Continuing our new format trial on May 17th, we will open the evening at 7.00pm when members
and visitors can enjoy a glass of wine (suggested donation £3.00) or tea/coffee (£1.00) and obtain raffle
tickets before the talk begins at the usual time of 7.30pm. We hope you will come early and enjoy a
relaxed and chatty prelude to the evening. The raffle has raised £144.00 so far, please continue to
support it.

This Friday our speaker, Anthony Hitchcox, will reveal the past of nearby Radford Semele: a History in Photos.
Anthony Hitchcox has put together a collection of photographs belonging to residents “with the aim of taking a historic look back at the village from the lens of a camera”. His book ‘takes a historic look back at the village from
the lens of a camera’.
After the loss of his family photos some years ago and hearing of other peoples’ similar experiences, Anthony Hitchcox decided to put together a collection of photographs belonging to fellow villagers.
He also researched stories of the village through historic records and articles from local newspapers in The Leamington Courier from years gone by.
(article from Warwickshire World).
We look forward to an informative evening
about a neighbouring community.

Report on our April 19 talk led by Rosemary
Collier, our new Chair. Our speaker Emma
Bromley described The Black Book of
Warwick: a Tudor Town Clerk’s Diary. We
heard that this was the minute book of the
Corporation of Warwick compiled by the Town
Clerk, John Fisher, from 1563 to 1590. It
became his personal diary. Emma has been
transcribing the full document, as the transcription published in 1898 by Thomas Kemp missed out about a third of the original text.

Emma’s work, including notes on the text, will be published under the auspices of the Dugdale Society, and Emma acknowledged the support of our President, Bob Bearman, who is the General Editor of the Dugdale Society. John Fisher was possibly a man with a chip on his shoulder, envious of his more prosperous relatives, and guarding his status jealously. This led him into feuds, notably with John Greene whose associates he described as “gorballied choorles, gowtyte wretches, craftye knaves, and other names as best likid him”. Fisher’s time coincided with significant national events, and he describes the disastrous visit of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to Warwick, which resulted in Dudley forcing the Corporation to give him the property which became the Lord Leycester Hospital. The 19th century translation of the Black Book was used extensively to inform the scenes in the Warwick Pageant at the castle in 1906, and Emma’s full text, when it appears with her notes, will prove a new goldmine for researchers.

The Community Archive Room. The Archive Room at The Mill in Mill Street, Kineton, has now received all the material previously stored at The Ark in Pillerton Hersey. Thank you to Alec and Ilona for help in the move. Carol Clark and Colin Such have started the job of cataloguing. The Newsletter will feature interesting items as they come to light. The completed catalogue and index will be uploaded onto our website, in order that the community can see what the collection holds and to encourage its use.

Our 2024 Summer Outings.
Rosemary has arranged a fine series of outings for this summer. We will be selling tickets for these at our May meetings or you can contact our Treasurer directly (see contact details below)

Forthcoming K&DLHG talks at the Village Hall

Date	Speaker	Title
17 May	Anthony Hitchcox	Radford Semele: a History in Photos
21 June (eve)	Colin Such 6pm	Guided tour of Lighthorne village
19 July (afternoon)	Outing 2pm	Visit to Stanway House
16 August	Outing 2pm	Guided tour of Guild Chapel, Stratford
20 September	Maggie Wood	Mr Gaydon of Brailes, stories told through a collection of smocks
18 October	David Morse	A Dive into Leamington’s Photographic Archive
15 November	Roger Butler	William James – Stratford’s Pioneering Railway Engineer
13 December	Paul Thompson	Io Saturnalia
17 Jan. 2025	Alex Harvey	Immersive Tech to Explore Medieval Tunnels in Warwick and Elsewhere
21 Feb. 2025	William Deakin	History of the Hunt in Kineton
21 Mar. 2025	AGM & Martin Sinot-Smith	37th AGM followed by Daily Life in Tudor Times

Other Organisations’ Events

Warwickshire Local History Society Summer outings.

Saturday 29th June. Roman Mancetter. At the Roman Mancetter Centre
and St Peter’s Church, Mancetter 2.00 – 5.00pm.
Hear about Mancetter’s role as a town of front line strategic importance
during the early years of the Roman invasion and then the history of the
medieval town and guild, all within the beautifully maintained late
medieval church of St Peter.
Price: £11 WLHS and associate members, £13 non members, including
afternoon tea/coffee and cake
The event and venue are fully accessible. Free parking available. There
are 50 places on this trip. Bookings close on 15th June. mancetter-poster-1.pdf (warwickshirehistory.org.uk)

Saturday 6th July. Holy Trinity Church, Sutton Coldfield. 2.00 –
5.00pm
Learn about the history of Holy Trinity Church from its founding in
1250 with its rich heritage of stained glass, memorials, unique
woodwork and glorious painted ceilings.
Price: £11 WLHS and associate members, £13 non members, including
afternoon tea/coffee and cake
The event and venue are accessible. Limited free parking; we
recommend public transport for this event (the railway station is a short
walk). There are 60 places on this trip. Bookings close on 22nd June.
sutton-coldfield-poster-1.pdf (warwickshirehistory.org.uk)

Saturday 20th July. Guided tours of Harbury. Tours start at 9.15am,
12.20pm and 5.30pm
Take a guided tour of the historic village of Harbury with volunteers
from the Harbury Heritage Centre and learn about the history of the
village. Then visit the Harbury Heritage Centre for refreshments and a
chance to browse the historical documents in their collection, including
photographs and maps.
Price: £7.70 WLHS and associate members, £9.70 non members,
including tea/coffee and refreshments.
The event and venue are accessible. Free parking available (including a
separate area for people with mobility needs). There are 60 places on
this trip (20 on each tour). Bookings close on 6th July.
For more information including how to book please download the Booking Form.
harbury-poster.pdf (warwickshirehistory.org.uk)
As Associate Members, members of the K&DLHG are eligible for the WLHS rate

Please look up the Warwickshire Local History Society’s Other Societies’ Events page for a list of
other meetings of local history interest. You can access it here: Other Events
(warwickshirehistory.org.uk)

British Association for Local History. The Kineton Group is a Member of BALH and they run lectures
and talks which are open to our members. www.balh.org.uk for upcoming talks available virtually.

Don’t forget to check our own website at: Kineton and District Local History Group

Membership.
Membership for 2024 is £15. Visitor entrance is £3.00 per meeting.
If you would like to become a Member of the group, our 2024 membership year starts in January. If you
attend 5 or more of the 9 meetings we hold every year then Membership is the best option!
With our bank now charging for payments by cheque or cash, we would urge those who can to please pay by BACS to our bank business account:
name: Kineton and District Local History Group,
sort code: 40-43-19;
acc. no. 71281992. Please include your full name so we can correctly attribute your payment.
Members note that if you pay by cheque make it payable to:
Kineton and District Local History Group, and send or delivered to:
Alec Hitchman,
The Hills Farm,
Pillerton Hersey,
WARKS, CV35 0QQ
Cash payments can be made at any meeting.
For queries contact Alec on alec.hitchman@btinternet.com

KDLHG Committee

Our new Chair Rosemary Collier presided over the April meeting when I handed on the Chairperson’s ceremonial Gavel, carved by George Lokuciejewski from a single log. In return I was very touched
when the committee, presented me with an inscribed gavel, a card signed by the committee with a montage of K&DLHG events, and a bouquet of flowers to acknowledge Ilona’s secretarial support.
We would like to thank all the members past and present who contributed to committee meetings and helped behind the scenes over the years.
No group thrives without such collective support from its members.

President:	Dr Robert Bearman MBE
Chairman	Rosemary Collier
Vice-Chairman	Roger Gaunt
Secretary	Gill Stewart
Treasurer	Alec Hitchman
Outings Secretary	David Freke
Programme Secretary	Claire Roberts
Membership & PR	Pamela Redgrave Carol Clarke Colin Such Ilona Sekacz

The new committee met on 2nd April in the Archive Room. A short note was included in the 15th April
Newsletter. The next committee meeting will be on June 11th in the Archive Room at 7.00pm.

Newsletter Contact: David Freke tel. 01295 670516 mob. 07876 290044 email: djfreke@gmail.com
DF 12.05.24