Barkestone-Le-Vale To Stenwith

REDMILE CLOCKMAKER

George Bishop moved to Redmile in 1762 he had a wife Mary and over the following years they had seven children. These events are recorded in documents preserved at the Leicestershire Records Office. He died in 1805 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Redmile churchyard.

George lived in Redmile during the enclosure of the open fields, divided and hedged this dramatically changed the landscape to what we still see today. He also witnessed the construction of the Grantham canal which touches Redmile closer than many of the other Vale villages it is said to serve. We can only speculate what he though of these immense changes which must have been the 18th century equivalent of building a motorway or HS2.

Unfortunately George left no diary or personal records of his life, he even failed to leave a will. We do know where he lived in 1797 because his tiny village plot is identified on the Redmile Enclosure Map to the left of the Windmill Inn.

Back in the mid 1990s a visitor came to Redmile seeking his grave. They had at home a longcase or grandfather clock and on the dial was engraved George Bishop REDMILE. Since that time over forty clocks have been discovered, made in Redmile by George and his son John between 1762 and 1809

BOMBING THE VALE

During the night of 8th/9th May 1941 the Vale of Belvoir suffered a bombardment of major proportions. Some believe this was a failed attack on the cities of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, if this was so then perhaps many lives were saved.

High explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped onto Barkestone, Redmile, Plungar and Bottesford leaving several craters and unexploded bomb craters.

At Redmile, bomb craters were scattered in fields surrounding the village. Several windows in Redmile village including two shops and Methodist Church were damaged.

Miraculously there were no casualties and no serious damage to property resulted.

A final survey showed that the main attack covered an oblong area approx. 7 miles long by 3 miles wide. This included all the villages and hamlets from Normanton (Bottesford) to Plungar.

The above (shortened) account is transcribed from a contemporary report, a facsimile being reproduced in "Birds Eye Wartime - Leicestershire 1939-1945" by Terence C. Cartwright. The author adds: "Later counts of craters and U.X.B's amounted to 250. One U.X.B which fell in the canal near Redmile could not be removed due to being well below the water table, in silt"

George Bishop and Bombing in the Vale information courtesy of The Redmile Archive