I mentioned in the Group’s Report in the March edition of the Magazine that we had been looking for some time for a suitable permanent home for our ever growing Archive, and that thanks to the generosity of our Village Hall Council, that had been achieved – and within the Village Hall, which our Committee agrees is the ideal location for it. Since then, all of the material comprising our Archive has been moved from it’s home in the Chairman’s garage (!) to it’s new home.
At the moment, our Committee are sorting the material, labeling it as necessary and deciding the best place for it to go (at least for the time being, if not permanently). As anyone who has moved house will know, this process brings to light many items which, although you had not forgotten about them, you just did not know where they were! And so it is with our Archive, the first example being the files of the Marldon Millennium Group, which was formed in 1999 on the initiative of the Parish Council (but was not part of it) to encourage, promote and itself organise various events to commemorate and celebrate the Millennium. Many very successful events took place including the revival of the “Beating the Bounds” walk, the production of the Parish Map, a “Millennium” exhibition in the Village Hall, mass plantings of daffodils at various locations in the Parish, New Year’s Eve parties at both ends of 2000, the installation of Parish boundary “marker” stones and plaques on the four geographical boundaries of the Parish, a visit to the newly-opened Eden Project (2 coaches!), china “Millennium” mugs for all children of school age and a “Time Capsule”.
Reminders of some of the work done by the Millennium Group can still be seen in various parts of the Parish – the daffodils (Five Lanes roundabout and the verges from the top of Moorview to Farthing Lane) and at other smaller areas, the Parish Map (Village Hall Community Room and Environment Group Notice Board at the top shops), the boundary marker stones and plaques, and the time capsule (Village Hall).
Memories of all of these events were recalled when moving (and looking inside!) the files of the Millennium Group, and the photographs taken at the time.
No doubt many other memories will be invoked as memorabilia and other items in our Archive are looked at for the first time in many years. The downside of course is that if you are not careful you spend more time looking at the various items than you spend sorting and labeling!
And now, back to the present-day work of the History Group, and the next event on our horizon, which is our Summer Open Meeting on FRIDAY 9th JUNE, when our Guest Speaker will be Colin Vosper, on the subject of “Maritime Shortcuts”, which is an illustrated talk about canals in the West Country. I would imagine that most people associate canals with the Midlands and the North, but this talk is about canals in the South West peninsular, including the Grand Western and the Bude canals. Also included in Colin’s talk are the Suez and Panama canals, which have recently celebrated the opening of extensive improvements of widening and deepening of these world famous waterways. There will be another reminder of this Open Meeting in the next edition of this magazine, which will be on sale on 1st June, in line with the new date of issue of the 1st of each month.
As usual, the Open Meeting is in the Village Hall and will start at 7.30 pm. Admission to Members is free, and £2 for non-members. Look out for the posters on the Notice Boards nearer to the date. Members will of course be notified direct as usual. We hope that the longer, lighter evenings will enable you join us, and we look forward to seeing you.
Marldon Local History Group 