NEWSLETTER 14th June 2018
Forthcoming K&DLHG event. Friday June 22nd; guided village walk around Long Itchington. Meet at 6.30 in The Square, Long Itchington, CV47 9PE. Our guide will be Dave Williams, Chairman of the Long Itchington History Group. No refreshments are provided, but the Harvester Pub, which serves tea and coffee, is recommended. The tour charge is £2.50 per person.
Our second summer Outing on Friday 20th July is a departure for the Group as it a lunchtime guided tour of the Rollright Stones, when we will have a picnic (weather permitting as always!). Meet at the Stones’at 12.00 noon. If the weather is fine bring a picnic, otherwise Wyatts Farm Shop with refreshments is only about a mile away. Our guide will be David Shirt, who has a long association with eh stones and their conservation, as a founder and trustee of the Rollright Stones Trust. The tour charge is £2.50 per person.
Our final summer outing is the all day coach trip; to the historic Bristol Docks and SS Great Britain on Saturday August 11th. The coach leaves from outside St Peter’s Church, Kineton, at 8.45am. The very extensive historic Bristol Docks area has been completely refurbished, and now houses museums, historic boats, restaurants, bars, art galleries and Brunel’s SS Great Britain. The cost, including entrance to the SS Gt Britain, is only £28.00 per person. We need to fill our coach so if you know of non-members who would be interested in coming on this trip please spread the word.
You can still sign up to the July and/or August outings by phoning Isobel (01926 640426) or Ilona (01295 670675) or by replying to this email (frekedj@globalnet.co.uk).
Report on the 17th May talk by Sheila Woolf : “Cordelia Leigh of Stoneleigh Abbey, 1914-1919, a strange time” . Sheila Woolf, Chairman of the Stoneleigh History Society, has undertaken extensive research into the history of Stoneleigh Abbey and its occupants. In the course of examining the Abbey archives she came across Cordelia Leigh’s diary kept from 1914 to 1919, which consciously set out to record the effects of the war on herself and the Stoneleigh village community. Cordelia was the youngest daughter of Lord leigh, and like her father she took seriously the philanthropic role of the landed gentry at the time. She proved particularly active in the support of young people from the village, introducing them to an appreciation of nature and a steadfast belief in the Church. This support, as shown in the diary, extended to the local young men when called up to fight. Sheila Woolf showed how Cordelia’s activities included organising entertainments for wounded soldiers and supporting the families of Belgian refugees sent to the area. Sheila, with Chris Holland, has published the diary with a commentary, and as her talk showed, it is an extraordinary tale of one individual’s response to the “strange times” she was living through. A remarkable woman, she moved to Leamington, and was a familiar character riding her tricycle around the town until her death in 1956 aged 89. Ruth Morgan led our vote of thanks for an illuminating introduction to an inspiring local figure, about whom few of us had previously been aware.
Other Society’s matters.
The London & North Western Railway Society, based in Kenilworth ,has sent out an appeal to members of other societies who may have an interest in the L&NWR. They would like to hear from anybody with genealogical enquiries, archives, or information related to the railway company, as they have an extensive archive in Kenilworth. They offer to scan relevant documents up to 42 inches, free of charge, in return for a copy of the scanned material, the original, and copyright remaining with the owner. They are also planning training for conservation of archive materials. If this is of interest to you their web site can be found at: www.lnwrs.org.uk/
Other Local Heritage Events.
Market Hall Museum Warwick is running a series of events in July focussing on recent archaeological discoveries:
Monday 23rd July: New discoveries using LIDAR: hillforts, barrows, medieval villages and more. Bryn Gethin, 7.00 – 9.00pm £7.50
Thursday 26th July: Roman rural settlement at Shipston on Stour. Ed Pearson, 7.00-9.00pm £7.50
Thursday 31st July Warwick’s Roman Villa, recently discovered. Caroline Rann and Eri Kleisoura. 7.00-9.00pm £7.50
Kenilworth, the Abbey “Barn” museum is open each Sunday and bank Holiday Monday 2.30-4.30. Entrance free.
Committee Matters.
The next KDLHG Committee Meeting is on Monday the 2nd July 2018. The only agenda item is the speakers and outings for 2019-20. Could Committee Members come prepared with some ideas, and members who have heard, or know of, a speaker who may be of interest to the Group please let a committee member know so that we can consider them.