Updated 24.5.2020.
You may have read in the Craven Herald that sadly Martyn, the Artist passed away on the 3rd of May & I wish to send my condolences to his partner Sandra & to now dedicate this post to the memory of Martyn Geoffrey Fretwell & that eventful day of us both meeting in 2014. We never did manage to establish if we were directly related.
An afternoon visit to Grassington during my mini break to North Yorkshire took an unexpected turn of events, which resulted in meeting my name sake, Martyn Fretwell the Artist.
The story all starts some 25 years earlier, when a friend at work, who was an artist gave me this advert from a North Yorkshire magazine, which he got while visiting that area. Telling me, you will have to go & visit him & with me saying possibly one day !
So 25 years on, the opportunity to visit North Yorkshire to visit new friends resulted in me finally putting plans together to also visit Skipton Castle, Haworth & the chance to look in on Martyn at Grassington while I was there.
But when I got to Grassington I found that the Shenstone Gallery was now the Anvil Gallery & after talking to a couple of locals, I was told that Martyn had retired from the shop some two years ago. Feeling a little disappointed that I had left it too late, I though I would go into the Anvil Gallery just to have a look around. It was no longer an artist's studio, but sold hand made jewellery & decorative glass.
I got talking to the shop owner, explaining that I was Martyn Fretwell also & would have liked to have met him.
This is were my luck changed, a lady customer who was looking around the shop suddenly said to me that she knew where Martyn lived in a nearby village & then proceeded to give me directions.
So off I went, not knowing if I would find him at home.
Martyn's Shenstone Gallery.
Photo reproduced with the kind permission of GrassingtonWeb.
Feeling a little anxious, I found the cottage & knocked on the door. I knew what Martyn looked like, as I had seen his photo on the web. But he would not know who this stranger was knocking on his door.
He was in & my chance to finally meet my namesake was just about to take place.
I said are you Martyn Fretwell the Artist, with him saying yes, I then said I am Martyn Fretwell also, the brick collector on the web. Smiling & looking slightly bemused while rubbing his ear, he said come on in.
The first thing he inquired after we had gone inside, was are you a Martyn with a y, with me saying yes. Then he said he had always wondered who this Martyn the brick collector was, as there had been a few people go into his Gallery & asked to see his bricks, with him explaining to them that this was another Martyn Fretwell. This brick question had always made him smile & now he had met this mysterious brick collector. Both of us kept saying how unreal this event was.
I then asked Martyn if I could take a photograph of him & if there was anyone who could take a photo of the two of us together, celebrating the meeting of the Martyn's.
I then asked Martyn if I could take a photograph of him & if there was anyone who could take a photo of the two of us together, celebrating the meeting of the Martyn's.
Martyn the Artist.
While we going round next door, there was one of Martyn's elderly neighbours walking her dog, Martyn introduced me, which she then exclaimed, two Martyn Fretwell's Oh-my !
The big moment,
I'm on the right, just incase you had not worked it out !
After thanking his neighbour for taking our photograph, we went back inside & Martyn said "Would you like to see my family tree."
He came downstairs with large roll of paper, unrolling it on the table. It covered many generations back in Yorkshire. He pointed out that one of his Uncles had lived in Chesterfield, but we could find any connections to my Fretwell's in Nottinghamshire. My family had originated from the Scunthorpe area in the 1770's & had been coal miners, moving from one pit to another, finally ending up in Nottinghamshire. My Grandfather broke the family tradition in becoming a herbalist & owning a tobacco & sweet shop. What a mix to today's standards. His eldest son did work down the pit, but my Grandfather did not let my father do that, instead he worked in hosiery & knitwear factories & then at Metal Box.
We ended my visit by looking & talking about a couple of his paintings, with me taking this picture. Also with me saying I would contact my cousin, who had traced the Fretwell's in Nottinghamshire to see if she could find the connection to Yorkshire. We have since looked, but were unable to find any connection. I know there are many Fretwell's in nearby Shirebrook in Derbyshire, but there is no direct link to them either.
So the day ended on a high & we said we would keep in touch. All I have got to do now, is find the other three Martyn Fretwell's which are listed on 192.com !
