Bulkington

Are there any members from Bulkington with memories of the village? I was born there and attended the infants school and the C.of.E 'big school' which was demolished when?? and a garage took its place? Does anyone remember Tom Smith's hosiery factory in School Road?? and the brick air-raid shelters scattered around the village in the war?

Hi. I live in Bulkington, but only been here for 7 years so I do not know too much about the place. If you google Bulkington Memories there is a site wix.com with some old photos of what you are looking for. Hope this is of some help.

Thanx for the quick post Norm. Know the site mentioned [I'm in the 1948 school FC photo] and thought I might catch the attention of anyone of that era. Here's hoping. from Sydney, Oz. Baz.

A few notes on Bulkington Schools over the years. (Compiled for a Bedworth Heritage Centre exhibition a couple of years ago. A Church of England school in Bulkington was built in 1862 at a cost of £1,740 to accommodate 400 scholars. This school replaced a National school which had been built in 1816 on part of St. James Churchyard. The National school was a two story building, ground floor for boys with the girls above, each with space for 60 children. The first Headmaster was Thomas Winterton assisted by his wife Esther and moved into the new School House, Esther looking after the infants. Both Esther and Thomas gave all their married lives to Bulkington School. Esther Winterton died in April 1896 after 36 years at the school whilst Thomas died in September 1897 after 38 years service to Bulkington School. The Winterton Family Copy of Report made by H.M. Inspector inspected on 24th January 1911. Report by H.M.I. E.H. Carter Esq., Premises “The Infants’ main room is badly over-crowded for teaching purposes. It is full of desks, and three teachers have to manage 109 children; the only means of separation being a curtain. A sound proof partition is needed. It seems to be difficult to ventilate this School in winter without causing draughts. In most of the rooms, all the windows are on one side, and there is no through ventilation. A great improvement would probably be effected if in every room the bottom windows were made to open and hoppered. The atmosphere in some of the rooms on the date of the visit was very unhealthy. The Cloakroom accommodation is insufficient and unsatisfactory. The younger infants use a tiny lobby for their clothes and this is not ventilated. There is no urinal for Infants.” This old school was in turn replaced by one built in 1913. Extract from school log book Nov 1st 1913 Opening of the new buildings The new buildings were opened today at 3 p.m. a Service was held in the Church. A Sermon was preached by the Venerable, the Archdeacon of Coventry. The opening ceremony was afterwards performed at the Schools by the Hon: Mrs. F.A.N. Newdegate at 4 p.m. and F.A.N. Newdegate Esq., M.P. addressed the meeting. The Vicar and Mrs. Brewer entertained those present to Afternoon Tea, and presented those children of Standards IV, V VI who were present with a bun. The new buildings comprise:- 1. Two new Classrooms each accommodating 40 children. 2. A Cloakroom for the girls. 3. A Cloakroom for the boys. 4. A Corridor connecting the new Classrooms and Cloakrooms with the existing buildings. 5. An entirely new block of outbuildings. 6. The Playground has been increased by the purchase of 600 square yards of additional ground, and a dividing line of new un-climbable fencing has been erected. The surface of the Playground has been improved by a layer of red ashes. 7. A new partition has been erected. 8. Hoppers have been inserted in three windows and a new Dormer Window built. 9. A new stove has been placed in the class-room occupied by Standard I. 10. The small class-room formerly used by the Mixed Department is now occupied by Class II A of Infants. School in 1915 School around 1960 Many people had memories of the village, most being the old cinema with the corrugated roof, heavy rain would drown out the soundtrack.

Thank you Heritage, very informative and interesting.

I'm a Bulkington lad and run Bulkington Memories website.

Thanks Dean, that site brings back a lot of memories Wincho.

I had a girlfriend in the late 1960's who lived in Bulkington, so it was a push-bike ride for me all the way from Exhall! We used to go to Weston Hall for a drink, which had recently been done up as a hotel. We used to go to a little bar at the side of the main building called the pump house bar, or something like that. It was quite trendy and very popular at the time with subdued lighting, natural stone walls, small stained-glass windows and beer-barrel tables. Eventually we parted and I later started to date a girl from Nuneaton. By then they had built a large venue to the rear of Weston Hall called the Trocadero. We used to go there on Northern Soul nights and marvel at the fantastic dancing which we couldn't do and the awesome music. I also remember seeing Frank Ifield there, who seemed to me to be very old, but was then still in his thirties! My girlfriend and I married in 1975 and had our wedding reception in the main Weston Hall. I remember us travelling there in the wedding car from Coton Parish Church, Nuneaton, and finding it shut when we got there! When we finally roused them, we scrounged a couple of cigarettes, as we had none. Today we would have got Buck's Fizz on arrival! Roll on the seventies!