Our ‘Historic Chearsley Exhibition’ took place in June 2019 ….this seems a very long time ago. The show was visited and enjoyed by over 100 Chearsley folk on the Sunday in question and the guest of honour was Ann, wife of Ted Hooton, the author of that wonderful history of our village – ‘Chearsley – Living Through History’. In the months following the show, a small number of enthusiasts started work on a number of ‘projects’, but, sadly, COVID restrictions resulted in many carefully laid plans being postponed.
John Cragg has very kindly offered to be secretary to such a group. It is planned to hold a village meeting – format to be decided – at a suitable time in the near future. Some of the items for discussion at an initial meeting might include:
- A programme for general meetings of the CVHS – say, three or four per year, including presentations by invited speakers
- Identify possible village events – e.g. ‘Chearsley School Reunion’, ‘Chearsley Pub Revival Day’, ‘Chearsley Cricket Club Centenary’
- Identify areas needing further research
- Set up a Committee and individual project groups
- Set up an archive of ‘heritage’ materials, including digital records
Plans are obviously at a formative stage, but if you would be interested in keeping in touch with developments or attending an initial meeting to discuss ideas for the set up and working of the ‘Chearsley Village Historical Society’, please send your contact details to John Cragg - johncragg181@gmail.com) or John Howard - jnh@dbmc.co.uk
On related matters, we are delighted to announce that Jacqui and Derek Allen have kindly agreed to lead a project for restorative works at The Stockwell in Church Lane. When completed, this will enable us to properly celebrate a site of major historical interest within our community, visited by pilgrims for hundreds of years from early medieval times.
