Welcome to the Ilkeston and District Local History Society (IDLHS)

Meetings and events

Who we are and what we do

About Us

Welcome to the Ilkeston and District Local History Society (IDLHS) website. If you are a new visitor, please find time to browse through the pages. The site features information on the history of Ilkeston and district and you can find more about the Society on the About the IDLHS page.

Find out more about IDLHS

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Membership

Why not join? Membership would bring you several benefits. All members receive the Society’s magazine, The Herald several times a year and can attend all our indoor speaker meetings, outside visits and walks free of charge (excluding external entry fees and transport costs). It’s only £12 yearly each or £18 for a couple at the same address (2025).

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Contact Us

Ilkeston and District Local History Society are pleased to help with any general enquiries that visitors to the site may have. We cannot undertake any genealogical or large scale research on your behalf, but we will at least do our best to answer any questions. 

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News & Stories

Deals on Wheels

Deals on Wheels

The companion volume to Jeff Wynch’s A Town on Two Wheels — Deals on Wheels — is now available. In the final two...

Stanton Road Cemetery

Stanton Road Cemetery

In the early 1990s, members of the Ilkeston and District Local History Society became aware of the deteriorating state...

Park Cemetery

Park Cemetery

Park Cemetery is the town’s municipal cemetery, and is owned and run by Erewash Borough Council. Many well known...

South Street

South Street

This block stood on the corner of South Street and Wharncliffe Road until 1937 when it was demolished to make way for...

St Mary’s Parish Church

St Mary’s Parish Church

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin has stood on its present site since the mid 12th century and until 1848 served...

Ilkeston Charter Fair

Ilkeston Charter Fair

Introduction King Henry III granted a Charter Hugh de Muskham on April 10th in the year 1252. The charter gave the...

Great War stories

Great War stories

(A longer read) When we think of the First World War, most of us think of trenches, machine guns and mud in France and...

Who was St John Houghton?

Who was St John Houghton?

Beauvale Priory, near Eastwood, achieved fame when its one-time Prior, John Houghton, became the first English...

A Little Hallam wedding

A Little Hallam wedding

The photograph arrived in the same package as Bessy Ling. All we were told is that it recorded a marriage on Little...

Goodbye, Bessy Ling

Goodbye, Bessy Ling

Good-bye, Bessy Ling, Good-bye  (Click red link to download audio file) By Peter Cave This is a surprise: sheet music...

Wharncliffe Road in 1914

Wharncliffe Road in 1914

Contributed by the late Paul Robinson When I was little, before and during the Kaiser's War, Wharncliffe Road was...

Publications

The Society sells a variety of publications both by the IDLHS and by others. These can be purchased directly from the Society by post. 

Prices shown include postage and packing but only relate to UK postage rates. For overseas orders or other enquiries relating to these publications please contact the Secretary at the address below. Please note that postage rates can change, so the Society reserves the right to amend prices without prior notice. 

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