Ashby Folville

Leicester school boys given guided tour of picture postcard village.

Ashby Folville, which is situated ten miles north of Leicester, is the destination for this early 1950s field trip by a group of boys from Leicester's Westcotes Secondary Modern School. The pupils inspect the church and witness traditional farming methods during the hay harvest. Also inluded on the tour are the rows of Nissen huts that make up the National Assistance Board Polish Hostel, an unexpected slice of mid European culture in a quaint English village.

The hostel was set up in huts that had originally been constructed by the War Office in the grounds of the local manor house. The camp lasted until the mid 1960s with the local farmers being glad of extra labour during harvest time. The Smith-Carrington family who owned the manor house, estate and village since the late nineteenth century made their fortune through the engineering firm Armstrong Whitworth.