Local History News Number 92 Summer 2009

MICHAEL COWAN 1935 - 2009
 

A Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Michael Cowan, was held in St Thomas’s church in Salisbury attended by his family and by people, both local and from further afield, representing the wide variety of organisations, including BALH, with which he had been involved. Michael died on Thursday 23 July 2009, seven years after his initial diagnosis with a brain tumour. Although he retired from the post of General Secretary of BALH in 2003, he continued to be closely involved with the activities of the Association as a Trustee and member of the Events Committee. David Dymond wrote a full appreciation of Mike’s work for BALH in The Local Historian Vol 33 No 3 that emphasised both the enthusiasm he felt for the organisation, the efficiency with which he ran it, and the initiatives he took to carry it forward.

After thirty-two years service with the Royal Army Service Corps in many far-flung places, Michael Cowan retired from the Ministry of Defence in 1986 and put his considerable energy and abilities into building a new career of paid and voluntary activities, focusing largely on his deep interest in history. His involvement with BALH began the following year when he was elected to Council, and in 1989 he became honorary secretary in succession to David Short. The Association had recently moved from Derbyshire to Sussex, and when Mike became paid part-time administrator in 1990 a new office was established at his home in Salisbury. This provided a base to build the strength of BALH in terms of membership and influence which resulted from his work.

I would like to stress two further things that readers may not know. Firstly Mike brought his managing ability to many other organisations, some but not all of these are mentioned in Dr Dymond’s article. For example, he was the first chairman of Salisbury Civic Society, Regional Chairman of Council for the Protection of Rural England, and chairman for many years of the Hatcher Review Trust which published a journal for Wessex of articles that were both scholarly and accessible.
 
Secondly Mike had his own particular interests in local history, and he maintained this to the very end of his life.Wiltshire Water Meadows was published by Hobnob Press in 2005. The review in TLH Vol 38 No 2 says it uses Michael’s ‘long and intimate knowledge of his subject’ and is ‘packed with wonderful insights and information’. Harnham Mill, Sarum Studies 2, was launched in the Mill itself in 2008. I have here beside my desk two files with his drafts and preparatory material, anotated in his almost undecipherable handwriting, for a companion volume on Harnham village. This will be completed by his friends as a small but very sincere tribute. JEH

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CONSERVATION AREAS AT RISK
 

A few years ago an English Heritage report highlighted the damage to the historic (and, indeed, non-historic) environment from the clutter of road signs, railings, lighting poles and other ‘street furniture’, with over-designed projects intended to improve road safety and traffic flow and usually succeeding in neither aim. Now another report portrays ‘conservation areas at risk’, demonstrating that the same problems of inappropriate development, insidious change and well-intentioned but intrusive and ugly improvements are rapidly eroding their character.

 
The concept of conservation areas, much discussed in the 1950s and early’60s, was finally enshrined in legislation in 1967. Since then over 9300 have been designated in England, a major element in the strategy of townscape and landscape protection. Among the popular misconceptions about their legal and planning circumstances is that all buildings in a conservation area are listed or otherwise protected. That is definitely not the case, and would perhaps be unworkable if it were, but its absence of means that insidious change—so much easier to control if a building is listed—is all too possible.
 
Another assumption about conservation areas is that they are invariably ‘quaint’ or ‘pretty’. Though many are, it is not their primary aim. Hundreds are manifestly not chocolate-boxy subjects for picture postcards. There are numerous ones whose merit derives from their industrial and transport heritage, with surviving buildings of industrial archaeology importance. The list includes council estates and 1930s suburbia, mining villages and busy city centres, relict rural communities embedded in urban sprawl, and classic examples of Victorian terraced housing.    
 
The report gives a useful list of the main problems which conservation areas of all sorts may suffer. Inappropriate plastic doors and windows are found in 83% of areas, poor-quality roads and pavements in 60%, intrusive street clutter in 45%, and ugly traffic calming measures in 36%. In 43% front gardens, walls and hedges have been levelled and removed to make way for parking space, and in 38% satellite dishes are prominent visual intrusions. Other key problems include unsympathetic building extensions, unsightly advertising, alterations to roofs and chimneys, and the neglect of green spaces.
 
One significance of the report is that it shows the uneven nature of the problem. In many local authorities the protection of conservation areas is taken seriously, through a combination of close adherence to planning strategies and careful promotion of the positive benefits of maintaining their character. But a disturbingly long list of other authorities highlights those which have, apparently, failed to maintain at least some of their conservation areas, both in statutory terms and in the wider sense of what is desirable for their areas.
 
The list is surprising. For example, sixteen CAs in Stockport are identified as ‘at risk’, but only one in Oldham—why should two relatively similar authorities, geographically close to each other, seemingly be so divergent. In Winchester district 24 CAs are listed, in Bath & North East Somerset 19 (significantly, perhaps, none of them in Bath itself), and in West Dorset 23. Is this a function of the fact that these areas simply have so many conservation areas, or because of different interpretations of the assessment criteria, or an accurate reflection of the situation. English Heritage has a well-tried approach of naming and shaming in reports such as these—its ‘buildings at risk’ registers are familiar—and this list is very valuable. It grabs the headlines. But is it as objective and systematic as we might expect? Nevertheless, the importance of drawing public and media attention to the insidious and creeping erosion of quality in many conservation areas cannot be overstated. This report is timely and, though doubtless controversial, its conclusions are deeply disturbing.  
 
For more information and to read the press release and detailed listing, see http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.16634
 

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LOCAL HISTORY GOES GLOBAL
 

‘Has globalisation made local history more, rather than less, relevant?’, and ‘people do not have Roots, they have feet’, were just two of the comments from delegates who attended an International Symposium convened by the VCH and held at the Institute of Historical Research on 7-8 July 2009. The aim of the symposium was to find out how everyone ‘does’ local history in their particular place, and to look for synergies, common problems, and areas of good practice. Plenaries were given by Professor Chris Dyer of Leicester and Dr Carol Kammen of Cornell University, and workshop sessions were devoted to local history in different parts of the world (North America, Europe, the British Isles, South Africa, Australia and Japan). Professor Claire Cross represented BALH, and Robert Howard attended on behalf of Local History Magazine. We were able to learn from each other, and to think through some key questions.

 
Perhaps the most obvious conclusion was that local history depends on where you are and who you are? After Chris Dyer had struggled with the problems of finding regions in England, a country with a set of borders that have not been challenged for a thousand years, Professor Katalin Szende of the Central European University, Hungary, pointed to a quite different challenge – local history in a country which has changed its borders several times in the past century, and has had to handle having part of its indigenous population now living beyond its historic boundaries, as well as various language constraints, and the enforced change of historical direction under the Communist regime. Less cataclysmic, but still challenging, was Dr Andrew Edwards’ discussion of the ‘nationalisation’ of Wales, and what this meant in terms of ‘local’ history. We learnt about the influence of the Roman Catholic church on Irish local history, and the impact for local history on the role of settler communities, both in undermining existing cultures and imposing their own, in South Africa and Australia.
 
There was much more in two stimulating days of discussion, including a teleconference session with a contributor from Australia, and extracts from an episode of The Simpsons in respect to what it was saying about Public History. Where, indeed, do local historians stand in relation to Public History, or to family history? And what is, or should be, the relationship between professional local historians, in the university or the public history sector, and amateurs?
 
Participants agreed to constitute themselves as an informal ‘International Local History Group’, and to consider meeting again in a couple of years, this time with a common theme, perhaps centring around the idea of how national issues impact on the practice of local history. Readers wanting to read some of the papers, and perhaps to make their own contribution, are referred to the VCH’s Wiki page at www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/wiki.

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BORDER HISTORY DAY
 

Border History is an association of societies and individuals with an interest in family and community history on both sides of the Cheshire/Staffordshire border. The aim of the group is to promote joint activities and the sharing of information in an informal and relaxed setting, with an emphasis on participation. The third annual Border History Exploration Day was held on 13 June 2009 in the Primitive Methodist Memorial Chapel in Mow Cop very appropriately sited on the county boundary.

Thirty-eight delegates attended on this occasion for a day-long conference on the subject of poverty and poor relief, based on, but not confined to, the areas along the Staffordshire/Cheshire border. Professor Steven King had been invited to give the introductory lecture, was unfortunately unable to be with us, but Dr Pamela Sambrook kindly replaced him and gave a most interesting – and very well-illustrated - talk on almshouses in Staffordshire. She spoke of their founders and the moral and social attitudes which lay behind such charitable foundations and drew attention to the long period over which almshouses continued to be established; from the tenth century to the twentieth. Plotting the distribution of the houses shows a surprising dearth in certain areas, without any apparent reason. Similar research is being carried out by the Family and Community History Research Society in other regions such that comparable anomalies may be revealed and comparative regional studies will become possible
. 
Following the introductory talk and subsequent discussion, delegates separated into three groups, each of which pursued a different, but allied, topic.One group, led by Paul Anderton, considered the question of how to find records of the poor in the period, roughly, from the middle of the seventeenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. There was discussion of the Elizabethan poor law and subsequent amendments, but particular attention was drawn to the accounts of parish overseers of the poor as a most valuable source, not only of basic information, but as indicators of changing attitudes. Recent work on apprenticeship was presented by Diana Grant, particularly an examination of some twelve and a half thousand Staffordshire records which she has recently made. A database of the information obtained from this work is currently being prepared.

Rose Wheat oversaw the group which considered medical provision for the poor between about 1750 and 1850, and the changes not only in provision, but in attitudes of both the recipients and providers of such care, using documentary evidence illustrative of various points. An example of care in the home came from overseers’ accounts of 1770 with details of outlay on one parishioner, including the substantial sum of 14s 7d paid to an apothecary when she was ill. Following this, the early formation of public infirmaries was looked at, specifically that built in Stafford. The system of hospital funding by subscription and admission by ticket was considered, with the consequent “grace and favour” relationship between subscribers and the poor. Material from the 1850s illustrated the development of health provision and the continued influence of those in positions of social superiority.

The group guided by Ian Bailey looked at the local operation of the Poor Law following the new act of 1834. This discussion was particularly relevant as several delegates are currently engaged in cataloguing material relating to Wolstanton and Burslem which is held at The National Archives. This work is being overseen by TNA, but has also led to a similar project being undertaken for Congleton, following TNA’s system but not under that organisation’s supervision. Several of those involved in the Congleton work were also present. It was pointed out that once cataloguing has been completed, and the availability of information thus much more readily ascertained, poor-law records - particularly when allied to guardians’ minutes and census records, for example - will become an even more valuable resource, especially to those with a specific research objective.

This third Exploration Day was again a great success. It was fully subscribed, blessed with decent weather, and productive of much discussion and idea-sharing. Border History, as financial underwriters, and all those who worked to make this day so successful deserve our thanks. The emphasis on informality and participation clearly appeals to delegates and subjects for discussion next year are already being suggested. 

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OF SICK NOTES AND STRANGE CUSTOMS
 

Samuel Goldwyn, the Hollywood film mogul, was presented with the complete works of Shakespeare in recognition of his services to the movie industry. He appeared genuinely surprised and exclaimed, as he looked at the row of books, ‘Remarkable, and all that with just a feather’. His reaction was probably due a mix of several feelings: admiration at the Bard’s application despite the constraints of such a primitive writing implement, and amazement that an age which relied on quills could have produced a genius whose understanding and depiction of the human condition was both timeless and complete.

 
In their own way archives can inspire similar, if better informed, awe. They record societies and ways of life that have largely disappeared, which is why they are of such historical importance. They do this by providing glimpses of ordinary lives, often fleeting and incomplete, but real and immediate, unfiltered by historical interpretation. They can work on another level, by revealing something that has not changed. Running through them is the connecting thread of the people by and about whom they were created, and through whom they are animated and brought to life. It is the juxtaposition of these two elements which makes them so absorbing and fascinating, as the following example illustrate.
 
A mid-eighteenth century survey of the manor of Amesbury Priory, Wiltshire, explains the origins of the name of a meadow called Whooping Mead. The occupiers of the mead were to alert the tenant of an adjoining farm when the mowing began. The completion of each cock of hay was to be announced by the labourers shouting out ‘to Whoop or hollao’, as the document states. If the tenant provided bread, cheese and beer for labourers as soon as they had finished, he was entitled to a third of the hay, after the vicar’s tithe had been taken.
 
Attached to a petition to the justices, asking that Thomas Hayne of Aldbourne, one of the constables for the hundred of Selkeley, be excused from attending the quarter sessions in January 1647, is the following note:
 
‘The Greefes that Mr Thomas Hayne is trubled w[i'>more...thall is hee hath the ston in the bladder w[hi'>more...ch is verie paynfull to hime when he doth Ride or goe but a myle or 2 Alsoe when hee rideth blud coms from him in his watter Alsoe hee hath bleed somuch out of the lower parts w[hi'>more...ch have wakened those parts soe much that he cannot hould his watter but is forst to carry a pott in his pocket to take it oftene. or it will be in his breeches Alsoe hee is Seaventie on years of Age and hath bin trubled w[i'>more...th this greefe growing on him 3 or 4 yeares att leaste’
 
The lawyers’ mantra that ‘The devil is in the detail’ is surely endorsed by this note. Even the squeamish who feel that it contains too much information must empathise with poor Thomas. The 362 years since it was written fall completely away. Even if exaggerated to strengthen the case for absence, it is unlikely that it exceeded the bounds of plausibility. His suffering enhances our appreciation of the relief of Samuel Pepys, who celebrated the anniversary of a successful operation in 1658 to cure a similar ailment. Thomas struggled on for several more years and was buried in 1652. Archives like his sick note are vital in placing people to the fore in our research, and in recording what Philip Larkin described as ‘their scrap of history’.

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Changes at The National Archives
 
I attended a meeting, on behalf of BALH, one of two arranged by TNA to talk about the proposed changes. Further details can be found on its web site (very prominently via the home page or athttp://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/changes-general-info.htm); for those without internet access I will outline the main proposals.
 
There was a large audience, made up of family historians, academics and others, of whom many were regular users of TNA. The presentation was made by Jeff James, Director of Public Services, and before he started someone asked why the Chief Executive, Natalie Ceeney, was not giving it. There was a long question and answer session after Jeff’s presentation, which had to be curtailed because of a public lecture at 2.00; more on this later. Most of the questions and answers can be found on the web site, including – the very last one! – the one I asked.
 
Jeff began by explaining why TNA is proposing these changes; 10% savings in operating costs, amounting to about £4.2m, are required but this does not appear to be driven by government diktat. About half of the £42m budget goes on staff. The main proposals are:
 
·        Closing on Mondays (which will save c £½m pa)
·        Charging for use of the car park
·        Removing selected large microfilm and microfiche records series from the reading rooms
·        Not providing expert staff between 17.00 and 19.00.
 
Jeff said that for every document produced at Kew, 200 are delivered online; however this is a meaningless statistic as the two types of delivery cannot be compared. Further series will bedigitised, such as WO 363 and TNA will continue to invest in improving online access. Suggestions for minimising the effects can be sent by e-mail to changes@nationalarchives.gov.uk. 
 
There were some very angry people in the audience; for example the first speaker talked about the contemptuous way in which the staff had been treated and urged everyone to write to the Minister demanding the Chief Executive’s resignation. Jeff stated that the Minister and the Secretary of State supported the proposals and that it was hoped that most of the staff reductions could be achieved by voluntary redundancy. At present 30 vacant posts will not be filled and about another 35 redundancies are required. Jeff added that small teams are unsustainable and stressed that there would be no reduction in cataloguing. One non-executive director’s post would be lost and the Chief Executive’s office is giving up more than public services. He stressed that there will be no charge for access to archives.
 
Among the speakers was Nick Barratt, formerly an employee of TNA and now well-known for the BBC’s ‘Who do you think you are?’ He was very worried about the loss of expertise and this view was shared by many others in the room. Since the presentation, Nick spoke at the local history conference in Leicester when it became clear that a number of local archive services are facing similar cuts. Nick has launched a public campaign with a special website,www.action4archives.com, which has been widened to include local archive services under threat. The web site includes a facility to contact Nick. He had a letter published in The Times on 4 July and there was a long article in The Independent on Sunday on 12 July. Since then, there has been other media input but as the situation is changing rapidly, the web site is the best place to find out the latest news.
 
Kate Thompson
 
***
 
 
More recently the BALH Management Committee decided to contact other organisations to express concern. The following letter has been sent by the chairman, Professor Claire Cross, to thePresidents or Directors of The British Academy,
The Society of Antiquaries, The Royal Historical Society,
The Historical Association, The Institute of Historical Research, and The Victoria County History.
                                                                                                                                                           
 
TNA Cuts
 
At its meeting on 1 August the Management Committee of the British Association for Local History expressed great concern over the cuts announced by the National Archives at the end of June (a copy of which is attached to this letter).
 
            The Committee in particular wished to emphasize
 

  the deleterious effect of giving priority to digitizing over cataloguing records at the National Archives. Since under 1% of TNA records are available on line it remains necessary to consult the vast majority of its records on site.

the lack of value placed upon specialist staff. The loss of expertise of staff with qualification in History and allied disciplines and experience of archival research would lead to a deterioration of services to the general public and limit access to the records
 
  the consequences of favouring on line access at the expense of on site research at Kew which would curtail free access to the national archives.
 
  the long term implications not only for those carrying out research at Kew but also for those researching in provincial record offices of closing on Mondays, since at a time of financial stringency record offices throughout the country would find it difficult to resist following the example given by the National Archives which would thus lead to a nation wide restriction of services for those wishing to pursue historical research.

 
 
The British Association for Local History hopes you would share these concerns.
 
***
 
A number of our members, both individuals and societies have been in touch to express their dismay at these proposed changes; we recommend you discuss them locally and contact TNA directly or via one of their public meetings, or through the action4archives campaign website

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BRIDGING THE PRO-AM DIVIDE
 

Two striking features of the recent conference ‘Local History in Britain after Hoskins’ were the involvement of people from many different local history contexts, and the buzz of conversation at every break in the programme and every social event (of which there were a generous number!)

 
Organised in partnership between the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester, and the British Association for Local History, the conference was designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of W G Hoskins’ Local History in England. From across the country came 180 delegates, a mix of professional academics, research students, and local historians. Three plenary lectures, some fifty papers arranged in parallel sessions, four excursions,  three receptions, fascinating poster displays, tempting bookstalls, efficient organisation, delicious meals, comfortable rooms, what more could we have wanted? Even the weather was kind enough to allow the outings on Saturday afternoon to take place in the dry.
 
Professor Christopher Dyer, chairman of the organising committee, has commented that the papers ‘tackled a wide range of questions, and showed remarkable ingenuity in the sources used and the techniques of analysis applied’. I am sure everyone there would agree with him that ‘the conference was conducted in a cheerful and friendly atmosphere’. A published volume of selected proceedings is under discussion. http://www.le.ac.uk/elh/ConferenceReport.htm

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LOCAL HISTORY DAY 2009
 

Generous numbers of members and friends of BALH again gathered in London on the first Saturday in June to celebrate local history at our major annual event. The chairman welcomed everyone, and introduced Dr Ruth Paley who chaired the morning discussion session. The speakers on ‘local history and the media’ were Dr Nick Barratt and Dr Alan Crosby, neither of whom really needed introducing. Nick Barratt treated us to some surprising and amusing behind-the-scenes revelations from some of the television programmes he has been involved with, and Alan Crosby asked what was the media’s perception (or perceptions) of local history? From both speakers, and from the subsequent discussion, there was concern that the balance between entertainment and information had a dangerous tendency to tip towards the former at the expense of the latter. Thanks to Dr Paley’s firm control, there was plenty of time available for contributions from the audience, and responses from the speakers, which is indeed the purpose of this part of the programme.

 
Professor David Hey, President of BALH, welcomed members to the Annual General Meeting of the Association. The Chairman and Treasurer reported on developments during the year, and the generally satisfactory financial condition of our organisation, despite the difficult economic times faced by everyone. The following were elected to Council as Trustees: Professor Claire Cross (Chairman), Lt Col Michael Cowan, Ms Jane Golding, Dr Tim Lomas, Dr Jo Mattingly, Mr William Moss, Dr Margaret O’Sullivan, Dr Ruth Paley (Hon Treasurer), Mrs Jan Shephard, Dr Winifred Stokes, Dr Anne Tarver, and Dr Nigel Tringham.
 
During the lunch break we were able to take advantage of the bookstalls and other displays to browse, enquire, and make purchases. Although limited by the space available, this feature is becoming an increasingly valuable element in the day. Comments from the stallholders indicate that they appreciate the opportunity to meet our members who attend. Gill Draper has already had enquiries for next year!
 
At the beginning of the afternoon session, Professor Hey presented certificates for BALH awards in recognition of personal achievement, research and publication, and for a society newsletter. The 2009 winners are listed in this issue. 
 
Professor Nigel Goose, from the Centre for Regional & Local History at the University of Hertfordshire, delivered the annual lecture with the title ‘The English almshouse and the mixed economy of welfare: medieval to modern’. He explained the changing role of almshouses, their relationships with other forms of charitable support, the different characteristics of qualifying inmates, and other variations over this considerable time period. The audience raised some relevant and searching questions. At the very end of the session Dr Kate Thompson, who was in the chair, allowed one last point from the floor, and the questioner introduced herself as the matron of an almshouse, with one of her residents sitting beside her – a very fitting conclusion to a fascinating day.

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BALH AWARDS 2009
 
for personal achievement

Barbara Applin, Basingstoke, Hants: founder member of Basingstoke Archaeological & Historical Society, and Basingstoke Talking History Group; author, editor and playwright.
Alastair Davidson, Colinton, Edinburgh: founder member of Colinton Local History Society, and coordinator of major local research projects.
John Hargreaves, Halifax, West Yorkshire: for contributions to local history, especially as editor of the Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society,and as general secretary of the Wesley Historical Society.
Joan Schwitzer, Hornsey, London: founder member of Hornsey Historical Society and instrumental in developing its role as a force in the community.
Diana Winterbotham, Lancashire: for continuing support and encouragement of local historians and groups, since retirement as Lancashire Local Studies Librarian.
James Wisdom, Chiswick, London: for his dedication and inspiration in encouraging interest and promoting local history, particularly through Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society, and Friends of Gunnersbury Park & Museum.

 
 
for a society newsletter

Dunning Parish Historical Society for The Dunningite

 
 
for research and publication

[overall winner'>more... Greg Finch, ‘Dotland deserted’ (Hexham Historian no.18, August 2008)
Robert Fenwick, ‘Occupations of ordinary folk in pre-industrial Auchtergaven’ (Scottish Local Historyno.73, Summer 2008)
Christiane Koebel, ‘A hypothesis on the origins of St Oswald’s church and Lythe parish 650-1100’ (Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions no.40, 2007)
Karen Ounsley, ‘From mill worker to musical conductor: Mr S.W. Rogers and the Bridlington Quay Parade Band, 1882-1897’ (East Yorkshire Historianvol.9, 2008)
Rebecca Roberts, ‘Fashion, consumption and production in the Shottery home, 1556-1624’ (Warwickshire History vol.13 no.5, Summer 2007)

   [short article award'>more... Keith Bailey, ‘Clapham Junction swallows a street’ (Wandsworth Historian no.86, Autumn 2008)

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LOCAL HISTORY DAY AGAIN
 

This may prove Dr Johnson right that only blockheads write without a cash incentive. Guilt and duty lie behind this response to Local History Day 2009. The duty bit derives from experience – of organising something and the disappointment at having few considered responses. It must be as bad to be ignored as it is to be slated. So, I went to BALH Local History Day and feel an obligation to respond to it.

Applause at the time is gratifying: a few appreciative comments over a rushed cup of tea are pleasing. Those who spoke and those who organised quite properly went away with the sense of good job done. I left similarly happy in the thought that the day had been spent in good company, words worth hearing had been spoken and proceedings could hardly have been smoother. Why should I intrude? That’s, of course, where the guilt comes in. Wait for something which really annoys to motivate considered thought and sharp analysis. There may be some who have been moved to write a critique, if not of the day, at least of one or more of the lectures, and if so that is good. Audiences should be stimulated, made aware of what they ought to know, comforted that they are in tune with their fellows, but led to reassess their own conceptions, not anaesthetised with repetitions of their prejudices.

One thing bears constant repetition. This is a day for celebrating local history investigators. It was done to splendid effect. The AGM, on the other hand, passes like a train on the other line – so fast you hardly know it happened. The society’s structure is renewed, its policies approved, its purposes self-evidently fulfilled. Two formerly independent societies are absorbed without a murmur.
Local historians gathered in numbers in one room are not lost for talking points. Networking is a much-appreciated part of the experience of the day. It helps if talking can be pushed into particular directions and three speakers engaged to prod the assembly into considered thought commanded attention. And here I pause. What are my considered thoughts, and if I don’t have any, is this my fault or their’s? Nick Barrett and Alan Crosby were twins in more ways than one. Both have extensive experience of a variety of mediums on which to draw, both had finely honed presentational skills to amuse and inform their listeners and both pressed home arguments with force, appropriate evidence and, supremely satisfying to the chairman, kept to time. For whom did they say something new, mentally challenging, opinion-changing? It was fascinating to get back-stage of ‘Who do you think you are?’ and ‘House detectives’ and right for us to be reminded that television and the internet carry enormous intellectual dangers as well as opportunities. Jennifer Aldridge’s ‘History of Ambridge’ is a safe target for mockery given its fictional origins, but it is too near reality to be left as a laughing matter.The discussion centred on telling stories and the necessity of investigating whatever subject gives rise to ‘good’ stories. The nub was reached when Dr Crosby pointed to the conflict between the requirement of a story to be emotionally gripping and the historian’s obligation to ‘truth’. But we never got further. Pity.

Professor Nigel Goose did not presumably know that he would be lecturing against the background of thoughts on stories as the essence of good history. His was a professional bird’s eye survey of 600 years of activity in the territory of social welfare, the kind of challenge to Nick Barrett’s programme-making skills which it would be intriguing to see taken up. Almshouses self-evidently did not figure highly as a proportion of assistance given to the destitute: not much more to those just poor. The Family and Community History Research Society project on almshouses, which Professor Goose mined for evidence, linked with his own research into Colchester social history. The result left this contributor of a few microscopic details to the project to wonder where the good story, by whatever definition, could be found. 

Local History day then has provoked a response. If it leads anywhere it is to that irritation at the back of the mind that ‘good stories’ in relation to ‘history’ deserve deeper investigation, though in what way is frustratingly elusive.

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GUIDED VISITS - PAST AND FUTURE
 

Visit Report: Nottingham University Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections. 22nd April 2009.

 
Some 3 million documents were moved from the Hallward Library at the University of Nottingham to the King’s Meadow campus in 2006. This followed the reversion of the building, formerly used by Carlton TV studios, to the university. The guided tour, led by Caroline Kelly and organised by Dr. Anne Tarver, was part of the centre’s effort to increase awareness of this important collection and increase its use in the new location.
 
The logistics of moving this large collection were fascinating. The former huge studio space was stripped and special temperature control, ventilation and sprinkler systems installed to meet TNA standards for original document storage. The challenge to locate and retrieve documents after the move was greatly aided by the specialist removal company able to keypad enter the new shelf locations as they put the documents in. This enabled the centre to rationalise the content of the collections and achieve much better space usage with the new shelving available. The collection opened within the planned, ambitious time schedule; document retrieval has continued to be excellent. Standing high up in the centre of the store, with an overview of the collection, brought home the enormity of the task and the huge range of information the collection contains.
 
A short visit to the conservation room was equally interesting with insights into different methods available to restore different types of documents to usage. Further insights into identification and dating of different paper types could be very useful in certain research projects. The conservator even suggested further research into the different threads, pins, springs and other accessories associated with some of the older documents.
 
Moving right into the present and future of document and information storage, we were shown the equipment and had the processes described, for documents ranging from the printed page to multi-coloured posters. Digitisation may be the key to information availability but it is currently very time consuming!
 
The Collection is important on a national basis and particularly for local historians in the East Midlands, including records for Nottingham Archdeaconry, non-conformist churches in Nottingham and Mansfield, farming records for the East Midlands and records of the lace, hosiery and clothing industries. The exhibition on the survival of the Laxton open field system illustrated the value of the collection. It is very useful for documents relating to several counties within Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire. With the welcoming layout and cafeteria on hand and welcoming staff, as well as the attractive reading room and retrieval service, the Centre is an excellent environment in which to carry out research; I shall be a regular user! For this, our thanks go to Anne and Caroline for a very good visit.
 
 Malcolm Roberts.

VISIT TO GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES AND ST BRIDE LIBRARY TEUSDAY 20 OCTOBER 2009

There are still a few places left on this visit in London on 20 October. See Events page for futher details.

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FOR HISTORICAL TOURISTS
 

WORLD HERITAGE SITES OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND

Victoria Huxley and Geoffrey Smith
(Chastleton 2009)
 
How many World Heritage Sites are there in the British Isles? The answer is in the subheading of this small book, An Illustrated Guide to all 27 World Heritage Sites. They range through ancient and modern, religious, industrial and domestic, man-made and natural; there are three naturally occurring sites. All are possible targets for anyone who enjoys exploring, especially in an historical context, though not all are equally easy of access. The crossing between Portamagee and Skellig Michael, for example, is often not possible because of rough seas, but when undertaken what an amazing relic of the ingenuity, determination and search for self-denial this rocky outcrop off the sourth-west coast of Ireland provides. Perched perilously on a rock face are the monastic cells of the Hermitage, and on the centre of the tiny island is a monastery perhaps dating from the sixth century.
 
It was a brilliant idea to bring together in one neat book a description, history and practical details of each of the World Heritage sites. Victoria Huxley and Geoffrey Smith have researched, visited and assembled the material on each, and they brought to the project their considerable experience of producing travel guides. This book is readable, visually attractive, and fascinating to browse as well as to use as the guide book it is claimed to be. There are nuggets of information about the contexts within which each site should be placed, providing many neat history lessons. Opening the pages at random might reveal an historical explanation, a time-line or a quotation . Indeed, there is much for historians here, and I predict that everyone will find at least one site, and probably several, of which they knew little or nothing, but will be fired to visit.
 
It would be churlish to spoil the fun of seeing how many you can name by listing them all here! Entries are arranged in regions: there are four sites in south-west England, five in London and the south-east, three in central England, two in Wales, five in the north of England, five in Scotland, and three in Ireland. But this does not give a true indication of their scope, because many are composite sites, like the 2 miles of the Ironbridge Gorge with its ten museums, Liverpool with its six key areas, or the Old Town and New Town in Edinburgh. Not many sites could be seen in half a day, or even a day.
 
The first World Heritage Sites in Great Britain and Ireland were designated in 1986; the most recent is The Antonine Wall in Scotland, designated in 2008. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is the sponsoring body. As an historian with a taste for numbers, I would have liked to see a table giving the dates of designation and the relevant period relating to each site. But this is a minor point compared with the amount of information provided. An indication of the reasons for each designation is given at the beginning of each site’s section, there are locational maps, illustrations, indications of how to reach each, and a little, but not too much, information on where to stay.
 
Although mentioned in the Introduction, this reviewer had seen only two sections before publication, and has been delighted with the discoveries made despite having been a keen historical tourist in the British Isles since a teenager. The book is modestly priced at £12.99, and is strongly recommended.
Anthea Jones

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BOOK REVIEWS
 

The Village of Colston Bassett, a pictorial history

Colston Bassett Local History Group, £11 (incl postage)
School Farmhouse, School Lane, Colston Bassett, Notts NG12 3FD
www.colstonbassetthistory.org.uk
 
Colston Bassett Local History Group was formed only four years ago, but during their short life, so far, they have obtained a grant from the Local Heritage Initiative to develop a library of oral history recordings, and a digitised photographic archive, to undertake research, organise talks, visits and exhibitions, and produce this pictorial history and its linked website. A definitive history of the village by Rev Evelyn Young was published in 1942, and is now available online at www.nottshistory.org.uk/young1942/contents.htm. Of course much has changed since then, and the group has used both archive and modern photographs to show alterations to many facets of the buildings, people, and activities of Colston Bassett. There is a map, a timeline, table of changing house names, and a clear structure of themed chapters each focusing on a place, institution, time, or activity in the life of the village, but unfortunately there is no index.
 
The wealth of images coving such a broad spectrum of topics demonstrates the strength of the Group’s archive, and suggests a great deal of hard work in developing their collection and making the selection for the book. It was hard to choose a few as examples.
 
 
Beneath the Surface: Historical essays from the Cheshire Townships of Lea-by-Backford, Backford, Caughall, Chorlton, Mollington
Backford, Mollington & District Local History Society
Arima Publishing £15 (incl p + p) softback, £19 (incl p + p) hardback from the publishers www.arimapublishing.co.uk or from the society at Keepers Cottage, Townfield Lane, Mollington, ChesterCH1 6LB
 
 
Promoting the study of the history of their area is the objective of Backford, Mollington & District Local History Society, and in this their first book examples of the individual projects undertaken by their members are published, achieving exactly that. It is an impressive range of essays tackling different topics in a variety of ways; some are descriptive and others investigative, long and short, illustrated and not; reprints are included, and text originally produced for another purpose. They range from thorough research papers to fascinating ‘snippets’, there is something for everyone. There is no obvious editorial policy, but perhaps that was not necessary for such an eclectic mix. Some pieces would have benefited from an introduction to explain the context, but a local reader might have been familiar with, for example, the story of the 1838 duel. An appendix contains the 1907 Mollington Hall Sale Catalogue, illustrating what a very rich source such material can be, and there is an index. The chapter I would like to take serious issue with is called ‘Researching Local History’. It is extraordinarily brief and limited, and sadly has no references that might take readers to the many valuable publications that would help with their investigations. There is plenty of evidence in this book that the members of this society have already progressed beyond the advice given by its author. Digging ‘beneath the surface’ is well advanced in this part of Cheshire.
 
Jane Howells
 
Another new book:
 
Rye: A History of a SussexCinquePort to 1660 by Gillian Draper, with David Martin, Barbara Martin and Alan Tyler, will be published shortly by Phillimore. The price is £25 and it will be available in local bookshops, direct from Phillimore (www.phillimore.co.uk), or at the launch on Friday 13 November in Rye.
Members of BALH living in East Sussex who would like to attend the launch are invited to contact Terry Burke, Hon Sec, Romney Marsh Research trust, 41 Mermaid Street, Rye TN13 7EU, email secretary@rmrt.org.uk

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RECONSTRUCTION
 

We went to Hungary just after Easter and, walking through Budapest, I was much aware of the impact of war on cities. Budapest was besieged by the Red Army for 100 days at the end of 1944, and the Germans and their Hungarian allies retreated to the ancient citadel of Buda, on the right bank of the Danube, using a labyrinth of medieval tunnels and caves and reusing the defensive ramparts built after the city was retaken from the Turks at the end of the 17th century. By February 1945 much of Budapest was in ruins—dramatic photographs in the excellent museum show the great Chain Bridge of the 1840s (built by Scottish engineers) broken-backed and sagging into the waters of the river, while the vast 18thcentury palace on the hill above is a hollow shell and ancient Buda a torn wreck. On the Pest side a splendid townscape emerged from 1869 onwards (when Hungary achieved autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Budapest, newly united, became a capital). By the time the Red Army marched in, the magnificent Art Nouveau and Secessionist movement buildings, encrusted with mosaics, gleaming tiles and exquisite wrought-iron work, were battered by bombs and shells, pockmarked and gap-toothed.

 
It was of course the same across much of Europe. The enchanting medieval city of Nuremberg was a charred and twisted wreck. Large parts of Dresden had been vaporised with tens of thousands of its citizens. In Warsaw not a building was left intact and barely a soul survived. Hanseatic Danzig, swiftly rechristened Gdansk, was 80 per cent destroyed; venerable Breslau, equally quickly renamed Warsaw, likewise. In Cologne the immense cathedral, miraculously almost unscathed, towered above a sea of rubble. On our side of the water, the wonderful medieval city of Coventry was a shell, its glorious church of St Michael (a cathedral for less than 30 years) burned out and open to the skies. Elizabethan and Stuart Plymouth had gone up in smoke and flames, Bath’s Georgian grace and elegance was bomb-blasted. Great swathes of York, Norwich, Canterbury and Exeter were weed-grown wastelands.
 
Yet this Easter I walked through Buda on narrow cobbled streets lined with lovely eighteenth century houses, painted in pastel shades and with glimpses of sunny courtyards. I could gaze—not with pleasure but with awe—at the immense bulk of the royal palace, now the Hungarian National Gallery. If I didn’t know their history, I’d have been completely convinced. I’ve wandered the lively streets of old Nuremberg and could have been unaware that they were a replica, with modern buildings behind the timbered facades. Warsaw guidebooks refer constantly to the buildings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, not pointing out that they were built in the 1960s and 1970s, that their luscious plasterwork, tall windows and sumptuous panelling are lovingly-created replicas.
 
But I can’t walk through Elizabethan Plymouth, or medieval Coventry. To be accurate, I can visit a strange version of the latter—Spon Street, where various medieval buildings were relocated by the planners in the 1950s and early 1960s, as the Brave New World of concrete buildings and flyovers was laid out across the narrow lanes and intricate street pattern of the old city. More medieval buildings were destroyed in Coventry after 1945 than during the Second World War, and those now in Spon Street were standing in the way of grand designs.
 
I know that the facades of Nuremberg, the reconstructed palaces of the Old Town of Warsaw, the quaint houses and sunny corners of Buda, are all to a greater or lesser extent fakes—but they are lovely imitations, beautifully done and filled with craftsmanship which gives them (here I sound like William Morris on his soapbox) a degree of honesty and a truth. Above all, they have an identifiably human scale. Of course, such views can be condemned as reactionary and worse, and words such as ‘pastiche’ will be used … but given the choice between ‘50s concrete and the human scale irregularity of old Buda, I choose the latter any time. But Greater Budapest has more than its fair share of ‘50s concrete, as any journey from the city centre to the airport through the Stalinist suburbs demonstrates very well. One day, perhaps, I’ll learn to love and admire ‘50s concrete—but not just yet! I suppose, for all my attempts at objective analysis, I’m just a sentimental tourist at heart. 

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NOTES NEWS ISSUES
 

NNI August 09

 
Membership: the latest total of subscribing members of BALH is 1958 – we are very hopeful that this will reach the landmark figure of 2000 by the end of the year. The steady increase is very pleasing, and we are delighted that the work of Gill Draper, Events and Development Officer is being rewarded in this tangible way. Joining forces with firstly CORAL and then ALHT affected the statistics in different ways, so perhaps require a brief explanation. The BALH figures at the beginning of 2008 included some 80 former members of CORAL who were given six month’s free membership when the two organisations merged. Sadly, despite our best efforts, very few of these people went on to take out a subscription. However their loss was almost exactly balanced by the new paying members largely recruited by Dr Draper. Virtually all ALHT members were already members of BALH so there was no equivalent distortion. Subscription income allows the Association to carry out its objectives for its members. If societies would encourage their members to take out individual subscriptions, and if individuals recruited their friends, we could continue to grow in size and in influence.
 
Consultations and debates: BALH takes every opportunity to promote the interests of the local history community by contributing to national, and indeed international, discussions on many relevant issues. Recent examples include a submission to the consultation process on ‘Archives for the 21st Century’ (see LHN 91 p 26). In recent weeks there has been publicity given to proposed cuts in services at TNA, and BALH is hoping to work in liaison with other societies to raise concerns about the impact these proposals will have (see this issue).
 
Local History Day: a report and pictures from our premier event of 2009 can be found on p XX. For next year we are maintaining our tradition of holding LHD on the first Saturday in June but the venue will change. There are plans at Friends House for a refurbishment programme but they are not able to confirm when this will be taking place, so we are moving to the Imperial War Museum. On Saturday 5 June 2010 we hope to see you there. Bamber Gascoigne and Jacquelene Fillmore will lead the morning discussion session on local history and the internet, and, as already announced, the lecturer is Adam Longcroft speaking on vernacular architecture. A booking form will be in the November mailing. Ticket prices have not changed; this important occasion is subsidised by the Association to allow the maximum participation by our members and friends.
 
Observant readers will have noticed the absence of two items normally appearing in the Summer issue of Local History News. There is no profile of an award winner for personal achievement from the 20009 list, and no general comments from Alan Crosby on this year’s publications awards. Both these will return in November.
 
A regular feature in the weekend issue of the Financial Times, Arts section, is a mini-interview with an author. There are standard questions – ‘Where do you write best? ‘Who is your perfect reader?’ and so on. Of particular interest last week was the answer to ‘What book changed your life? Penelope Lively’s choice was W G Hoskins’ The Making of the English Landscape because, she explained, ‘it taught me how to see the presence of the past in the world around me’. She was, of course, a historian before she became a novelist.

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NEWS FROM LIBRARIES
 

The major exhibition at the British Library this winter (30 October to 7 March 2010) breaks new ground by revealing photographs from their huge collection. Surprisingly this is the first time there has been a photographic display at the library. This one will examine the development and influence of photography, from its invention in 1839 up to the growth of a popular amateur market in the early 20th century. Organised by subject matter, the exhibition asks: 'Who was taking the photograph and why?' Section by section, items are presented within their cultural context to explore some of the major themes of the 19th century – from expansion to industrialisation, science, and the rapid changes taking place in society. The final section reveals how technology responded to the demands of a developing mass market for photography, which continues to the present day.

 
http://www.bl.uk/pointsofview
 
Sheffield Central Library is celebrating 75 years since their building was opened by the Duchess of York (who became Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) in July 1934. In 1853 Sheffield became the first town in Yorkshire to provide a public library service, initially located in the former Mechanics’ institute in Surrey Street. It later expanded into the adjoining Music Hall building. When that structure deteriorated, Alderman J G Graves, Sheffield businessman and benefactor, pledged a substantial amount of money for a new building which would incorporate an art gallery. Among the events marking the anniversary is a talk about Mr Graves.Sheffield History Reporter124, Woodsetts Local History Society Magazine XXXVIII, sis@sheffield.gov.uk
 
 
The Armitt Library and Museum Centre in Ambleside is closed. Its website states this is for ‘major re-organisation’. However the newsletter from Friends of Cumbria Archives suggests its future may be in jeopardy. Negotiations are in progress with the University of Cumbria in the hope that the University can take over the running of the Armitt. It contains a wealth of material on the local history of the Lakes area, and on some of its prominent residents over the past 200 years.www.focas1991.co.uk

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NEWS FROM MUSEUMS
 

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery have two exhibitions related to the Second World War opening shortly. The Land Girls: Cinderellas of the Soil will run from 3 October to 14 March, and War Stories about the home front in Brighton and Hove begins on 29 September.www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info/

 
Items at the current exhibition at the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising might bring back memories for readers. ‘The Art of Guinness’ celebrates 250 years of production by highlighting its famous advertising images, many drawn by well-known artists of the time.www.museumofbrands.com
 
The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is presenting an exhibition exploring poster designs by the General Post Office (GPO) from 1930 to 1960. From the 1930s onwards, the Post Office became a leader and trend setter in the field of poster design, commissioning some of Britain’s leading artists and designers. The history of GPO poster design is inseparably entwined with many of the major developments in graphic design. Designs on Delivery goes on show at London College of Communication (LCC), London from 7 October to 4 November 2009, and will focus on six themes: Education; Air Mail; Post Early; Wartime; Postage & Packaging and Products & Services. This period was also the beginning of Post Office advertising, and posters played a vital part in campaigns such as persuading people to post early and encouraging clear and correct writing, right postage and careful packaging. This was especially important during the war years, when great demands were put on Post Office services.
www.postalheritage.org.uk
 
 
A local oral history project has provided the material for the summer temporary exhibition, until 12 September, atChertsey Museum. ‘In Your Own Words’ draws on personal accounts of how the Borough and life there has changed. Visitors can listen to extracts and view local history items from the Museum’s collections. The project is funded by BAA Community & Environment Awards, the Co-operative Membership Community Fund, Grassroots Grants through the Surrey Community Foundation, the Feoffees of Chertsey Market and the Friends of Chertsey Museum who co-ordinated the fund raising.www.chertseymuseum.org.uk
 
Until 27 September, ‘The Best of British’ is the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery which tells the story of its newly catalogued British Collection, including many items that are not usually on show.www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk.
 
Look out for local information on Heritage Open Days in your area. On 10 - 13 September, there will be access to many places not normally open to the public.www.heritageopendays.org

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NEWS FROM ARCHIVES
 

On Sunday 25 October Shropshire Archives are holding an open Day ‘Gateway to the history of Shropshire and Telford. Four talks are scheduled during the day, and in addition there will be displays, quizzes and competitions, a behind the scenes tour, and ‘ask the experts’ sessions. Email archives@shropshire.gov.uk or seewww.shropshirearchives.org.uk

 
 
Many archives house collections of architectural and engineering drawings on tracing paper. While this was an ideal surface for working drawings, and was very widely used, it does not survive well. The Hackney Terrier fromFriends of Hackney Archives publishes an article by conservator Jacqueline Bradshaw-Price that illustrates what can be done to rescue tracing paper.archives@hackney.gov.uk
 
 
'People and Parliament: Connecting with Communities' is an exhibition in Westminster Hall, Houses of Parliament, until 20 September. It draws on resources held by theParliamentary Archives, and regional collections, to examine how people have influenced Parliament and how Parliament has affected communities and lives over a period of nearly 500 years. The centrepiece is the 1821 Land Tax, 348 meters long (actually 700 sheets of parchment stitched together) containing the names of some 65,000 commissioners appointed to supervise the assessment and collection of the tax. This exhibition launches a major four year Parliamentary outreach project which will see a series of regional activities taking pace across the country between 2009 and 2012. The five project partners are Birmingham Archives & Heritage, Centre for Kentish Studies, Glamorgan Record Office, Norfolk Record Office, and Tyne & Wear Archives.www.parliament.uk/archives
 
The Public Catalogue Foundation is making good progress. (See LHN 89 p 12 for more details). There are now 25 catalogues in print, and the programme aims to add 10 per year to complete the whole of the UK by 2012.They are currently working on Devon, and are seeking to record everything from single painting in a school, pictures hanging in town halls, hospitals or fire stations, to the larger museum and gallery collections.www.thepcf.org.uk
 
Camden Local Studies and Archives regularly use volunteers and short term work placements to permit completion of projects that would otherwise not be tackled. Recently, an MA student catalogued the records of the Hampstead Motorway Action Group, a body formed in 1965 to oppose the GLC’s plans to route a motorway through the middle of Hampstead and across the Heath.www.camden.gov.uk/localstudies
 
 
A new online resource available to subscribers of ancestry.co.uk are the registers of criminal trials from 1791 – 1892 held at The National Archives. Dr Paul Carter, special projects manager, described them as ‘key documents for the study of serious crime in the 19thcentury’.
 
Literary archives often contain material of interest to historians, local and otherwise. Gloucestershire Archives have obtained funding from the national Manuscripts Conservation Trust to improve the packaging of the Ivor Gurney Archive. Gurney was a Gloucestershire poet and composer (1890 – 1937) who, amongst much else ‘wrote at a period of huge geographical and social change and who gives us an image of an England in transition’. A separate partnership project is underway to catalogue and interpret the Gurney Archive, in which Gloucestershire Archives are working with Exeter University, the University of Gloucestershire and the Gurney Trustees. archives@gloucestershire.gov.uk
 
Very large-scale digitisation project is becoming available.British Literary Manuscripts Online c 1660 – 1900.Information can be found atwww.gale.cengage.co.uk/manuscripts, but you need an institution to pay the subscription for access.
 

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NEWS FROM IRELAND
 

IRISH NEWS:

 
 The financial crisis: abandonment of plans to acquireCork estate 

Because of current financial cutbacks and restrictions, the Irish Heritage Trust has terminated negotiations to complete the acquisition of the Anne’s Grove Estate in north County Cork. While the reduction will not impact on its involvement in other activities, the funding and tax credits which had been allocated for this project were withdrawn early in February, forcing the Trust to abandon its negotiations which were close to competition. Anne’s Grove at Castletownroche is the home of the Grove Annesley family. A riverside garden is the centrepiece of the 500-acre estate, which includes a house, home farm, double stable yard, riverbank and woodlands. Located in the Blackwater Valley, it is near to the poet Edmund Spenser’s home at Doneraile  (also home of the Hennessys of Cognac fame, and the birthplace of the politician and philosopher Edmund Burke). The Grove Annesleys settled in Castlertownroche in 1628 but the present house, on a plateau above the Awbeg River, was not constructed until the early 18th century.  At present the estate is run by a family trust managed by Patrick Annesley and his wife Jane and it is possible that negations may be re-opened by the Trust in the future.
 
Survey of Great Blasket Island
In early February John Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, and Martin Mansergh, the Minister of State responsible for the Office of Public Works, jointly confirmed that the majority of the land on Great Blasket Island, off the coast of County Kerry, has been acquired by the State. A number of the other landowners may also wish to sell their holdings and discussions with them will continue. Building conservation officers from the Office of Public Works have travelled to the island to survey its abandoned village, with a view to ensuring the stabilisation and preservation of the buildings there. During an oral hearing last year (concerning a planning application for a services and café building on the island) it emerged that the buildings were in an extremely poor condition and that a severe winter could see them collapse completely.  Great Blasket was abandoned in 1953 and many of the islanders’ descendants live around Dun Chaoin and Dingle on the mainland. The island management committee, comprising ferry operators, conservationists, and descendants of islanders, was established in the 1980s to preserve the unique heritage of the Blaskets, which has been immortalised in classic autobiographical works such as the wonderful Twenty Years A Growing, by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin [Maurice O’Sullivan 1904-1950'>more....
 
The phones they are a-changin’
 
Local historians need to maintain vigilance about the loss of the everyday and familiar. Just look around and see what is disappearing before your eyes. 
Eircom, the Irish equivalent of BT, has announced that during 2009 some 2151 public payphones (out of a national total of 4850) will be removed. Due to the ubiquity of mobile phones, the usage of public payphones has dropped by 80%, though Eircom has indicated that only those which show ‘very low usage’ will be removed. County Dublin will lose the highest number, rural County Carlow the least. The move has been attacked by politicians because of its impact on those who live in rural Ireland and those who can’t afford mobile phones. Another social change takes place … 
 
Irish Architectural Archive
The Irish Architectural Archive in Merrion Square, Dublin, has received the King’s Inn collection of drawings by the celebrated architect James Gandon (1743-1823), including some relating to the Four Courts and the King’s Inn itself (this being the Dublin equivalent to the Inns of Court in London). The move follows a decision by the benchers of King’s Inn to loan its valuable collection of drawings to the archive, so that it can be accessed by architects, historians and members of the public. The collection includes James Gandon’s drawings of Dublin’s four greatest buildings—King’s Inn, the Four Courts, the Customs House and the Irish Parliament House at College Green which is now used by the Bank of Ireland.
Wicklow Gaol to close?
In early February Wicklow County Council announced that for financial reasons it could no longer operate Wicklow Goal, a leading tourist attraction in which re-enactors give visitors an idea of what it was like to be imprisoned there. The Council has invited expressions of interest from anyone interested in taking over operation and has invited tenders from the private sector. Wicklow Chamber of Commerce and other local organisations are trying to ensure that the gaol reopens this year on schedule, and has drawn up a detailed set of proposals. Wicklow Gaol was opened in 1998 as a tourist attraction and gained a high reputation nationally and internationally.
Charles Haughey’s papers
The late Charles Haughey was one of the outstanding Irish politicians of the 20th century but his many political achievements were overshadowed by revelations about his lifestyle and dubious connections. Now his papers—hundreds of boxes of letters, notes and handwritten drafts—have been donated by his family to Dublin City University. They are described as the most historically significant personal archive ever donated to an Irish institution of learning. It is intended to establish a special room in the university library, named for the former taoiseach, to house the collection, and several scholarships named in his honour will begin this autumn. Sean Haughey, his son, said that to dismiss his father’s contribution to the political, social, economic and cultural life of Ireland on the basis of selected aspects of his personal finances was absurd. He suggested that there were few areas of Irish life where his father’s influence had not been apparent and the family hoped that, in time, the papers would form the basis and stimulus for an objective assessment and appraisal of his of his father’s contribution to the building of modern Ireland. The collection, which has yet to be catalogued, will not be open for research until 2022.
 
 
MUSEUM NEWS
 
National award for Kerry County Museum

 
In May, Kerry County Museum was been awarded the title of ‘Museum of the Year ‘ in a competition organised jointly by the Heritage Council of Ireland in partnership with the Northern Ireland Museums Council. The citation described the Museum as a vibrant cultural resource for the Kerry community and the island as whole. Other recipients of awards included Knock Museum (County Mayo); Collins Barracks (Dublin, for its ‘Soldiers and Chiefs: the Irish at war at home and abroad since 1550’ exhibition; Derry City Council’s Heritage and Museum Service Tower Museum for ‘An Armada shipwreck: La Trinidad Valencera’; and South Tipperary County Museum for its education and outreach work, focusing on the ‘Heritage in Schools’ project.
 
Ulster Museum set to reopen
 
In October 2006 the Ulster Museum in Belfast closed for a major makeover. It is scheduled to reopen in the autumn, following additional financing to ensure completion of the project (the total expenditure being about £17.5 million). The most striking element of the refurbishment work will be apparent to visitors as they walk into the new, large and bright atrium, 23 metres high and with glass and steel walkways leading to the history, art and science galleries which are at different levels. Additions include four new learning zones, and a new high-level gallery in which glass, silver, ceramics and jewellery will be displayed. Old favourites will still have a special place in the galleries, though, including the Egyptian mummy Takabuti which first came to Belfast in 1835; the long canoe of the Solomon Islands head-hunters; and the dinosaur collection.
 
Ulster-Scots heritage
 
At the end of May Eamon O’Cuiv, Ireland’s Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, opened Monreagh Manse, the country’s first Ulster–Scots Heritage Centre. It is at Carrigans, County Donegal, and uses a building linked to a church which is home to Ireland’s second oldest Presbyterian congregation, dating back to 1644. The aim of Monreagh Manse is to explore the historically-rich and important contribution of the Ulster–Scots to the development of Ireland’s northern counties.
 
Canoe returned to Canada
The university in Galway has agreed to return to the Maliseet community in New Brunswick, Canada, a 180-year old birch bark canoe, said to be the oldest of its type in the world. Known as the Grandfather Akwiten canoe, it was one of three built by the Maliseet people for the lieutenant governor, Sir Howard Douglas, who arrived there in 1824. The canoe later passed to Lieutenant. Stepney St. George, serving with the army in Canada, and he brought it back to Headford Castle, County Galway. In 1852 it was donated to the new Queen’s University Galway (now the National University of Ireland Galway) by Edward Lombard Hunt, the tenant of Headford Castle. For many years the canoe hung from the roof of NUI Galway’s Quadrangle Building until it was rescued by Dr. Kathryn Moore of the Earth and Science Department and sent to Canada for restoration. When placed on temporary display in the Canadian Museum of Civilisation the Maliseet community became aware of its presence in the country and issued an appeal for its permanent return. It will now be repatriated and the Maliseet community will find an appropriate permanent home for the canoe.
 
*
 
Celebrating newspapers
 
All across the British Isles local newspapers are reported as being under threat, with falling sales and threatened closure of some long-familiar titles. It’s good, therefore, to read of the life of a local paper being celebrated in a public event. In 21 May the National University of Ireland Galway [NUIG'>more... hosted a centenary birthday party for the Connacht Tribune, marking the huge contribution made by this newspaper to the social and economic life of Ireland’s western seaboard. Like many provincial newspapers, the Connacht Tribune was also the springboard for media careers in the wider world: many influential Irish broadcasting and press figures started their work on the paper.
 
New code of practice to protect archaeological sites
On 24 June 2009 the Irish Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, launched a new code of practice which should improve archaeological protection on major construction projections and will apply to all infrastructure projects such as motorways, power lines and wind farms. The new guidelines were developed jointly by the Electricity Supply Board, Eirgrid, the Irish Concrete Federation and the Department of the Environment. In recent years there has been considerable public controversy in Ireland over the potentially damaging impact of, for example, new motorway building on sites of international historical and archaeological interest.
Call for memorial to Dublin citizens killed during the 1916 Rising
The historian Dr. Anne Matthews, in a lecture entitled ‘Breaking the silence: the citizens’ experience of 1916’, has recently called for the erection of a memorial to the 345 citizens of Dublin who died during the six-day Easter Rising, when those living in the area around the General Post Office in Sackville Street, as O’Connell Street was then called, found themselves in the middle of a war zone. She made the point that while the term ‘commandeered’ was used when rebels took food, and ‘took it‘ was the comparable term for actions by the army, the ordinary people of the city were accused of ‘criminal looting’ when they attempted to find food – three different terms for, essentially, the same action. She argued that children suffered special hardship during the Rising as families were confined indoors, and bakers raised their prices.  Almost 350 ordinary Dubliners were killed in the fighting – the forgotten casualties of the conflict. Dr. Matthews urged that a plaque to the civilian casualties of the Rising should be unveiled in time for the 2016 celebrations marking its centenary.
 
Burial registers on-line
 
Limerick City Council has become the first Irish local authority to make its burial records available on-line. The records of the city’s largest cemetery, Mount Saint Lawrence, dating back for more than 150 years, can now be accessed on the City Council website www.limerick.ie. Medrex Systems microfilmed the original handwritten records and then converted them into digital format. The Cemetery opened in 1849 followed the cholera epidemic of the 1830s and the Great Famine of 1845-1850. According to Jacqui Hayes, of Limerick City archives, the register is a mirror of the social and economic structure of Limerick society from 1849, and its records have great importance for demographical analysis, provide statistics for changing life expectancy and other mortality analyses.