Here I am in
the South Yorkshire countryside at the grave of one of Sheffield’s most
successful businessmen. He made a fortune from house-building and the family
company Henry Boot & Son Plc still thrives today. He also built the
world-famous Pinewood Studios. I also found the mansion where he lived and
Boot's Folly on a sunlit hill.
Charles was born in Sheffield and aged 12 he
joined his dad Henry who ran a building company. He learnt from the bottom up
and took over the business in 1919 when he was 45. Sheffield was known for
making steel magnates but Charles was a building magnate. In 1931 he was
credited as having built more houses than any other man or firm, a figure
surpassed in the inter-war years by a staggering 80,000 properties. During both
World Wars the company built airfields for the Government and won contracts
across parts of the globe.
Aged 60 Charles bought Heatherden Hall estate in
Buckinghamshire. He designed and built a film studio within a year. The estate had
been thick with pine trees which furnished the studio - Pinewood Studios - with
its name. It’s been used for some of the biggest film franchises – James Bond, Carry On, Harry Potter, Star
Wars, the Marvel Universe – as
well as producing hundreds of other TV series and films.
Charles’s health declined in his sixties while
World War Two raged and he died at a Sheffield nursing home aged 70 after an
operation. He married twice - when he was 23 to Bertha (later died) and then again
in his fifties. He had two children by his first wife.
I found his grave in a high-altitude rural
village that gave splendid views across Bradfield Dale towards Derwent Edge.
That Saturday afternoon the village pub was thriving with people sat outside. I
guess most people filled up with booze and meals couldn't resist walking a few
feet to the grounds of the medieval St Nicholas’s church. Charles is buried in
the corner of the churchyard behind the church. His grave was unloved and
showed no signs of visitors. There wasn’t a single flower on it. I thought
perhaps a relative might have left some flowers. Judging by the wild nettles
around the grave no other nerds like myself had visited.
Next I went to look for the family home -
Sugworth Hall, a Grade II building not far from the village. Charles lived here
with his first wife and children. I was having a coffee and some cake in a lay-by
and asked a man walking spaniels if a geek like me could get down to the hall.
He said it was private but to the owner's annoyance a public path ran by the
house and out to folly. Good enough for me. I parked up near the gates to the
hall. Signs said walkers were under constant CCTV surveillance. I took a quick
photo though before the walk took me off the drive.
While living here he constructed Boot's Folly on
a hill behind the estate. The paths takes you out of the estate’s perimeter
onto a hill overlooking Strines Reservoir. I walked across to it in fading
evening sunlight. Inside I could see it now just a shelter for the sheep.
Charles had this built to create work for his construction works during the
depression though some thought he had it built so he could see St Nicholas's churchyard
where his wife first was buried. There'd been a spiral staircase inside but it
was removed after a cow climbed up it and got stuck.
I sucked on an aniseed ball and enjoyed the peace
of the place. The sun was blinding so I got in the shadow of the folly and
disturbed a hare. I like a nice folly but you don't see many around. Will one
be built in your memory? I returned to the path that took me by Sugworth Hall
and this time a few dogs started barking. I peeped through a window in the
trees at the hall. This Charles Boot did well to say he was one of 13 children,
I thought. I did a salute and left.