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A New Home for Burton Business Club

This is a time for new beginnings for the Burton Business Club.  Not only did Derek Liddle hand over the Chairmanship to Lorraine Holden after his 2 year stint at the AGM meeting on 13 April, but the Club held its inaugural meeting at the Newton Park Hotel in Newton Solney.  Club member Tom Keaveney, the General Manager of the new venue acted as host for the first time.  After the short AGM meeting, Graham Nutt from the Magic Attic Museum and Local Newspaper Archive in Swadlincote gave a particularly informative and entertaining presentation for the members.

The evening started with an excellent meal for over 20 members provided by the hotel after which other members arrived for the AGM.  Derek Liddle thanked the members for all the support they have given during his tenure and particularly the support of the Club for the Derek’s Tree Appeal.  After 15 years, Derek’s Tree has gone from strength to strength.  With the Club formally taking over its administration over the last year, the Appeal can look forward to many more years providing Christmas presents to disadvantaged children in the area.  Derek looks forward to being one of the team at Christmas time for some years to come.  He again squashed the rumour that he would be moving away for some time to come.

In taking over the Chairmanship, Lorraine thanked Derek for developing the Club during his time as Chairman and said she was looking forward to Derek continuing to support the committee as ex-officio Vice Chairman; quipping: “You’re now my vice, I can’t do without you.” 

Graham Nutt then took the floor and thoroughly entertained the members about the history of The Magic Attic starting in 1987.  At that time, Graham got to hear that the Burton Mail were going to skip their entire newspaper archive in Swadlincote as they had no room for it in their new offices and they could find no home for it.  Graham and a couple of volunteers were determined that this valuable archive should be made available as a historic research available to local schools and any other interested locals.  The Magic Attic with its 18 tons of old newspapers took up residence above the Old Snooker Club and opened its doors.  It was soon apparent what a valuable asset was in that dusty attic with newspapers going back to the dawn of newspaper printing in the 1700’s in the area.

From these very shaky beginnings where volunteers had to beg or borrow bits and pieces to keep the archive going, Graham outlined a truly remarkable journey to its home in a purpose-built facility with lottery funding and grants totalling £1.7 million and world-wide recognition for the expertise and range of artefacts of local interests now displayed and researched by the expert volunteers and researchers.   Graham punctuated this remarkable personal journey  with some interesting facts such as in 1908 about an unsolved murder of a local conjurer call Mexican Joe that had passed in to folk lore and the fact that car manufacture was set up in Swadlincote in 1908 with The Paramount car – only 8 were built.  Much of the mining documentation had been lost but what was saved now forms an important part of the archive as does local census material.

Graham was modest about his own part in directing this marathon project all the way through but it is clear that he led from the front imbuing his band of volunteers with his single minded focus and passion to making the Magic Attic the “substantial business” it is today and set to grow and serve the community for years to come.

The Lorraine Holden, Club chairman echoed the feelings of the members by observing that the many present who prior to this meeting, had little idea of the treasure trove in Swadlincote and would therefore be visiting with their families in the near future.  She warmly thanked Graham Nutt for his excellent presentation.  Graham responded that he would be welcoming Burton Business Club at The Magic Attic for their June meeting.