Local History
Local History Day Report
Between the Wars: Life in Gloucestershire 1919 – 1939
A very successful Local History Day was held at Churchdown Community Centre on Saturday, 28th April, organised by the Gloucestershire Local History Association. This year’s topic was ‘Between the Wars: Life in Gloucestershire 1919 – 1939’, and 15 local history groups and other organisations brought along displays and stalls to the event.
150 visitors attended during the day to view the displays and hear the speakers. Dr Alan Crosby, the Editor of the British Association for Local History’s Journal, The Local Historian, began the programme with an informative overview of the period in his presentation ‘The local history of inter-war England: themes and challenges’. Dr Crosby also acted as one of the judges for the Best Display.
Later in the morning, Dr Toby Thacker of the University of Cardiff gave an interesting insight into the way local doctors and politicians dealt with an outbreak of smallpox in Gloucester in 1923. Whether to vaccinate or not had been a contentious issue.
In the afternoon, David Eveleigh, who until recently was Director of Collections & Learning at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, gave a talk on ‘Suburban Vernacular: housing and domestic style 1919-1939’. A fascinating range of building styles and interior decorations was illustrated.
Speakers Toby Thacker, David Eveleigh and Alan Crosby
A very enjoyable aspect of the day was the chance for people to catch up with friends from other local societies and to look at the colourful and interesting displays.
The prize for Best Display was won by Nailsworth Society Local History Research Group with their display which concentrated on how local, national and world events shaped the lives of the Harvey family, with five children born between 1924 and 1937. The display illustrated aspects of their working lives, for example – making munitions at Newman Hender & Co. Ltd., their family life in one of Nailsworth’s first council houses, and social life at the Comrades of the Great War Association. Second and third were Stonehouse and Painswick.
The Best Display
L to R – Jane Butler (Nailsworth SLHRG), Chris Sullivan, Kate Maisey, Alan Crosby (judges), Paul Butler (Nailsworth SLHRG)
The Bryan Jerrard Award for the best article in a local history Journal published during the previous year was presented to Carol Maxwell for her article on ‘Painswick’s Criminal Past’ published in the Painswick Chronicle, with the runner-up prize going to Mary Atkins for her article ‘Clanna House: c.1856 – c.1952’ featured in The New Regard - the journal of the Forest of Dean Local History Society. Thanks to The History Press for sponsoring the prizes and to Bryan Jerrard for presenting them.
The Local History Day was generously sponsored by The Notgrove Trust.
More information about GLHA events may be found on the Association’s website, www.gloshistory.org.uk
Victoria County History news
Just published – ‘Cheltenham Before the Spa’ by Alex Craven and Beth Hartland, researchers for the Victoria County History (VCH) of Gloucestershire. Copies are available at a special price of £12 from Gloucestershire Heritage Hub reception desk. You can also purchase the other Gloucester VCH paperback volume, ‘Yate’, by Rose Wallis for a special price of £9.
News from the Polish Association
The Bravest of the Brave
Of the heroic women who sacrificed themselves as secret agents for Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War, none had a stranger life than Krystyna Skarbek.
The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Krystyna Skarbek aka Christine Granville is an engrossing biography as thrilling as any fiction.
Polish Association Gloucestershire warmly invites you to a talk given by Clare Mulley.
8th September 2018, 4pm – 7pm. St. Nicholas Church, Westgate Street, Gloucester, GL1 2PG. Polish style food and refreshments available.
Clare Mulley is an award-winning historical biographer. Her first book, “The Woman Who Saved the Children” won the Daily Mail Biographers Club Prize. “The Spy Who Loved” has been optioned by Universal Studios. Clare’s latest book The Women Who Flew For Hitler is a dual biography of Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg, the only women to serve as test pilots for Nazi Germany, who both received the Iron Cross but who ended their lives on opposite sides of history.
As well as speaking at many of Britain’s leading history and literary festivals, Clare has given a TEDx talk (local speakers presenting to local audiences) in Stormont, spoken at the Imperial War Museum, National Army Museum and British Library, as well as lecturing on the female SOE agents of the Second World War for Historical Trips. Clare writes and reviews non-fiction for the Telegraph, Spectator and History Today. In 2017 she was chair of the judges for the Historical Writers Association Non-Fiction Prize, and she has recently become an honorary patron of the Wimpole History Festival.
Battle of Britain
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few" was a wartime speech made by Winston Churchill on 20 August 1940. Its name stems from the specific line in the speech, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”, referring to the on going efforts of the Royal Air Force crews who were at the time fighting the Battle of Britain.
A total of 145 experienced Polish airmen fought in the Battle of Britain. They shot down 170 German planes, damaging an additional 36, which statistically was close to 12% of Luftwaffe losses suffered during the Battle of Britain. Most of these shoot downs, 126 of them, were done by the Polish 303 squadron. The 303 “Warsaw” Fighter Squadron named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko was recognized as the best unit in the RAF. The division’s engagements during the Battle of Britain became, even during the war, one of the most prominent symbols of Poland’s contribution to the Allied cause.
From the 8th until the 16th September the exhibition "Battle of Britain: To Commemorate the Fight for Freedom" will be presented at the Jet Age Museum in Gloucester. The exhibition features Polish, Czechoslovak and British brotherhood in arms during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
Polish Association Gloucestershire warmly invites you to a talk prepared by our members on 15th September at 11am at the Jet Age Museum, Meteor Business Park, Cheltenham Road East Gloucester, GL2 9QL. Refreshments available. www.facebook.com/JetAgeMuseum/
Find us on facebook: www.facebook.com/polishglos/
Anne Weare exhibition
Local bookbinder Anne Weare will be exhibiting examples of her work in Painswick Church Rooms (right by the car park) 11th – 19th August 2018.
Anne trained with her late father Theo Merrett, Gloucester College of Art & Design, and in the bindery of Douglas Cockerell & Son in Cambridge, under the tuition of Sydney Cockerell. Both Douglas and Sydney were involved in the Arts & Crafts Movement. For many years Anne has exhibited, taught and demonstrated her craft throughout the county.
Her exhibition will show examples of conservation repair work both cloth and leather with some bindings left unfinished so that you are able to see all the construction that goes on underneath the finished binding.
All her work is made by hand using traditional bookbinding methods and equipment.
Anne retains the feel of the familiar binding, whilst making the construction sound. As much of the original binding as possible is retained and new materials used to blend in with the old.
During the exhibition Anne is happy to give advice on any treasured books or projects you may be working on.
Treasures from Sudeley Castle
A new exhibition is bringing Sudeley's history to life. Called 'Royal Sudeley 1,000 Trials, Triumphs and Treasures' the exhibition includes some previously unseen treasures and is the biggest refurbishment the castle has seen for more than 20 years.
Fascinating items on display include Katherine Parr’s prayer book, an intricate lace christening canopy believed to have been worked on by Anne Boleyn for the christening of her daughter, Elizabeth I and The Bohun Book of Hours which pre-dates the Black Death and is one of less than 10 of its kind in the world.
Other collections include one of the most important collections of textiles in the country and a collection of more than 200 autographs from high-profile personalities form the Victorian era.
The castle is also home to a portrait of Rubens by Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), a rare example of one great artist being painted by another, as Van Dyck worked under Rubens in his studio. Also on display is an oil painting by Sir Winston Churchill which is being loaned by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The artwork, called ‘Cap d’Ail, Alpes-Maritimes’ was painted by the former Prime Minister in 1952.
Sudeley Castle and Gardens is set against the backdrop of the beautiful Cotswold Hills.
With royal connections spanning a thousand years, it has played an important role in the turbulent and changing times of England’s past. It was a royal residence, closely associated with some of the most famous English monarchs, including Edward IV, Richard III, Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey, Katherine Parr, Elizabeth I and Charles I. The Castle was even home to a secret Queen of England, Eleanor Boteler, whose royal status was unknown for centuries. King Charles I found refuge there during the Civil War. Following its ‘slighting’ on Cromwell’s orders at the end of the Civil War, Sudeley lay neglected and derelict for nearly 200 years.
King George III was among those sightseers who came to admire its romantic ruins. Then in 1837 Sudeley was rescued by wealthy Worcester glove-making brothers John and William Dent, who began an ambitious restoration programme which was continued by their nephew, John Coucher Dent, when he inherited the castle in 1855. His wife, Emma Brocklehurst threw herself enthusiastically into Sudeley’s restoration.
To find out more about Sudeley Castle and Gardens, visit www.sudeleycastle.co.uk