History group proud to honour heritage properties in Derbyshire village

Mike Coupe, right, the secretary of the Tibshelf Local History and Civic Society, presents a Heritage Award plaque to Jennie, Paul and Laura Housley for their work on Wheatsheaf Mews, formerly the old Wheatsheaf Hotel.

The Tibshelf Local History and Civic Society has awarded three plaques to Ashmore Farm and the former Wheatsheaf Hotel, both on High Street, and the former Midland Railway Tibshelf and Newton Station, on Newton Road.

The owners of the historic buildings have been awarded the plaques as a way of celebrating and promoting old traditions.

Secretary of the history and civic society group, Mike Coupe, 74, said: “The idea is to celebrate the work that people have done to renovate and restore old buildings.

Mike Coupe, right, the secretary of the Tibshelf Local History and Civic Society, presents a Heritage Award plaque to Lorraine Hill for work done of Station Cottage, the former Tibshelf and Newton Railway Station.

“None of us are architectural historians, but there is a level of knowledge and experience in the group that means we know what is correct for the time period and can see where renovations have been sensitive to the heritage aspects of the building.

“We’re looking at buildings more than 100 years old where the renovations are done in a way that reflects or replaces the style of the property at the time it was built.”

He added: “We are hoping this idea might spread further and not just in Tibshelf.”

The Tibshelf Local History and Civic Society was formed two years ago to encourage the conservation and protection of the traditional fabric and character of the area.

Mike Coupe, right, the secretary of the Tibshelf Local History and Civic Society, presents a Heritage Award plaque to Cecil Hill for a lifetime of conservation on his traditional Derbyshire long house home, Ashmore Farm, where he has lived since 1932.

Cecil Hill, 90, has lived at Ashmore Farm since 1932 and took it over in 1960.

The property is a traditional Derbyshire long house and was passed down to Cecil from his grandfather and then his father.

The home is thought to have been built around the 1500s.

Explaining more about the scheme, Cecil, who is president of the group, said: “It is a celebration to mark what people have not done, rather than what they have done. The purpose of it is to keep the village as it was as much as possible.”

Cecil said his grandfather bought the house in 1946 and paid less for it than what Cecil pays in council tax now.

He said: “There are quite a few long homes about but they have been changed since the war.”

The home has six rooms upstairs and six downstairs. Over the years a few minor changes have been made such as a shower and an inside toilet but from the outside the building is pretty much the same.

“The windows have not been changed,” Cecil said. “Anybody coming back would recognise it.”

He added: “We love it here.”