March 2008
Message From The Chair
Welcome to a new season of the SHS and it seems to me to be an exciting year that we have ahead of us. As I said in my Chairman’s Report at the AGM there are three projects that I would like to adopt this year. For those that could not make the AGM, these are:
- Catalogue the Archive
- Photographing all of the Gravestones in St Lauds Graveyard
- Photographing the village.
Sounds easy doesn't it, a whole year to do three things! To try and achieve this I need your help and I am looking for someone to adopt the organising of one of the projects. If there is anyone out there that would like to help, I would be very grateful.
A quick message from the Treasurer. After the AGM, there were some changes made to the Constitution that means that if Subs have not been given to the Treasurer within the first three months of the year then it will be assumed that you no longer want to be members. So if it has slipped your mind then Pearl will very happily accept your subscription. The other points that were brought up at the AGM are in hand.
As you can see in the column opposite there is a very full set of meetings to come and enjoy, please tell your friends and come and support an many as you can. Hope to see you there. MV
2008 Programme
As you might have seen in the SCAN we have now published this years program. If you have any queries please ask a member of the Committee.
| April 8th | Marion Maule speaking on “A Victorian Childhood” |
| May 13th | Members meeting with archiving |
| June 10th | Pot Luck Picnic at Yew Tree Farm (members only) |
| July 8th | Visit to Newport Pagnell Museum |
| August | No meeting |
| September 9th | Members Meeting with a focus on the Open Day preparation meeting |
| September 27th | Open Day – theme to be decided |
| October 14th | “Odell’s, a personal experience” speaker Connie Hilton |
| November 11th | 2nd half of Ray Bailey’s talk on Salmons of Newport Pagnell. |
| December 9th | Christmas Social Evening |
| January 13th | Members meeting with archiving. |
| January 20th | “January Jolly” |
| February 10th | A Film Show by Peter Gardner |
| March 10th | Annual General Meeting |
Do any members know of speakers we could contact? The subject needs to be historical but not necessarily about Sherington although local interest is, of course, an advantage. In fact, we would ideally like a member to volunteer to be the Programme Organiser. It does not have to be a position entailing membership of the Committee as we can always liaise with the “organiser”!
September Open Day
Yes, September seems to be a very long way off at the moment but we have to start thinking about a subject for the exhibition. So, please put your thinking caps on and see if you can come up with an idea! All suggestions will be welcome. We have already covered the School, Artists and Fetes, Feasts etc.
Living Archive Band
Our first venture into a live music evening (with the exception of Philip’s impromptu performances!) proved to be an outstanding success. Mark did a rough head count of 70 people in the audience, which, we think, must be one of largest. Everyone enjoyed the music and obviously many memories were rekindled by some of the songs. We gave copies of our “Sherington Murder” and the “School Newspaper” booklets to the band and hope that they may be able to incorporate the stories into some of their songs. Hopefully, we will be able to have the band back in the future but, in the meantime if anyone would like to see them again, they are appearing at the Song Loft Club in Stony Stratford on the 9th May and on the 9th June at the “Stony Live” festival. Those of you who bought their CD might also like to know that a new CD is being recorded and they are also in the process of producing a new show, which will be ready for the autumn.
Archive Update
Gail Woods has been busy and has reorganised the Buildings and People files. The People file was originally based on the Millennium project and everyone was filed in the street they lived in. Now, we are all filed alphabetically but the original Millennium file remains the same.
Churchyard Monuments: We also receive enquiries about family gravestone monuments in the churchyard and thought it would be helpful to have a photographic record. Has anyone the time to have a stroll around the churchyard on a sunny day and take photographs? We would, of course, have to limit the photography to the older monuments.
Paul Mann: We receive many enquiries regarding the artist Paul Mann and his work. Julia Wilson, his daughter, has very kindly written a biography of him and it will be added to the website. It is too long to reproduce here but if any one would like a copy, speak to Sheila (Q) and she’ll be happy to print one for you.
SCAN Articles: We are trying to build up a collection of articles for SCAN and would appreciate it if members could perhaps write something about their house, their time at the school or growing up in the village etc., etc. Caroline Leslie and Jess Line have already written articles which received “critical acclaim” so come on, have a go and put pen to paper!
The Constitution
As ratified by the AGM we now have some changes to the Constitution. To summarise the changes there is nothing major – mainly grammatical corrections and clarification of statements.
We think it best that members pay £1 per meeting (including meetings when we have an invited speaker) and visitors pay an entrance fee to be set by the committee according to the cost of the speaker.
The facility for prospective members to attend 3 meetings without payment has been withdrawn. A copy of the revised constitution will be given to every member.
The Serious Business of Fun
The Christmas Social evening went with a swing with all members present enjoying a pleasant, relaxing evening during the hectic run up to Christmas. It was, indeed, a jolly crowd of SHS members who met, drank and dined in the White Hart. As usual the company was convivial and the food very good.
Thanks to Pearl for her reminders of our menu choices and for seeing to the business side of paying the bill to Keith on our behalf.
Hands To The Pump
An email has been received from Kathleen Green. Some of you may remember her as Kathleen Jones, the daughter of the Rev. H.K. Jones, when she lived at the (now Old) Rectory in the 1950s. She enjoys the website and reading the newsletters and asked Sheila Q to pass on her good wishes to anyone in Sherington who remembers her. SAQ has her email address should anyone like to contact her.
As well as emails enquiring about Paul Mann we have also received enquiries about Far Farm and the Brook family monuments in the Churchyard.
Do you have any comments you would like to make to the members or stories you would like to pass on? Yes, then contact Sheila (Q) by email saq24@talktalk.net or 211153 and it can be included in the next Newsletter, which should be out in June.
Website
Have you visited the website recently? Ian has been very busy up in Gun Lane and added lots more pages to the site. Have a look but make sure you have plenty of time! Here is a flavour of the added pages: 37 Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings, the Congregational and Wesleyan Methodist Chapels, the ROC Monitoring Post (remember Oliver’s talk?), the Swan Inn, Friend’s Meeting House and the Sports Pavilion. Incidentally, Ian would like to know the date of the opening of the Pavilion – anyone know it?
There are also pages on the Bronze Age bowl barrows and the Iron Age Settlement near the church, together with the Roman Road and associated archaeological finds.
From the AGM Ian gave us some very interesting facts about the Sherington Historical Society Website. Below are a couple of nuggets:
- We started the year [2007] with around 670 pages and about 110 new ones have been added since.
- There are nearly 1000 photos, maps or other pictures now on the website.
- Information comes from various sources. A particularly important source is the membership. For example, Sheila’s SCAN article on the Old Rectory and information on the Manor formed the basis of new pages on those old buildings. Gillian’s notes from her talk on Family History are online, whilst Oliver’s talk on the ROC Post inspired another page. Ray has kindly provided photocopies of various old documents in his possession (eg: the Victorian County History etc) and Kay has supplied information from the SHS archives
- Other sources include:The MK Local Studies Library, Cocks’ book on Church Bells. Chibnall’s book was the source for other pages, eg: on the Turnpikes, and contains lots more information we haven’t used yet.
Thanks Ian, and keep up the good work.
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