Digital Hearing Aids Mansfield – Nottinghamshire Digital Hearing Aids

Digital Hearing Aids Mansfield – Nottinghamshire Digital Hearing Aids 

On the face of it there is nothing out of the ordinary about Mansfield.  It’s a market town in Nottinghamshire literally just up the road, some 16 miles from Nottingham.  Having received its market charter back in the 13th Century, Mansfield has one of the largest open-air markets in the country although in recent times it has reduced in size.  Like many other markets around the UK, it has a Buttercross in the dedicated Market Square.

The town is thought to date back to Roman times and several relics, mainly coins, from that period have been found here.  It got a mention in the Domesday Book; much of the land surrounding Mansfield was owned by the Crown.  Being so close to Nottingham, Sherwood Forest is nearby which was owned by the King and used by Royal Shooting parties.

Most of the remaining surrounding areas were agricultural but when industry came, it came big time to Mansfield.  Coal mining and textiles making the biggest impressions followed by brewing.  Whilst all of the collieries in the Mansfield area are closed, the Coal Authority is still based here and is responsible for licensing all coal mining operations.  Mansfield is also home to Mansfield Mine Rescue Services, a company which provides Health & Safety training for mining in Nottinghamshire.

Mansfield Brewery
Mansfield Brewery was the largest independent brewery in the country and not surprisingly, the area’s largest employer, brewing Mansfield Beers.  The brewery opened in 1855 and was finally closed in 2002.  It was actually bought out by what is now Marstons and brewing of their famous Mansfield Beer was moved to Wolverhampton.  Locals say the beer doesn’t taste the same now that it is brewed with different water!

Mansfield Bitter had a very noticeable and successful advertising campaign using a picture of Ronald Reagan, then President of the USA.  The strap line read ‘He may be the president of the most powerful nation on Earth, but he’s never had a pint of Mansfield’.  Another popular slogan for the beer was ‘Not much matches Mansfield’.

Scottish drinks company A G Barr used the Mansfield Brewery site as their Irn-Bru factory right up until January 2011 when it was closed for good.  It has since been demolished.  Irn-Bru is the most popular fizzy non-alcoholic drink in Scotland.

Charting Mansfield’s history
Thanks to local collector William Edward Baily, Mansfield Museum came into being in 1903 when he not only offered his collections, but also a building to house them.  Now the Museum, which has moved and expanded over the years, charts Mansfield’s social and industrial history.  There are also permanent exhibitions of local artist Albert Sorby Buxton’s watercolours of the area, dating back to the early 1900s, and a collection of 18th Century porcelain including pieces from Derby and Mansfield.

There is also a new interactive area called XplorActive.  Here kids can find their way around with the help of a robot called Eco-Dude, which is made entirely from recycled materials.

Natural Beauty
Mansfield has many parks and nearby natural attractions too.  As we’ve mentioned it is close to Sherwood Forest which has existed since the Ice Age.  Being close to the Derbyshire border, the Peak District National Park is not far away either.

If you’re feeling as ‘old as the hills’ and your hearing is suffering, don’t rest on your laurels!  Take a look here to learn about the causes of hearing loss and also ways that we can help you to hear more clearly.

People of Mansfield
Albert Sorby Buxton was a watercolour artist.  He had good credentials having trained at Mansfield School of Art and The Slade in London.  He returned to Mansfield where he became head of his old school.  He captured much of the changing nature of old Mansfield in watercolours; his widow donated many of his paintings to the museum in the 1930s.  The museum’s collection amounts to 130 paintings by this local artist.

William Edward Baily was the son of one of the men who established Mansfield Brewery which made him a very rich young man.  Over 27 years Baily gathered a huge Natural History collection of around 35,000 specimens.  These included animals, reptiles, fish both freshwater and sea, birds and their nests, butterflies and moths, crustaceans, shells, coral, plants and scientific instruments.  Just before his death he bequeathed the whole collection to Mansfield Borough Council.

John Higginbottom known as Jack was a coal miner at the Mansfield Colliery from 1921 – 1926.  After this time he joined the Royal Artillery and trained as a Physical Instructor.  He spent 20 years in the services travelling all over the world.  When he left the army he took the role of Remedial Gymnast at Pinderfield Hospital, retiring in 1969.  He joined the Royal Chelsea Pensioners in 1986 and remained there until his death in 1995.

The actor Stephen Critchlow was brought up in Mansfield and it is the home town of Richard Bacon, once a Blue Peter presenter.

A number of footballers have connections with the town including Robert Kozluk, James Perch, Kris Commons, Craig Disley and Liam Lawrence who played for Mansfield Town FC.

Singer Alvin Stardust grew up in Mansfield though he was better known then as Bernard Jewry.  He was a roadie for an unknown band, Shane Fenton and the Fentones.  When their lead singer died of Rheumatic Fever he was co-opted as the lead singer, taking the same stage name, Shane Fenton, for an audition.  Later in his career he was reinvented as Alvin Stardust and went on to have a successful solo singing career and chart successes.

The pianist John Ogdon was born in the nearby village of Mansfield Woodhall.  He attended music college in Manchester and went on to win prizes for his abilities.  He memorised a vast canon of classical works so that he could play them without a music score.  He composed more than 200 works of his own including 4 operas, 2 full orchestra pieces, 3 cantatas and 2 piano solos.

Musicians Ric Lee and Leo Lyons hail from Mansfield.  They both joined the blues band the Jaytones in the 1960s which later became Ten Years After.  Lyons still plays with the reformed Ten Years After, whilst Lee has gone on to form and play with Ric Lee’s Natural Born Swingers.

Joe L Mills from Mansfield formed Green Date a tribute band to Green Day and Joel Peat, the drummer from Lawson, also comes from Mansfield.

If you’re concerned that your hearing won’t allow you to enjoy the likes of Mansfield’s finest singers and bands at their best, contact Digital Hearing Aids to see how we can help.  Don’t suffer in silence, give us a call today on 01782 698090 or contact us online here.