New books published about the history of Melton Mowbray

Peter Smith and David Matthews have previously compiled five books touching on the heritage of the town and these new ones concentrate on people and locations which haven’t featured before.

‘Melton Mowbray – Living in Melton from 900 to 1900’ takes the story of the town from a small Viking town in 900AD through to 1900, concentrating on the lives of residents and what it was really like to live there.

There are chapters on Melton life in the years 1200, 1500, 1700, 1800, 1850 along the way.

Peter told the Melton Times: “It uses many of my paintings to reconstruct the scenes from the past, as well as photos from Avoncroft and West Stow museums and finishes in 1900 and the dawn of the modern age.

"As far as we know, this approach has never been done before, focusing on the lives of the ordinary people, what they ate, how they worked, what it smelled like, and so on.

"It describes the various stages of building the church from 1170 to 1545 and the 1603 fire that destroyed the town centre.”

You may have spotted some of Peter’s paintings on the walls of Miss B's tearoom in the town.

The second new book is titled ‘Melton Mowbray – A further look into the past’, which covers a variety of subjects and is a companion to their previous volumes.

It includes the greyhound and speedway stadium, Melton shoe shops, the gas and electric companies and much more.

Peter added: “This book follows on from our previous volumes and fills in some areas that we haven't covered before, including the last day of St Mary's School, Dickinson and Morris’ 175th anniversary, the operatic society, the building society, the greyhound stadium, Adcock & Heap, the Brewin family and shop, Southerington & Co, coaching inns, boots & shoes, foxhunting, the electric and gas companies and Cardigan house.

"It is more like a series of standalone articles, profusely illustrated with old and recent photos.”

The books are raising funds for the air ambulance charity and Dove Cottage Day Hospice and can be bought from Foxy Lots and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe.