1979

In June 1979 an account of Harby appeared in a local magazine. This was the time when all the news was about whether there would be a coal mine here. Many people will not know anything about this coalmine but the article below shows what a flutter in made in the village then.

For those interested in the history of the village there were pictures of Harby at that in the article. Click here to go to the thumbnail size copies of these at the bottom of the page from which you can choose to see the full size copies.

The visitor to Harby, wending through the well-wooded lanes that characterise the north Leicestershire scene and its coterminus parts of Nottinghamshire can hardly miss a proclamation boldly written into the grassland of a hill side.

It simply says NO PIT (in capital letters) and this fiat is an expression of the hostility of many people in the area to the plans, soon to be examined, for coal mining in the Vale of Belvoir. Such industrial activity could scarcely leave Harby, and many other villages, unscathed.

It is not the purpose of this article to discuss the rights and wrongs of the suggested project to win the coal. This will be the task of a public inquiry and a ruling by a Ministry Inspector. Suffice it to say that the coal that has been found by a programme of borings represents one of the greatest unexploited deposits of fossilised fuel in Europe and wealth beyond the richness of the North Sea oil and natural gas reserves.

It is understandable that people who live in a lovely countryside do not wish their tranquility to be disturbed.

There are other factors too. The Vale of Belvoir is the source of the King of Cheeses - Stilton - whose flavour and excellence, though imponderable in an industrial context, have contributed much to the quality of life.

Harby has its own Stilton manufacturing centre. Until only a few years ago it was located close the village school, disclosed in the picture here to be a building of distinction. But some years ago it was replaced by another factory on the outskirts of the village. However, the artistic pursuit of making the most regal of cheeses still goes on in Harby.

Until about 20 years ago the most favoured breed of cattle for producing the milk for Stilton was the Lincoln Red strain. The Reds were thought to be indispensable for the exclusive chemistry of the cheese.

Today the Friesian, a prolific milker, is favoured. The black and white lake-eyed cattle may be seen at intervals in the day ambling idly in an atmosphere of countryside fragrance to the parlours where they surrender their contribution to the vats where the cheese starts its life under the guidance of expert hands.

The coming battle at Harby and the rest of the Vale is not just coal versus cheese. It goes far deeper than that.

Harby is about eight miles from the erstwhile hunting centre of Melton Mowbray, and it stands on a lofty eminence. From a vantage point near the parish church it is possible to look out over the great patchwork of the Vale, a patchwork of fields and woodlands and the red earth turned by the plough. As for the church, it was built in 1485 in the reign of Henry VII and may have had its beginnings in an earlier monastic establishment at Stathern.

One of the features of this church is a 14th century font and surviving stone work, presumably from a more ancient building on the site.

The clock on the tower, whose hands stand at about 4 pm in our picture, was in the nature of a wedding present. When the Duke and Duchess of St Albans were married at Harby on May 29th, 1839 they gave the clock to the church to mark the occasion.

Our picture of the school shows in the fore- ground the village green with its memorial cross, derived from an ancient cross that once stood in the churchyard. The monument is to the men from Harby who fell in the First World War.

The school itself was built in 1860 at a cost of £1,000.

Harby has two inns, the Nag's Head and the White Hart, and they belong to the same brewery company and are no more than 30 yards apart.

The Nag's Head is the older and this 15th century building is one of the oldest in the village. It was originally part of a priory and later a farm before finding its final destiny as an ale house. When it was restored in 1922 its ancient oak beams were preserved.

Harby remains today very much a centre of village and country life. It is true that there has been some extra building in late years but it retains its rustic character.

Distant from neighbouring towns it has strong links with Nottingham as well as Melton Mowbray and Leicester.

Its history goes back for centuries. Harby was one of the many manors William the Conqueror gave to his standard bearer, Robert de Todini. Robert also had Hose, Long Clawson, Stathern, Barkestone, Redmile and Bottesford. In all the favoured Todini had 80 manors. In Todini's time in the Harby area there were no hedges and no controlled woodland.

The most significant change, following the enclosures, was the appearance of hedged fields. The enclosure commission mostly mapped out small fields of from five to 15 acres.

This Present preoccupation with coal reserves in the Vale echoes developments nearly 30 years ago when another fossil fuel was found and exploited.

Long before the North Sea development, drillings proved the presence of oil in the area and some small wells were sunk at Plungar, where by pumping methods modest yields were obtained.

Though the rich deposits of coal have only just been proved they were foretold by Mr M.H. Haddock, founder and one time principal of Coalville Mining and Technical College.

Some 30 years ago, with a voice that was then merely crying in the wilderness, he insisted that there was coal to be found at the eastern side of the Charnwood Forest.

Now, at a time when the Leicestershire coalfield is coming to the end of its useful life, his prediction has been proved correct - if controversial.

Here are the pictures of Harby in 1979. Click on the thumbnail below to go to the full size image


A pretty cottage	The Poplars	The Old Rectory


The School		Stilton producers		The church		The Nags Head