Nevill Holt in 1984

In the summer of 1984 I came back to Leicestershire for a week and went on a couple of long bike rides.

One of them took me past Nevill Holt, which in those days was still a prep school. It closed in particularly dramatic circumstances after a police raid - see the many comments on this post for accounts of its life and death.

I do not remember photographing the building, but I do remember showing the photo to someone when I got back to London.

Yet when I started posting these old photos of mine, I could not find it in the album where I was sure I had seen it.

Today, when I was doing some sorting and tidying, I found it in a wallet of photos from many years later. I blame the Elves of Rockingham Forest.

Nevill Holt is regarded by many literary scholars as the model for Bonkers Hall, though I suspect that happy place has elements mixed into it from Rockingham Castle and even Belvoir Castle too.

These days Nevill Holt is again a private home. It is owned by David Ross, the founder of Carphone Warehouse.

The battle to save the Market Harborough to Gretton 67 bus

Conservatives are generally in favour of austerity until it affects their own ward or constituency.

Still, I am pleased to see that Conservative councillors are campaigning to save the Market Harborough to Gretton 67 bus.

According to the Northamptonshire Telegraph:

Conservative councillors Rob McKellar, Kevin Watt and Bridget Watts, who represent Weldon, Gretton and Priors Hall on Corby Council, are campaigning to save the service which Centrebus has announced will cease in July after its county council subsidy was withdrawn. 

They have launched a Facebook page calling for the service to be saved and are working with MP for Corby and East Northants Tom Pursglove, Gretton Parish Council and Northamptonshire County Council to try and broker a deal. 

Cllr McKellar said: “The Number 67 bus is a lifeline to many residents in Corby’s surrounding villages. 

“It doesn’t just transport local people between Gretton and Market Harborough, but it also connects our villages to Asda and to the Corby Business Academy, as well as providing a link between Priors Hall, Gretton and Rockingham. 

“We will fight hard to save the service and we will do everything in our power support to those affected by its cancellation.”

The photo above shows a bus at Gretton, but it is not the 67. It was taken during what turned out to be the final Welland Valley Beer Festival.

Market Harborough to Corby bus route under threat

The Fox Inn, Wilbarston

The 67 bus route, which runs from Market Harborough to Gretton via Corby and Rockingham, is to be withdrawn this summer after the decision by Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) to remove its subsidy.

Andrew Royle, the chairman of Gretton parish council, told the Harborough Mail:

“NCC were surprised by Centrebus’s decision to withdraw the whole of service 67 after July 23 as their understanding had been that the single vehicle operation on Monday to Friday was commercially viable, and Centrebus had given them no indication otherwise when they informed them of the likely withdrawal of their support for the service before Christmas.”

Campaigns against the decision have been set up in both Gretton and Wilbarston.

I did use this bus occasionally to get out into the countryside when there was a Saturday service, but that was withdrawn some years ago.

I wish the campaigners well in their attempts to save this route, but it is the massive cuts in central government funding for councils that are at the root of this.

Rockingham Castle

A rival to Nevill Holt as the model for Bonkers Hall may have emerged.

I spent the afternoon at Rockingham Castle - a Norman fortification that became a grand country house in the 16th century and has been occupied by the same family ever since. Charles Dickens was a friend of that family and Rockingham was the inspiration for Chesney Wold in Bleak House.

More information on the Rockingham Castle website.