Woodborough’s Heritage

Woodborough, a Sherwood Forest Village, recorded in Domesday



Community Study - 1990 - by Woodborough Local History Group



Direct to questions:

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Woodborough Local History Group    

Our Village 1990 and 1965


In 1965 a group of Women’s Institute members compiled a scrap book of Woodborough, based on press cuttings, articles and a questionnaire as part of a national competition connected with the WI Golden Jubilee. Twenty five years later the Local History Group decided to repeat the whole exercise to provide a comparison which might illustrate the extent of change which had taken place.


The following is a synopsis of the results of the analysis of the 1990 questionnaires, with most of the statistics shown as percentages for ease of comparison. The figures relate to the 1990 returns, with 1965 indicated in [    ] alongside.


Summary of the 1990 questionnaires
addressed to the lady of each household


There are 1358 on the Electoral Roll for Woodborough [580], comprising 615 [288] households and 26 mobile homes on the Moor Lane caravan park. (33 households have only one male voter, so did not receive a questionnaire). 234 [101] questionnaires were completed and returned. The majority of respondents 39% [35%] had lived in the village for between 5 and 20 years. 8% [15%] had spent their whole lived in Woodborough. Household numbers varied from 1 to 6 with 2 being most common.

From the returns relating to age groups:


There were:


Woodborough gardens should be a sight for sore eyes:


Cooking and household:


TV sets & household:


Nearly every TV programme seems to be on someone’s list of favourites:


Church attendance:


Holiday venues were fairly equally divided between home and abroad (59%) [8%]:


Of newspapers read:


Retirement:


Shopping:


Political views:


There is much confusion between memberships of the Parish Council, Parochial Church Council and Community Association Committee. Although all the members of the Parish Council were named, the number of times varied widely:


Amenities:


Woodborough Local History Group

Our Village 1965 and 1990


In 1965 a group of Women’s Institute members compiled a scrapbook of Woodborough, based on press cuttings, articles and a questionnaire for a competition in connection with the WI Golden Jubilee. Woodborough Local History Group proposed to compile a similar record of Woodborough 25 years later, in 1990. A comparison of the two records should be interesting in illustrating the extent of change in our daily life over the period.


For the original survey, each household in the Parish received a questionnaire for completion by the lady of the house. We would like to repeat this exercise in 1990, using similar questions as far as possible to provide a useful comparison. Please help us in this historical exercise by completing the form for collection by one of our members.


NO NAMES WILL BE RECORDED AND REPLIES WILL BE TOTALLY CONFIDENTIAL.


Most questions can be answered by a tick or a ring round the appropriate section.


QUESTIONS in 1990 [To read the results of the following questions click on the links]


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1: How long have you lived in Woodborough?

a) all your life;

b) under 1 year;

c) less than 5 years;

d) 5-10 years;

e) 10-20 years;

f) 20-30 years;

g) 30-40 years;

h) 40-50 years;

i) 50-60 years;

j) over 60 years.

2: How many people are there in your household?           

3: Do you belong to?

a) Women’s Institute;

b) Mother’s Union;

c) Woodborough Wives;

d) other women’s organisations (please specify).

4: Are you:

a) single;

b) married;

c) widowed;

d) divorced or separated.

5: Are you in employment? If so, please indicate type of occupation.

6: Is your husband employed? If so, please indicate type of occupation.

7: Are any other members of the household employed?

8: Are you in receipt of a pension?

9: Please name your favourite hobbies.

10: How many people in your household are:

a) under 15;

b) between 15 and 30;

c) between 30 and 50;

d) between 50 and 70;

e) over 70.

11: Do you cook by:

a) electricity;

b) solid fuel;

c) mains gas;

d) Calor gas;

e) other (please specify).

12: Do you preserve your own fruit and vegetables? If so, how:

a) by canning;

b) bottling;

c) pickling;

d) jam making;

e) dry heat;

f) deep freeze.

13: Do you make your own curtains and loose furnishings?

14: Do you make your own clothes?

15: Do you bake your own cakes/bread?

16: Do you employ a village craftsman when possible?

17: Do you have:

a) television;

b) video recorder;

c) hi-fi equipment;

d) cassette recorder;

e) CD player;

f) refrigerator;

g) deep freeze;

h) washing machine;

i) tumble dryer;

j) dishwasher;

k) microwave;

i) telephone.

18: Does your household possess a car?         More than one car?

19: What are your favourite TV programmes?

20: Do you attend:

a) St Swithun’s Church;

b) Methodist Chapel;

c) Baptist Chapel;

d) other place of worship,

e) regularly;

f) sometimes;

g) rarely.

21: Where do you usually go for holidays?

22: Do you take a daily paper? If so, which.

23: Do you take a local paper? If so, which.

24: What do you plan to do on retirement?

25: Where do you do most of your local shopping?

a) Woodborough;

b) Calverton;

c) Lowdham;

d) Arnold;

e) Nottingham;

f) other, if so, where?

26: Do you have pronounced political views?

27: Did you vote at the last election?

28: Who is our MP?

29: Who is our County Councillor?

30: Who is our District Councillor?

31: Name some members of the Parish Council.

32: Are you satisfied with amenities in Woodborough? If not, what would you like to see improved?

SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF THE 1965 QUESTIONNAIRE


As part of the task of collecting information for the WI 1965 Village Scrapbook, a house-to-house survey was carried out which produced the following results:-


There are 580 voters on the Electoral Roll comprising 288 households. 58 villagers live alone, 46 of them women. 12 voters left the village during the year, 12 more died, there were 17 births and 9 marriages.


Questionnaires from 101 were completed and returned, only 26 of them by the 50 members of the Women’s Institute, and three by members of Epperstone WI. Of other Women’s organisations, five belong to the Mother’s Union, three to the Young Wives group, one each to the R.C.O.M., medical, soroptimists, WRAC/TA, Guild of St. Barnabas and W.V.S., and 7 to unspecified organisations.


There are 72 married women, 23 working, and 27 who have someone else other their husband working. 23 of the husbands work on the land, five are pensioners, and there are three each of company directors, engineers, medical practitioners, general managers and teachers, two each of architects, local government officers, purchasing officers, builders, butchers and cashiers. Also one ill, a printer, a locomotive driver, a furniture maker, a sales representative, a map examiner, a labourer, a joiner, a jeweller, a storekeeper and a banker.


The hobbies indulged in are numerous and varied, the most popular being


The 101 households comprised 288 people,


The majority use electricity for cooking purposes (81), 27 use solid fuel, 9 Calor gas and 4 paraffin. This makes one wonder how few people make use of the newly installed gas main.


64 preserve their own fruit and vegetables, 40 by bottling, 35 by jam making, 17 by pickling, 6 by salting, 5 by dry heat and one each by deep freezing and wine making. 60 make their own curtains, etc., but only 44 make their own clothes. 91 bake their own cakes, and 30 sometimes bake their own bread.


Village craftsmen are employed by 75, 3 claim there are none! 84 own television sets, 57 have cars and 57 refrigerators.


Almost every current TV programme is someone’s favourite, but the most popular are News 10, documentaries 9, Crossroads and plays 8, and music and films 6.


There are 21 regular attendees at St Swithun’s, 6 Methodists, 3 Roman Catholics and a Presbyterian. 24 attend Church sometimes, 8 Methodists and 4 Baptists, 11 Church of England and a Methodist attend rarely.


Holiday venues vary widely, 16 go to varying spots, 3 have none, 16 favour the seaside, 10 the east coast, 9 the south coast, 8 go abroad, 7 to Scotland, 5 to Wales, 4 favour touring, 2 go to Cornwall and one each The Broads, Ireland, Cheshire, the Mountains, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Isles.


The most popular daily papers are the Nottingham Evening Post 48, the Nottingham Guardian Journal 20, the Daily Mail 16, Daily Mirror 15, Daily Express 14, Telegraph 12, Times 5, Sun 2 and Sketch and Guardian. Of local weekly papers, the Newark Advertiser, 18, is the most popular, following by the Nottinghamshire Weekly Guardian, 6, and the Derbyshire Times.


Many of the plans for retirement were humorous, 15 would do nothing, 22 did not know, 2 would enjoy it, 2 relax, and 2 age gracefully. 4 would work, one watch others work, one would do all the things she cannot do now, and one does not expect to live that long! 3 hope to garden, 2 to read, and one each to grow roses, see England, write, live in Devon, cruise, help the needy.


15 are lifelong residents, and two have lived here ‘some years’. Of the others, five have lived here less than a year, 6 more less than 2 years, 11 under 5 years, 13 have lived here between 5 and 10 years, 14 between 10 and 20 years, 7 between 20 and 30, 4 between 30 and 40, 8 between 40 and 50, 6 between 50 and 60 and three between 60 and 70 years.


Most people seem to do most of their shopping in Woodborough and/or Nottingham, 88 and 53 respectively, although a few use Calverton, Epperstone or Lowdham, and 2 shop in London.


Only 45 have pronounced political views, but 91 voted at the last election and two more would have done had they been on the electoral roll. 78 know who their MP is, 50 know their county councillor, 65 know their district councillor, and 69 their parish councillors.


About half are satisfied with the village’s amenities, 7 are not, one says we have to be, one that there are none, and one will be have main sewerage. Suggestions for improvements cover a wide range, 7 mention sewerage, 7 want better roads and paths, 6 would like a village hall, 5 better lighting, 4 improved bus services, 3 public conveniences, 3 a doctor’s surgery, 3 a chemist, 3 a resident policeman and 3 less speeding through the village. 2 suggest litter bins and 2 improved facilities for buying locally grown produce. Other suggestions include a telephone kiosk and lido caravan site, a hairdresser, a play area, planned building, dances for the young, more for the youth to do, an over 60’s club, help with gardening for the elderly, a club for husbands and wives, a swimming pool, a pavilion, dogs to be kept on a lead, a resident doctor and stop building. (Editor’s note: There are at present 5 doctors living in the village although none of them have a practice here).


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