the tower. Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Pleasingly the back view of the tower had all the elements of Fothergill’s style that you would expect, large chimneys, orange bricks arranged between black timbers, large dormer windows…

I was thrilled to see some of that typical Fothergill brick nogging so close up! Photo: Lucy Brouwer

I love the details of brick nogging and big dormer windows, that hardly anyone will get to see.

Diagonal brickwork in the chimney. Photo: Lucy Brouwer
One for the masonry fans… Photo: Lucy Brouwer
Mysteriously derelict room on top of the building next door. Any ideas what it was for? Photo: Lucy Brouwer

Huge thanks to Alec for taking me up to the roof and letting me look around as well as to his firm for sparing him the time, and David on reception for showing me some of the Fothergill pictures which decorate the interior.

I found an image of Fothergill’s original plan online. The tower design was slightly altered in the finished building.
The John Lewis archive has some photos of the store on their website. Jessops became part of the John Lewis Partnership in 1933, when this photo was taken. They traded on the site until moving to the Victoria Centre in 1972. (Photo: John Lewis Memory Store)
The only photos I can find so far of the interior are from 1937. The man on the far left is William Dickinson, nephew of William Daft, one of the firm’s original partners. He worked for Jessops for 72 years starting in 1868 at age 16. Photo: John Lewis Memory Store.

One last Fothergill link I’ve found while digging in the British Newspaper Archives: Lawrence Summers (Fothergill’s right hand man) attended the funeral in 1919 of William Jessop (who had succeeded his father Zebedee Jessop to run the firm).

Learn more about Jessops and Watson Fothergill’s buildings in Nottingham on the next Watson Fothergill Walks in August. Tickets here.

Events, Lace Market, TC Hine, Thomas Chambers Hine

The Hine Hike & The Lace Market Tour in July

I’m enjoying working with Debbie Bryan and her team, adding a little social element to my guided walks. (The bottomless tea and great food helps!) We’re trying out a version of The Hine Hike where you can choose to upgrade from your tea and cake to a cream tea or a light lunch of soup and a savoury scone.

The walk, with me, Lucy Brouwer, looks at the Nottingham architecture of Thomas Chambers Hine, a prolific Victorian architect whose buildings dominate the city. The next date is Sunday 28 July, 2019. Starting at 12noon (at Nottingham Playhouse) and finishing at Debbie Bryan at 2pm. This is a walk of approx. 3km / 2 hours.

Tickets are available from Debbie Bryan’s website or in person from her shop at 18, St Mary’s Gate, Nottingham, NG1 1PF.

Debbie Bryan’s shop and tea room in the heart of The Lace Market.
T.C. Hine’s Adams Buildings is full of beautiful details. Explore the Lace Market with Lucy Brouwer.

Thomas Chambers Hine’s Victorian buildings dominate the Lace Market. If you prefer a shorter walk, we are running the Lace Market Heritage Tour again on 18 July 2019, starting at 5pm. Explore St Mary’s Gate on a leisurely stroll, lasting approx. 45 mins. Tea and cake included. Tickets are also available at Debbie Bryan (online or in person).

Tickets are also available for my upcoming Watson Fothergill Walks on Eventbrite.

Events, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

New Dates for August 2019

There are a handful of tickets left for the 21 July evening walk and you can get tickets here. Also, I will be conducting some more Watson Fothergill Walks in August 2019.

First up, 18 August sees another Sunday morning walk starting at 10am, which will conclude at Debbie Bryan with tea and cake. Tickets here.

Another chance to try the Watson Fothergill Walk. Tickets here.

I will also be walking in the evening of 22 August, starting at 6pm and finishing up at Fothergill’s pub (for optional food and drinks). Tickets here.

Tickets for the evening walk on 22 August here.

I try to keep the walks to small groups of around 20 people, so if they fill up and you miss oout on tickets, please sign up for the mailing list and try again or think about booking me for a private group tour – I’m interested in taking groups of between 6 and 20 people around Nottingham at times to suit them. Get in touch!

Lawrence G Summers, Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Inside Watson Fothergill’s Office part two

Having studied the building from the outside, the chance to have a look around inside the Offices of Watson Fothergill on George Street, Nottingham was too good to resist. Many thanks to Sarah Julian of BBC Radio Nottingham for giving me the opportunity and to the Bragas for letting me take a few quick photos and letting me talk to them about the building.

Following on from my previous blog about getting through the door to find a quote from Geoffrey Chaucer, here we go up stairs to find the offices that have been turned into a two bedroom flat.

A screen grab of the listing for rent.

Fothergill built his office on George Street in 1894-5 after having to vacate his previous set up on Clinton Street when the railway came through. Typically, he had been prepared for the move and bought the site on George Street. He demolished the previous building in readiness for building his office. Aged 54 at the time, he was a confident and mature architect, his office serves as a three dimensional portfolio, and a lot of his later work around Nottingham seems to have followed on from this construction. It demonstrates his capabilites to his wealthy Nottingham clients and showed them the quality to which his creations aspired.

Up to the first floor and I noticed a familiar name on the door! (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

I managed to grab a few photos, but as well as being rather overwhelmed I was also talking to Sarah for the radio piece, so forgive the rather snatched images! Up on the first floor, the first thing that caught my eye was the nameplates on the internal doors. The larger of the two rooms bore the initials L.G. Summers (Fothergill’s assistant, co-architect but never partner, in the practice Lawrence George Summers who will be familiar to readers of this blog.)

On the other door, a suitably Gothic name plate. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

The owners pointed out that the door with Fothergill’s name on lead to the smaller of the two rooms, they deduced that this was so that, in a building heated by coal fires, the boss would have the warmer office. It is also the office on the turret side of the building.

The fireplace in Fothergill’s office looks likely to be original. Nice Gothic ballflower detail. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
The niche above Fothergill’s fireplace has some Gothic touches surviving and the ceiling was panelled. We weren’t sure about all the wallpaper! (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

There was a sense in the room that it would have made a cosy place to work, there was a connecting door through to Summers’ office and then the landing between them and the small waiting room that has been extended into a modern kitchen.

Fireplace and parquet flooring in what would have been the small waiting room area at the back. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
Summers’ office has been turned into the lounge of the flat. This is the larger room at the front on the first floor. The fireplace was off-centre and we couldn’t agree if this was an original feature. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
The view out the back window of the cottages in Brewitt’s yard. The one closest on the left has been incorporated into the building to make the kitchen and bathroom. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
The landing window contained some more coloured glass and what seems to be a quote from ‘The Life of Christ’ by Frederick Farrar (1874) perhaps a book that Fothergill, who had his religious moments, had read and taken to heart? (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
The staircase up to the second floor. No one seemed to know what the statue represents; it was left by the previous owner. The niche suggests there has always been some art there but was it this? Anyone know who the chap with the bells is? (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
The room in the turret, you can just see a panel in the ceiling which would have allowed you to look up into the workings and see the herringbone structure. It was currently full of insulation, but perhaps imagine Fothergill showing clients the quality of the woodwork inside his tower! (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
The door to the other room upstairs, the owner had been staying there so I didn’t get a picture of inside! Presumably Fothergill’s apprentices and assistants worked upstairs. They had a fireplace in every room. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
In the little room that had been made into the toilet, was this tiny window. The owners removed a pulley system that seems to have been for hauling bags of coal up to the top floor in order to heat the offices. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

It was tricky to get more photos and talk at the same time so there’s just a flavour of what the building was like inside and we didn’t get time to look in the shop downstairs or further into the yard.

The conversion seems to be sympathetic – the building was used as a solicitors office prior to being sold (at least twice) so it had been disused for quite sometime. The quality of the workmanship on the repairs is first rate. It was mentioned that Fothergill had made a sturdy structure with a stone or concrete foundation – without which, the damage that was inflicted in 2015 might have destroyed the front of the building. Bonsers have written about the restoration they carried out on their website.

I will be running more Watson Fothergill guided walks into July and August – you can find dates and details via my Eventbrite page where you can book tickets. Private tours can be arranged – get in touch with Lucy via the contact page.

Watson Fothergill in Nottingham

Inside Watson Fothergill’s Office: Part One

Thanks to Sarah Julian from BBC Radio Nottingham (who had previously been on one of my Watson Fothergill Walks) I recently got the chance to go inside Watson Fothergill’s office building on George Street, Nottingham.

Fothergill’s Office at 15 George Street, with the shop built in at 17, plus the doorway to Brewitt’s Yard. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

The current owners have completed the project to turn the building into a residence – making the top two floors that were once home to Fothergill and his team into a two bedroom flat with a kitchen and bathroom reclaimed out of the space that was once part of the cottages that sit at the rear of the building in Brewitt’s Yard. The flat had been on the market and we saw our chance to have a look inside and report for BBC Radio Nottingham on our findings!

Through the door and inside! (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

The first thing we noticed was the fantastic condition of the tiles inside the vestibule…and then I looked up and saw the carvings!

Inner door with leaded glass and terracotta tiles in hallway.
Tiles around the vestibule in lovely condition. Sunflowers and Gothic motifs. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
Above the door, I was able to decipher some writing… (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
… I thought it looked like it might be something like William Morris’s motto: “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis” (Art lasts but life is short)…(Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
…but then I realised I couldn’t quite read the letters because it was in Middle English. One quick search on my phone later…(Photo: Lucy Brouwer)
…and I realised it was a quote from Chaucer’s The Parliament of Birds, which Fothergill has applied to the craft of architecture. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

Above the door I was able to decipher some writing but it was tricky to see with the automatic light that had been added. It looked quite Gothic and that immediately made me excited because it fitted in with what you might expect Fothergill to have in his building. The carving was in great condition, being inside, but it was really hard to read. At first I thought it might say something along the lines of Ars Longa, Vita Brevis (William Morris’s motto – Art lasts but life is short) which would be appropriate for Fothergill, who would have been familiar with Morris’s work and ideas to some extent. But when I looked closer I realised the reason I couldn’t quite read the text was that it was in Middle English! That A-Level where I read the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales was at last coming in handy. A quick bit of Googling on my phone and all was revealed. This was a few lines from Chaucer – not ones I knew but once I’d worked them out they made sense:

The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.
Th’ assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge,

Geoffrey Chaucer : The Parlement of Foules

Something of a fan of all things medieval, of course Fothergill would have something like this, relevant to his trade – to learning crafts and making an effort – above his door to read every time he came in or out.

Sarah Julian interviewing Mr Braga (the present owner’s Father)( Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

Of course these details hadn’t featured on the estate agent’s photos (the property was up for rent, hence Sarah was able to get access) so I was really quite excited… I’d already seen some of the restoration work done on the tiled floor thanks to this blog from the Tile Doctor who carried out the work, but that had just been a tantalising glimpse of what lay ahead. The interior retains a lot of the details that might be expected of a building with such a flamboyant exterior. Colourful Gothic -inspired stained glass in the hall for instance.

Through the door and inside to see more of Fothergill’s details. (Photo: Lucy Brouwer)

Another instalment coming up… I’ll share photos of the interior as the office is converted into a flat (now let) and piece together a little about how Fothergill might have worked in the building.

Listen out to BBC Radio Nottingham as the interview should be on Sarah’s morning show sometime this week…