Sheila Sharpe
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I moved to Kegworth in 1962, shortly after two family bereavements, but have known the village since the mid 1950’s. My maternal Grandparents were both born here (My Grandfather’s Grandfather Thomas Malthouse, a Cooper by trade, came to Kegworth in search for work and met and married a local girl (one of a branch of the Woolleys of Kegworth, whose ancestry is traceable back to the 1700’s). My Great Grandfather was George Heafield, after whom Heafield Drive is named.
I have been with the Heritage Centre for many years since I was asked to join the Kegworth Village Association by a former member.
My voluntary work has included involvement with Victim Support, Scope in Charnwood, Loughborough Guild for the disabled, and the Kegworth Minibus Association (of which I was one of the founder members) . I worked for over twenty years at Trubros Constructional Steelwork (formerly True Brothers Manufacturing) Station Road, Kegworth. My employment has always been in the clerical area.
My main interests are reading, both fictional and factual books, and writing poetry. I am a tenant involved with North West Leicestershire District Council’s resident involvement activities. As part of this I am one of the editorial panel for their tenant magazine “In Touch” and also an “empty homes Inspector”. I love all aspects of wild life and nature, hence the photograph.
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Phil Stevens
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My immediate family line of my mum's family started in Kegworth from 1881 (the Hassells) and 1897 (the Dunmores), however through the Hassell side I am a Wilders, a Kelham and a Crane, all with a much longer connection to Kegworth.
I was born in my maternal grandparents home at 92 Whatton Rd. (then 10 Broadhill) on the 24th Sept. 1947 at 23.00. Our bit of the family moved to 59 Whatton Rd. in December 1948, the first family to move on to the "New Estate".
I went to Kegworth School from 1953-1959 and then my Kegworth life started to fall apart. In Kegworth terms passing the 11 Plus set me apart from most of my mates, a gulf that gradually widened until work took me away from the village on Whit Tuesday 1968.
Thankfully my mum had filled me with tales of Kegworth from a very early age to such an extent that I knew many of the kids mothers by their maiden names. The tales created an abiding interest in the village which started to bloom in 1994 into active involvement with the Museum. During the period 1994-2006 I was instrumental in setting up several seasonal exhibitions on the Shops, Buses, Railway, War Brides, Carnival and the Pubs, with a lot of help from the original team of volunteers.
By 2006 my mum's needs became paramount and I could no longer find the time to 'commune with the dead', as she put it, at the Museum and spend time with her. By 2008 when she died I had had enough of charging up and down the 80 miles of M1 from Leeds and so took a 10 year break from the Museum, perhaps at a time when my help would have been most appreciated.
Luckily, I was retired in 1998 from my day job and finally finished paid work in 2012. By this time my three girls had their own lives and my days were totally free. I still live in Leeds and when the call came for help from KHC in April I decided to answer it despite the tedious drive. Fortunately technology helps cope with what's needed but the thing is I love being on the ground talking to people about the village and particularly the history of their families and what they did.
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Ally Gill
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I first became aware of Kegworth in 1980 when I started as a student at Sutton Bonington, little suspecting that seven years later I would choose to make it my home. And over thirty years later I’m still living in the same house on Stonehills (although during that time I've also lived in Oslo and Zurich and spent most of the last four years in Prague).
When the call went out for volunteers in 2017 I thought I might be able to offer some support based on my experiences as both a management consultant and an IT specialist, but at the time I was working in Prague and it wasn’t very practical. When the second and more urgent call went out, I was back in the village and once again offered to help. I’m now supporting KHC from a business perspective, looking after ‘all things digital’ and project managing the 'Transition Plan' to take us from where we are to where we want to be in the next few weeks, months and years.
I got engaged last year to my long-term partner Mel who I used to work with before I went freelance. In my spare time, I write several blogs, one about Prague, another related to my management consultancy work and a third about Apple-related Hardware and Software. I also play Pétanque at the Red Lion where this year we are fighting to stay in the top division in the primary Leicestershire league after being promoted last year.
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