Strensall Local History Group

The Strensall Local History Group aims to promote and study the history of the Parishes of Strensall & Towthorpe, and to disseminate historical information through meetings, publications, lectures and events. For more information contact the Secretary: valjesse@gmx.com

MEETINGS

Meetings are held in the Function Room, Strensall Village Hall on the last Wednesday of the month at 7pm. New members are always welcome.

Subscriptions for 2009: £6 per person. Visitors: £2 per session.

Next meetings:

• 30th September 2009: Sutton Hoo - A presentation by Eric Houlder on this important archaeological and art-historical site in Suffolk.
• 28th October 2009: The Crosses of North Yorkshire - Lewis Graham will describe the stone crosses that can be seen all over North Yorkshire, with some interesting stories about their origins.
• 25th November 2009: Remembrance Evening - an evening based around the documents produced by Malcolm Steeples on the Strensall War Memorial and the service personnel of the village in the early 20th Century.
• 16th December 2009: AGM followed by the customary "Chairman's Christmas Quiz". Wine & mince pies will feature!

WORKING GROUPS

Working Groups provide opportunities for members to concentrate on areas of particular interest. These Working Groups are:

Archaeology: the group aims to explore the archaeology of the village in all its forms; current interests are the Hall, the War Memorial and a tree survey.

Buildings History: this group is tracing the history of some of the older residences in Strensall through old documents and records.

Community Groups : the group aims to trace sporting and other activities which went on in the village in days gone by.

Family History: a new group which aims to help members get started on researching their family history using the internet and other archive material.

Industrial History: members of the group are looking in particular at the brick and pottery industries which flourished in Strensall in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Oral History: the group aims to secure an oral record of the history of the village by recording residents of Strensall as they recall their memories of the past.

Photography: by collecting old pictures of the village, this group is building up a useful database. It has published a book "Strensall Then and Now" which includes old photographs of Strensall alongside their modern counterparts. The latest project is to download photographs on to the Internet using Commanet Community Archive software.

The Resources Group and the Technology Group support the work of the other groups by providing a database of resources and technical help where required.

"STRENSALL THEN AND NOW"

One of our earlier projects was the publication of STRENSALL THEN AND NOW which features old photographs of the village alongside their modern counterparts. It's on sale from Strensall Library or Strensall Post Office, price £5.

LATEST NEWS

The Group is very fortunate to have been given a local history archive compiled over several years by the late Dr & Mrs Slater. The archive is large and will take some time to catalogue and evaluate. We are very grateful to the Slater family for their donation of this valuable resource of information on Strensall.