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William George Nettleship was always known as George to his family, friends and work colleagues. As a hobby he became an amateur photographer who, over many years, built up a large personal collection of photographs of the changing face of Alfreton and the surrounding villages.  

George was born on 29th March 1929. His father, Jack (1894-1973) was born in Treeton, Yorkshire but had moved to the Alfreton area with his wife Ivy by the time that George was born. At the time the 1939 Register was taken (which was used for the distribution of Identity Cards and Ration Books) the family where living at Lawton Terrace, Alfreton with George recorded as attending a local school.

He started work for William Bush & Sons, a scrap and recycling business that was located at both New Street, Alfreton, and after 1942 at the old Birchwood Colliery site at Somercotes. He was employed as a crane and digger driver. The company was also involved in the demolition of buildings, and in this capacity George had access and knowledge of many of the old shops and houses that were demolished in the Alfreton area, particularly in the 1960s and 70s. As a hobby, he started to photograph these changes, and recorded not only the demolition of old buildings but also the façade and name changes to some recognisable properties.    

In 1952 George married Iris Haslam (1933-1984). They settled down in Alfreton and had several children, living for many years on Independent Hill, but on 25th January 1984 tragedy struck when George, Iris and their son Peter died when they were overcome by carbon monoxide gas at their home. The coroner’s inquest was widely reported in local newspapers. The Nottingham Evening Post reported that by then, George worked at a hosiery factory while his son Peter worked as a miner at Bentinck Colliery and was also a part-time fire fighter.

The tragic circumstances could have been an end to George’s story, but one of his sons kept his collection of photographs. Numbering in the hundreds, George took his photographs using 35mm slides – not a cheap alternative at the time. He carefully stored them and wrote the location and date on many of the examples, so that today we have an almost complete record of his collection. His knowledge of the local area allowed George to record the changing face of many buildings over time, and even photographed rare and unusual postcards for posterity.

PHOTO: Oporto House, George Beastalls Wine & Spirits premises after closure, showing the "Tea Junction Cafe" and Archway Interiors (Gordon Nettleship Collection/SLHS)

In 2023, George’s son, Alan, allowed the Somercotes Local History Society and the Alfreton & District Heritage Trust to digitise the entire collection, so that future generations may benefit from the work that George did in preserving the history of the Alfreton area.

The Society would like to thank Alan for the opportunity to preserve the photographs and to share them with others, and also acknowledge the effort of his father, William George Nettleship. Like Reginald Johnson, the well-known local historian and author of “A History of Alfreton”, George’s name will remembered through his photographs.