FW Broom and Broom Gardens

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In this post we take a short look at FW Broom and his connection with Broom Gardens which sit just behind the war memorial gates opposite the top of Cotterhill Lane, Brimington. Broom was Clerk to Chesterfield Rural District Council and this small development was named after him.

Making connections

Very often local history is about making connections and some can be quite coincidental. This one occurred when the writer of this blog came across a centenary history of Chesterfield Golf Cub, published in 1997.  The golf club, perhaps not surprisingly, was first established in 1897! This followed a meeting at the Angel Hotel – long gone and situated in the Market Place – over-looking the Market Hall (part of the Sorbo Lounge is on its site). Initially a 9-hole course was established on land between Walton Lane and Somersall. The club has prospered and grown since those days.

A secretary

The centenary history describes how in 1948 the existing secretary of the club resigned to be replaced by ‘FW (Freddie) Broom’. He had joined the club in 1933, having already served on its committee, being captain in 1946. As described in the history; ‘in public life he was Clerk to Chesterfield Rural District Council (CRDC).’ This is our FW Broom, who Broom Gardens is named after. 

The centenary book records that Broom had sadly died in June 1952. His loss was felt not only at the club – where he had pursued a policy of renewal – but in the wider community. For the term ‘Clerk’ – now largely disappeared in local government terms, actually meant that he was a very senior (if not the most senior) officer at the CRDC – more akin to today’s chief executive.

Incidentally, it is lucky that the centenary book records the date of Broom’s death, as the Derbyshire Times for this date is not yet digitized. So, to find his obituary, a trip to Chesterfield Local Studies Library is required, with a scan through the microfilm film files of that newspaper.

FW Broom

Frederick Walter Broom. A photograph taken from the Chesterfield Golf Club’s centenary history. Broom Gardens is named after him.

Broom’s death and his funeral were indeed recorded in the Derbyshire Times, in the edition of 27 June 1952. He had died in a nursing home on Saturday 21 June 1952. Aged only 51 he had been seriously ill in the home since suffering a heart attack on 7 June. The newspaper lamented that the district had  ‘suffered a great loss’. Leaving a widow, but no family, Broom had formerly lived at 12 Whitecoates Lane.

Originally from East Grinstead, Frederick Walter Broom had joined the CRDC and Chesterfield Guardians at the former Newbold Road offices when aged 21. In 1930, aged only 28, he was appointed Clerk and Chief Valuation Officer – the Derbyshire Times noting that this was ‘a very early age at which to hold such a responsible post’. The newspaper also remarked that the CRDC had, at the time of Broom’s death, ‘the third largest population of any rural district in England’. Seen as a ‘shrewd administrator’ his talents had helped the council through difficult times, latterly stopping the city of Sheffield’s bid to extend its boundary into Derbyshire. Broom would also have overseen the CRDC’s move to its new headquarters – Rural Council House on Saltergate – in 1938 (the former but now empty North East Derbyshire District Council Offices).

Broom also held other important posts. He was Clerk to the North-East Derbyshire Joint Water Committee. During the Second War World he had been Fuel Overseer of the rural district and Food Executive Officer.

Not surprisingly his obituary records Broom’s work at the golf club which, according to one member he had ‘fathered’; leading efforts to restore and reinvigorate it after the war years.

Broom was also a great lover of music, drama and the arts. He played a leading role in establishing the Civic (now Pomegranate) Theatre. He was one of the few who originally envisaged that such a  scheme would be possible, successfully contacting the Arts Council about the possibility of a grant for the project. He also served on its management committee. Broom had other interests ranging from amateur drama to the Chesterfield and District Caledonian Association – his wife was from Edinburgh – and the Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England.

The funeral of  FW Broom was held in Holy Trinity Church on 25 June, with cremation afterwards at Sheffield (there was then no such facility in Brimington). The church was full; the Derbyshire Times recording just some of the large number of attendees. A special meeting of the CRDC was held on the morning of the funeral, when many tributes to him were paid. Amongst them was one from Brimington councillor Walter Everett ‘who said that their late Clerk was a progressive administrator, experienced in law and office organization and an efficient coordinator.’  At an earlier meeting another Brimington member – Cllr W Horner had said, ‘Apart from being a chief he was a friend to all of us.’

Clearly Broom was held in high esteem across the district as both a progressive person and excellent administrator. In his earlier career he was obviously seen as a ‘high flyer’ and suitably rewarded for his skills. These would certainly have been needed during the progression from what had been seen in the interwar period as a council that was somewhat backwards, to one which was at the forefront of council housing provision and, in particular, political changes that occurred immediately after the Second World War. He was also clearly what might be regarded as a ‘rounded’ person – with his wide interests in both sports and the arts.

Broom Gardens sits behind the war memorial, which was originally erected in 1925. The memorial is grade II listed. The bungalows to the far left and right, whilst being joined to bungalows on Broom Gardens, actually have postal addresses to Manor Road.

Broom Gardens

Chesterfield Rural District Council was a keen builder of houses in the immediate post Second World War period. In our Miscellany 11 we looked at the history of such building in Brimington. This included the leadership of local councillor and Labour Party stalwart Walter Everett. He was chairman of the CRDC’s housing committee from 1951 until the council was abolished in 1974. He would, of course, have known Broom well.

The need to replace sub-standard housing was not unique to CRDC, but the council was  seen nationally somewhat as a standard bearer, showing what rural districts could do. By 1975 there were 745 post-war built council properties in the parish from a pre-war total of only 34.

The Broom Gardens development is officially said to date from 1956. The parish council had suggested to the CRDC that the name should be used – this being agreed in January 1953. At the same time the name Wikeley Way was also adopted for another CRDC housing development, running from Chesterfield Road to Station Road. JB Wikeley was the then chief engineer and surveyor to the CRDC. This had also been a parish council suggestion.

An early plan, illustrated below, shows eight bungalows grouped around a central open space, but this was altered at some stage. The construction is actually of 10 bungalows grouped around an open space.

Part of a Chesterfield Rural District Council (CRDC) June 1952 plan of the ‘Manor Road Housing Estate’, showing Broom Gardens. This is not the version which was actually built. The numbers within the bungalow footprints are the type of property then proposed to be constructed. The road to the left is Manor Drive; Manor Road to the top. The site of the original miners’ welfare bowling green is outlined in purple. To the bottom was a designated space for a childrens’ play area – though it is not known if this ever functioned as such. The CRDC’s engineer JB Wikeley would have been responsible for the development’s lay-out.

Broom Gardens itself stands on the site of part of the ill-fated Miners’ Welfare Recreation Ground. This began in 1923, but always appears to have somewhat struggled. By 1957 the facilities were in a poor state and the trustees finally sold the site to CRDC. Alongside Broom Gardens, Manor Drive was also constructed.

Looking from the war memorial gates to inside the small Broom Gardens development. Between the bungalows, to the left, may be seen the entrance to the bowling green.

To the front of what is now Broom Gardens part of a separate but complementary scheme was erected in 1925 –  the war memorial. The present bowling green, accessible from Broom Gardens, was part of the welfare ground, which also included cricket and football pitches and tennis facilities. After some years of disuse the bowling green was restored in 1977. It is still a popular facility.

In our Miscellany 7 the late Peter Harrison complied this map from his memories of what was present on the old miners’ welfare ground, perhaps at its heyday in the late 1930s. The ground always seemed to struggle with fund raising and general support. The Broom Gardens development of the 1950s sits immediately behind the memorial gates covering the children’s playground area and part of the tennis courts. The tennis pavilion survives as the Manor Centre, complete with its ‘Miners Welfare’ plaque.

The club remembers Broom

It is apt that the golf club, which he so obviously loved, still remembers Freddie Broom as he appears to have been known there. The committee instituted ‘The FW Broom Memorial Trophy’ – to be played for by open mixed foursomes. This was first played for in the early autumn of 1954. The competition still takes place annually.

Sources

  • Chesterfield Golf Club – 100 years (1997).
  • P Cousins ‘A short history of council housing in Brimington’,  Brimington and Tapton Miscellany, 11 (2019).
  • Derbyshire Times, 27 June 1952, 23 January 1953.
  • P Cousins ‘The miners’ welfare ground and its pavilion’, Brimington and Tapton Miscellany, 7 (2015).
  • A Sharp ‘Recreation grounds in Brimington’, Brimington and Tapton Miscellany, 3 (2011).

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Chesterfield Golf Club for permission to use the photograph of FW Broom and for information and to Chesterfield Local Studies Library for research facilities.

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