Every Picture Tells A Story

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Do you recognise where this is in Newbold Verdon? No? Well, you are not alone.

Since having this sent to us last year, no one who has seen it has been able to identify the location, until a few clues were offered, so here they are for you.

  • In the far distance you can just see Newbold Heath.
  • The house in the middle distance is not there now, but you can still see the remnants of the garden.
  • The bungalow you can see in the front of the picture fell down.

Still none the wiser, or have you worked it out?

You are looking at a picture taken at the end of Dragon Lane on the opposite side of the road to the doctors’ surgery. Your view today would be blocked by a row of houses built on the site where the bungalow once stood, until, that is, mining subsidence brought it down. The culprit was the Merrylees Drift Mine’s coalface. Lying only 300 feet below the surface, it was responsible for a great deal of damage done to buildings in Barlestone, Newbold and Newbold Heath. The old house in the picture was also a victim of the mine.

A few may remember it as the tollgate house. It was the home of those employed to take the tolls from travellers on the Foston Turnpike. Constructed in the late 18th century, the 15 mile turnpike ran the full length of what is now the B582 from Osbaston Crossroads to Foston on the eastern side of Countesthorpe. Two gates stood across the road, one to Barlestone and the second to Market Bosworth.

The baby in the picture is the person who donated it to the Archive !

If you have any photographs that you feel tell a story of the history of the village and parish, why not us our contact form HERE and drop us a line.