June 24, 1953

Members of Newark WVS Darby and Joan Club began to assemble in the Market Place shortly after eight o'clock on Monday in readiness for the annual outing to the seaside.

There to greet the first arrivals, in front of the Newark Town Hall, and to wish them a happy time, were the Mayor and Mayoress of Newark, Dr Denys Hine and Mrs H. F. Hine.

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A Newark civil engineering firm has secured a road construction contract in Scotland worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds. The work is part of the £13m Moriston project mounted by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.

The building of two new roads is necessary because the hydro-electric scheme involves the damming of the River Moriston.
The firm that recently transferred its headquarters to Newark is International Development Co (Nottingham) Ltd.

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Preaching at a special missionary service in Newark Parish Church, Bishop A. M. Gelsthorpe, Rector of Bingham, recalled that when he told his school friends he intended to do church work in Africa they forecast he would end his days in a large cooking pot in some jungle village.

But 36 years later, in a town in Central Africa, Bishop Gelsthorpe was officiating at the consecration of the first native African bishop before a congregation of 4,000 Christians. That bishop was the grandson of a chief who ate human flesh.

Dr Gelsthorpe, wife of the Rector of Bingham and Assistant Bishop of Southwell, on her return from the Sudan has gained three dominant impressions of England in 1953.

She said these were, first, surprise that there were no really destitute people coming to the Rectory door; second, at a jumble sale there were more good clothes than there were people to buy them, and third, there was a tendency in the young to want everything handed to them on a plate.
 

June 17, 1953

Bad weather at the weekend did not deter members of Newark and District Amateur Radio Society who took part in the Radio Society of Great Britain national field day.

During the 24-hour period of the competition 100 contacts were made with other stations by the Newark team who operated from Dry Doddington.

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St Lawrence's Church, Norwell, shows the new clock which was dedicated recently by the Bishop of Southwell, Dr Russell Barry. It was provided by the combined subscriptions of parishioners and a friend of Norwell church, Mrs Hole, of Caunton Manor.

It is a mechanical hand-wound quarter-chime clock with a four foot diameter, black and gold solid dial and was installed by G. and F. Cope Co, Notts.

The building work was done by S. Clipsham and Sons of North Muskham, and the woodwork by Mr A. A. Marston, people's warden at Norwell Church.

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Mr A. F. Swaine, manager of the Savoy Cinema, Newark, told the Advertiser he was disgusted with Nottinghamshire Education Authority's decision to forbid children from seeing the coronation film, A Queen Is Crowned, during school hours.

"Children are taken in organised parties to see Henry VIII and Romeo And Juliet because they are considered to be educational films," he said.

"If this is not educational I do not know what is. It is history in the making."

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The new copy of Newark's coat of arms, which is on exhibition in Newark Museum, was painted at the Royal College Of Arms for the Newark Corporation who wished to have a modern interpretation of the town's arms, and especially of the heraldic beasts which are the supporters of the coat of arms.
 

June 10, 1953

Only one of the nine trophies at the annual regatta of Newark Rowing Club was won by the club, most of the local crews being defeated before reaching the semi-finals.

The Newark Rowing Club winner, T. Allen, won his 50th victory in the senior sculls.

Mrs W. Saunders, wife of the club president presented him with the trophy.

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The Newark Archaeological committee has begun the work of investigating and tidying up parts of the castle.

Work has started on the crypt, where the committee hopes to discover the original floor level and if it is possible to restore the earth floor to that level. The passage down to the water gate is also being investigated.

It appears that there may have been considerable alterations since the middle ages.

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Leader of the opposition in Australia's parliament, Dr H. V. Evatt, arrived in Newark to stay at the Clinton Arms Hotel during the period of the England-Australia Test match at Trent Bridge.

Staying at the Clinton with Dr Evatt will be the president of the West Indies, Mr R. K. Newnes.

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Tuxford Young Farmers on Saturday proved themselves to be the best craftsmen and housekeepers in the county at the Notts Federation of Young Farmers' Club's county rally at Brackenhurst, Southwell.

They won the Boots Trophy first in 1951 but because of foot and mouth disease and restrictions on the movement of animals, there was no rally last year, so Tuxford kept the trophy.
 

June 3, 1953

A most impressive spectacle in the Newark district is the floodlighting of Staythorpe Power Station.

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An errand boy left Newark a year after the coronation of King George V to join the Army. On Sunday he came back from Kansas City, where he is a film studio executive and a retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel.

Tom Taylor came to Newark from Leeds with his parents when he was a schoolboy. In 1912 he joined the Army and served with them until 1916 when he was invalided out.

He went to America and joined the US Army. In 30 years he rose from the rank of private to Lieutenant Colonel.

On Sunday Lt-Col Taylor was back in Newark. He parked his magnificent, typically American car in a side street to watch the march past that followed the civic service in Newark Parish Church.

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There was a special day in the history of the 1st Southwell Guides when Lady Starkey, the county commissioner for Nottinghamshire, presented to Katherine Merryweather the Queen's Guide Award.

This is the highest honour that a guide may gain and was the first to be awarded in the Southwell division.

A vote of thanks to Lady Starkey was proposed by Miss M. E. Peet, the captain of the 1st Southwell Division.

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The Farndon Boat Club held their first regatta on Saturday with sailing events for motor cruisers and a few children's sports.

A silver cup for the highest number of points was won by Mr Charles Debaene who won the slow race with his boat, Susan.