At our first meeting of the New Year on 20th January our speaker Professor Beat Kümin will present For a Good Cause: church ales and early modern drinking culture, about the role that drinking alcohol has played historically in social, religious and political life. Beat Kümin is Professor of Early Modern European History at Warwick University, and has written extensively on early modern society, with particularly emphasis on communal activities such as drinking, feasting and church going. He is the co-ordinator of the My-Parish website, which hosts ongoing research into all things parish-related. His interests extend from early modern food and drink to the evolution of the picnic, and he has assisted subjects on TV programmes like “Who do you think you are?”. Professor Kümin has visited us before and we look forward to another relaxed and informative evening.

Report on our Christmas Meeting

Richard Churchley presented Christmas Songs Through the Ages: from the middle ages to the 1940s. We saw “Dick” Churchley, the musician and entertainer, but his presentation was informed throughout by Dr Richard Churchley’s life-time of local history research. True to the title of his talk, he started with medieval seasonal feasting and the Mummers (derived the word “mimers” or “mumblers”), and sang the medieval Coventry Carol. His informal approach encouraged our members to join in, and also to sing along to a Wassail (from Norse ves heill – “be in good health”).

He accompanied himself on the accordion and the cittern – a medieval instrument similar to a lute – just two of the many instruments of which he is master. The stories told by carols don’t necessarily conform to the orthodox line. In The Withy Stick, collected in Worcestershire by Cecil Sharp, we hear how the bitter willow tree was cursed by Jesus after a switch from it was used by Mary to punish him for drowning three rich youths, a story from the Apocrypha.

In between songs he explained the sources of some much-loved examples – Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer for instance is an American invention from 1939. He brought us up to the 1940s with Bing Crosby and White Christmas and went beyond his brief into the 1970s by pointing out that Mike Oldfield’s follow-up to his hit Tubular Bells is based on the medieval In Dulce Jubilo, recorded on multiple tracks by three recorders, renaissance kortholt (look it up!), acoustic and electric guitars, piano, synthesiser, snare drum, and tambourine – a line-up worthy of Dick Churchley himself.
As is traditional for K&DLHG at Christmas we enjoyed mince pies (courtesy of the committee), mulled wine and soft drinks. Our thanks to Ilona and Jackie and Mark Walker for organising this and serving us.

The 2023-24 Programme

Capturing Kineton’s Past by Peter Ashley-Smith, edited by our President Robert Bearman.
Members are encouraged to become evangelical about this publication, in order to promote the group, and foster an interest in the history of our village and its surroundings. This book would make an ideal birthday present? Peter’s encyclopaedic knowledge and years of research are here distilled into little nuggets – anecdotes, characters, and vignettes of past village life here presented to give a comprehensive picture of all aspects of Kineton’s colourful past.
Price £9.99 contact kinetonhistory@yahoo.co.uk or purchase at meetings.

Peter Johnson has updated and substantially revised and enlarged his biography of Joe Gerring, who worked around the area in Lighthorne, Compton Verney, Chesterton and Kineton. The book is a model of local history research and presentation, and is accompanied by a CD of Joe talking about his experiences. There has been a limited print run of only 100 copies of the book and CD and Peter Johnson has kindly donated a copy of both to the archive of the Kineton & District Local History Group.
Peter Johnson has a limited number of both the book and CD for sale. The book is £14 and the CD is £6. Postage rates on application. Home delivery available in Lighthorne and Kineton. Please email: colinjamessuch@gmail.com.

Other Societies’ Events
19th January. Warmington Heritage Group, Why Look at Churches?? Professor John Hunt,
Warmington Village Hall, at 7.30 pm

Professor Hunt is a medievalist working primarily on regional history and archaeology, medieval lordship and community and cultural history, in England & France between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. His current research is focussed particularly on parish churches and in this talk he will address the question: Why look at parish churches? Despite their apparent familiarity, why do English parish churches continue to attract the interest of historians and archaeologists? This lecture will explore some of the key questions and themes that contribute to the fascination of these buildings through three Warwickshire parish churches on which the speaker has worked, namely: St Laurence’s at Ansley; St John the Baptist at Berkswell; and St Mary’s at Tysoe.

27th January Welford and Weston Local History Society: The Stratford Midland Junction Railway and Binton Station by Peter Lewis, Memorial Hall, Welford, 7.30pm

Southam Heritage Collection: Accessing the Collection: The current exhibition showcases the work by volunteers on the local Civil War loss accounts Opening times are – Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings 10 am – 12 noon.

Other times by appointment. Our High Street and Atrium window displays are updated regularly so please keep a lookout for the latest displays as you pass by. In addition to the Exhibition Room there is plenty to see online, so do take time to explore this website and sample some of its many interesting articles.

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. Check their website www.balh.org.uk for upcoming talks available virtually.

Gresham College Lectures on History Ancient Landscapes of Britain (Archaeology)
Mike Pitts, Martin Millett and Helena Hamerow
Three of Britain’s leading Archaeologists present the latest research on Stonehenge, the landscapes of Roman Britain, and the medieval Agricultural Revolution. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/ancient-britain

Stonehenge: A History Mike Pitts 6pm, Thurs 23 Feb 2023, Barnard’s Inn Hall/ Online/ Watch Later https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/stonehenge-history

Landscapes of Roman Britain: Martin Millett 6pm, Weds 15 Mar 2023, Barnard’s Inn Hall/ Online/ Watch Later https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/roman-landscapes

The Medieval Agricultural Revolution: New Evidence Helena Hamerow 6pm, Thurs 23 Mar 2023, Barnard’s Inn Hall/ Online/ Watch Later https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/agricultural-rev

Don’t forget to check our own website at:
Kineton and District Local History Group (kinetonhistory.co.uk)

Membership. If you are, or would like to become, a Member of the group, your 2023 subscription (still £10pa!) is due this January. Our Treasurer Alec Hitchman awaits! You can pay by cheque made payable to Kineton and District Local History Group, sent or delivered to Alec Hitchman, The Hills Farm, Pillerton Hersey, WARKS, CV35 0QQ, For queries contact Alec on alec.hitchman@btinternet.com You can also join at any talk.
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.

2022-23 KDLHG Committee

President:                               Dr Robert Bearman MBE                  

Chairman                                David Freke                           

Vice-Chairman                        Roger Gaunt                           

Secretary                                 Ilona Sekacz                           

Treasurer                                Alec Hitchman                       

Outings Secretary                   vacant                                     

Programme Secretary             Claire Roberts                            

Other committee members:

Rosemary Collier

Isobel Gill

George Lokuciejewski

Catherine Petrie (PR)

Pamela Redgrave (Membership)

Committee: A meeting was held, via Zoom, on 5th December. After receiving the treasurer’s update the main business was to finalise the programme for 2023-4. Our Group agreed to host a visit from the Long Itchington Local History Society on 10th May 2023, reciprocating for a memorable visit to them several years ago. It was decided to research the requirements for running “hybrid” meetings, with members in the village hall and participants via Zoom.

Date of next Committee meeting: 13th February via Zoom 7.00pm,

Contact David Freke tel. 01295 670516 mob. 07876 290044 email: djfreke@gmail.com
DF 14.01.23

NEWSLETTER, 13th February 2022

Our forthcoming meeting on Friday 18^th February features James Ranahan, whose his talk The Photographer’s Gaze: viewing Warwickshire since 1839 will take us back into the Warwickshire of the last century and a half.   This is a period of Warwickshire’s boomtime, for some, and then bust, for some, and change, for all.  In the 19^thcentury the industrial towns benefitted from new canal and railway transport links, with the north Warwickshire coalfield fuelling huge urban population growth. In the late twentieth century de-industrialisation forced radical changes on these communities.Agricultural fortunes grew until the middle of the 19^th century, then dipped to desperate straits for landowners and agricultural workers at the end of the century.  In the twentieth century the two World Wars impacted on Warwickshire in ways which left permanent changes in the landscape and society.  Our own member Roger Butler has shown us historic images of local canals thriving with commercial traffic, becoming abandoned and lost in derelict wastelands and then reviving as amenities at the centre of leisure and retail activities (think Banbury).   

Increasingly we use photographs to chart change – our own “snapshot” of Kineton 10 years ago is already, inevitably, an historic record. Photographs have increasingly documented these changes, and by the 21^st century photography has changed from its original elite specialist pursuit to a ubiquitous reflex available to anybody with a smart phone.  James’ title “The photographer’s gaze …” suggests that he will consider what subjects photographers have chosen to focus on and how they have presented them –  which of the infinity of possible views have they selected and frozen for posterity?  And how have these choices themselves changed over time?   James’ work is looking after these records.  He is an archivist with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, specialising in the photographic records, and was previously for many years the Photographic Archivist at the Birmingham Library.. We are eager to hear his presentation. 

At present there are no mandatory covid-related restrictions on the use of the village hall, so we expect to present a normal evening, with refreshments.  However, we advise that masks be worn when moving around, unless taking refreshments, and that the hand washing facilities be used.  Seats will be spaced, although not at the previous 2m distance. 

Report on our Friday 21^st January’s informativetalk by George Derbyshire, whose topic was the Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds.  He called his talk “Cockneys in Arcadia”, and he described the effect on Chipping Campden in 1902 caused by the influx 150 people from London – 50 craftspeople and their families – led by Charles Ashbee.  They were seeking to exchange “Babylon” (London) for “arcadia” (rural life), idealised as a simpler, more “authentic” aesthetic and lifestyle.  It was undeniably also a cheaper one.

For a while Chipping Campden became an artistic avante garde outpost.  Ashbee set up workshops in the old silk mill, and established a guild school for training local carvers, cabinetmakers, enamellers, printers, jewellers, goldsmiths and silversmiths (but, oddly, not stonemasons).  At its height 300 students were enrolled.  The surprisingly unfit country trainees were given disciplined physical workouts to improve mind and body.  The use of the term “guild” indicates their adoption of the medievalising social ideals of Ruskin and Morris. 

Like Morris, the guild found that handcrafted items were often too expensive for all but the rich to acquire.  Their proposed edition of the Bible was to retail between £60 – £150 depending on the degree of illumination (about £8,000 – £20,000 in today’s money).  Unsurprisingly the project had to be shelved as it was not financially viable.  The economic isolation of the town led to financial problems and the guild returned to London in 1907, but Ashbee and a dozen craftsmen remained to continue the transformation of the town and its cultural life.

Although he trained as an architect Ashbee built no new buildings in Chipping Campden, but he was personally responsible for the maintenance and survival of many of the jewels in Campden’s High Street, and the ethos of the Arts and Craft Movement has ensured the conservation of the town’s charm.  

Our thanks to George Derbyshire for his succinct and expert presentation, not least the revelation that Charles Ashbee’s father’s bequest of 50,000 books to the British Library had to go straight into their restricted catalogue!

Membership.   Given the way the problems and restrictions of the last 2 years have affected our activities we hope that you still value what the Group has to offer.   If you are, or would like to become, a Member of the group, your 2022 subscription is due (still £10pa!).  Our Treasurer Alec Hitchman awaits!  You can pay by cheque made payable to Kineton and District Local History Group, sent or delivered to Alec Hitchman, The Hills Farm, Pillerton Hersey, WARKS, CV35 0QQ,  or 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.

Or you can join at any talk.

K&DLHG 2022-3 Programme: 

Feb 18  :	James Ranahan	The Photographer’s Gaze: Viewing Warwickshire Since 1839
Mar 18	AGM
22 April	Alan Benjamin	‘The History and Music of Morris Dancing’ with instrumental accompaniment.
20 May	Anne Langley	‘Early allotments in Warwickshire’ a major institution of Victorian village life
June/July	tbc	Walk around Ilmington  (date and time tbc) Visit to Brailes  (date and time tbc)
Fri. 12 August	2.30 pm	Walk around Chipping Norton with Blue Badge guide
16 September	Norman Hyde	‘Tennis the Leamington Way.’ the oldest tennis club in the world and its importance to Leamington over 170 years.
21 October	Roy Smart	‘David Beatty – The Last Naval Hero’ fame and celebrity following the Battle of Jutland, the greatest naval battle in history.
18 November	Rosemary Collier	The History of the Royal Horticultural Research Institute, Wellesbourne
9 December	Richard Churchley	‘Christmas Songs Through the Ages’ the Middle Ages to the 1940s
20 Jan 2023	Beat Kumin	‘For a Good Cause – Church Ales and Early Modern Drinking Culture.’
17 Feb 2023	David Fry	The Silk Ribbon Industry of Coventry’
17 March 2023	AGM

Official covid advice and regulations may change for better or worse in the coming months, so we will be assessing the programme one meeting at a time and we will confirm each event when we are reasonably confident that we can run it. 

The Community Archive Project: an appeal for Ideas.  At our last meeting I reported that our Heritage Lottery Fund bid for money to help construct a Community Archive room in the Village Hall was rejected, with the helpful suggestion that involving more community activities would make a more viable bid.  I asked if members could suggest ways we could incorporate such ideas in a new approach to HLF.  I am very grateful that some members have responded with suggestions which we will develop and take forward.  If anybody has a light-bulb moment please email me at frekedj@globalnet.co.uk or talk to a committee member at our meetings.

Other Society Events

Warmington Heritage Group. 

Thursday 17^th February 7.30pm  Local Postcard Collection by Stuart Martin, at Warmington Village Hall

Warwickshire Local History Society

K&DLHG is affiliated to WLHS and our members are entitled to join their meetings.

The next WLHG talk is:

Tuesday 15^th March, 7.30pm.   , Members Meeting

WLHS are intending to run outings again this summer.  Although full details are not available yet you might want to put the following dates in your diaries:

Saturday 7th May: Edgehill Battlefield Walk, A morning outing followed by optional lunch, led by Martin Russell, the Vice President of Shipston and District Local History Society.

Thursday 26th May: Trip to Birmingham Guinea Gardens and Birmingham Botanical Gardens, all day, led by members of Birmingham Guinea Gardens and the Botanical Gardens tour guides (lunch at the Botanical Gardens: members can bring packed lunch or eat in the cafe).

Saturday 2nd July: Compton Verney Archaeology: An afternoon tour of the grounds led by Compton Verney archaeologist Hilary Calow followed by a cream tea at Compton Verney.

Wednesday 7th September: Middleton Hall, Tamworth.  A morning tour of the hall followed by members’ choice of packed lunch or lunch in the restaurant, with access to the hall and gardens for the rest of the day.

Full details and prices will be available a few weeks before each event, together with details on how to book a place.

Check the Warwickshire Local History Society website for updates: https://www.warwickshirehistory.org.uk

British Association for Local History.  The Kineton Group is also a Member of BALH and they run lectures and talks which are open to our members. 

Their next, talk available virtually is:

Wednesday 16^th February 7.00pm – 8.00pm  Effective Social Media for Local History 

Thursday 24^th February 7.00 –  8.00pm.  Front Parlour to Funeral Parlour: looking after the dead in England 1850 – 1950

Booking through the BALH website: www.balh.org.uk

Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society

Tuesday 1^st March 7.00pm Cheddar Man and the Genetic prehistory of Britain by Dr Thomas Booth.   Venue Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham.  Book through website: www.bwas-online.co.uk

Tuesday 5^th April  7.00pm Medieval Grafitti of South Warwickshire Churches by David Freke

Venue St John’s House Museum Warwick.  For tickets see website www.bwas-online.co.uk

HS2

Friday 18^th and Saturday 19^th there will be an open event in Chipping Warden village hall showcasing the archaeological discoveries on the HS2 site nearby https://www.woodford-halse-villagesignpost.co.uk/2022/02/07/meet-the-diggers/

Council for British Archaeology West Midlands

Saturday March 5 10.00am – 4.00pm  News from the Past  at Carrs Lane Church Centre Birmingham https://cbawm.archaeologyuk.org/

Warwickshire in WWII

The link below takes you to a fascinating article about WWII in the locality, keep going to the end to read about PoW Camp 31 at Ettington. 

https://www.forces.net/heritage/history/doorstep-history-german-soldiers-buried-warwickshire?fbclid=IwAR2glVLC2bOpFyt0W1hkJRPiG_zjVhlc7d-y4KjAfZ3uBySlvBj7w63esv0

Don’t forget to check our own website at:

Kineton and District Local History Group (kinetonhistory.co.uk)

KDLHG Committee

President: Robert Bearman MBE                  

Chairman: David Freke                            

Vice-Chairman: Roger Gaunt                            

Secretary: Ilona Sekacz                            

Treasurer: Alec Hitchman              

Outings Secretary: Isobel Gill                                        

Programme Secretary:  Claire Roberts                          

Other committee members:

Rosemary Collier   

George Lokuciejewski     

Catherine Petrie

Pamela Redgrave

Peter Waters 

Committee News.  The committee last met via Zoom on 17^th January and a summary was included in the January Newsletter.

Date of next Committee meeting:  14^th March via Zoom (tbc) 7.00pm,

DF 13.02. 22

Contact:  David Freke   tel: 07876 290044

Email frekedj@globalnet.co.uk

NEW YEAR, NEWSLETTER, 18th January 2022

Happy New Year!  Or at least a better one.  

Our next talk this Friday 21^st January is by George Derbyshire whose topic is the Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds.  He calls his talk “Cockneys in Arcadia”, and he will describe the influx of dedicated craftspeople into the area in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century.  They were seeking a simpler, more “authentic” aesthetic and lifestyle and, undeniably, also a cheaper one.  For a while the Cotswolds and Chipping Campden  in particular became an artistic avante garde outpost.  

Many of you will remember our trip to Chipping Campden a few years ago, and our visit to the Court Barn Museum, where the jewellers’ workshops are preserved, and are still operated by individual craftsmen.    

George Derbyshire moved to Moreton-in-Marsh about 8 years ago after a career in business. Finding time on his hands, he became a volunteer at Court Barn Museum, and as well as giving talks, he leads Arts and Crafts walks for the museum in Chipping Campden and Broadway.

At present there are no mandatory covid-related restrictions on the use of the village hall, so we expect to present a normal evening.  However, we advise that masks be worn, and that the hand washing facilities be used.  Seats will be spaced, although not at the previous 2m distance.  Please wrap up warmly as the hall will be ventilated. 

Report on Christmas Treats.     The Christmas meeting on Friday 10^th December was our biennial opportunity to hear short pieces by our members before consuming mulled wine or soft drinks and mince pies.  Our thanks to Ilona for providing these, and Jackie and Mark for help in serving them.   This year we had three contrasting contributions.

Sue Hammon’s  title was “The Mystery of Khiva” which we soon learnt is not an exotic fruit, but a key town in Uzbekistan on the ancient Silk Road.  The “mystery” in Sue’s title is nothing less than how this obscure location played a role in laying the foundations of modern mathematics.  It was (probably) the birthplace of the 9^th century Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi.  He developed and published the system of “Arabic” numerals we still use, replacing the cumbersome Roman numbering system.  The logic of the way the simple strokes of our numbers were derived from increasing the number of angles they exhibited is a model of that elegance so essential for mathematical theory.  Sue explained how this may have grown from the need to make the multicultural mercantile business of the Silk Road more efficient, and universal.  There is a statue of him in Khiva, as yet unmolested, and his other memorial, better known though not generally realised, is the word “algebra”, which is derived from “al jabr” – part of the title of his thousand-year old book.  

Brian Morgan took up the challenge which was issued at the start of the pandemic, and has been keeping a journal to record the last extraordinary 20 months.  He called his talk “The Ramblings of an Old Man During the Pandemic”.  Brian recounted the effects which the pandemic has had on his family and the community, through its lockdowns and restrictions.  He described the difficulties organising care for elderly relatives, the problems and advantages of working from home, the steep learning curve related to remote meetings via Zoom, and the joys/frustrations of shopping on line.  Much of his account raised familiar issues for he audience.  The continuing pandemic means that his memoir also continues.   Just as contemporary accounts of historic events are the essential evidence for historians, so will diaries and memoirs like Brian’s, recording this bizarre period, be valued by future commentators and analysts.   

Anitra Hall entertained and teased us with her piece entitled “What’s in a Name?”  This was a cradle-to-grave scamper through her family’s history and their names.  Unfortunately, I was so engrossed by her performance that I took no notes, so I only have my recollections to draw on for this review!  However, I do sympathise with her irritation at the mistake many people make when using her first name (with me it’s my surname).  She recounted how her mother was captivated by Anitra’s Dance from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, and how that personal connection is embodied in her name.  Anitra delivered her thoughts with her usual quirky aplomb, her query regarding our audience’s own experiences with names drew some interesting responses.

Our thanks to all three members for sharing their experiences and enlightening us, each in their own way giving an insight into the way the past impacts on the present.

Membership.   Given the way the problems and restrictions of the last 2 years have affected our activities we hope that you still value what the Group has to offer.   If you are, or would like to become, a Member of the group, your 2022 subscription is due (still £10pa!).  Our Treasurer Alec Hitchman awaits!  You can pay by cheque made payable to Kineton and District Local History Group, sent or delivered to Alec Hitchman, The Hills Farm, Pillerton Hersey, WARKS, CV35 0QQ,  or by BACS to our bank business account:

name: Kineton and District Local History Group,

sort code: 40-43-19;

acc. no. 71281992. Please be sure to include your full name so we can correctly attribute your payment!

 Or you can join at a talk.

Programme: 

2022-3

Jan   21	George Derbyshire:	Arts and Crafts in the Cotswolds
Feb 18  :	James Ranahan	The Photographer’s Gaze: Viewing Warwickshire Since 1839
Mar 18	AGM
22 April	Alan Benjamin	‘The History and Music of Morris Dancing’ with instrumental accompaniment.
20 May	Anne Langley	‘Early allotments in Warwickshire’ a major institution of Victorian village life
16 September	Norman Hyde	‘Tennis the Leamington Way.’ the oldest tennis club in the world and its importance to Leamington over 170 years.
21 October	Roy Smart	‘David Beatty – The Last Naval Hero’ fame and celebrity following the Battle of Jutland, the greatest naval battle in history.
18 November	Rosemary Collier	The History of the Royal Horticultural Research Institute, Wellesbourne
9 December	Richard Churchley	‘Christmas Songs Through the Ages’ the Middle Ages to the 1940s
20 Jan 2023	Beat Kumin	‘For a Good Cause – Church Ales and Early Modern Drinking Culture.’
17 Feb 2023	David Fry	The Silk Ribbon Industry of Coventry’
17 March 2023	AGM

Official covid advice and regulations may change for better or worse in the coming months, so we will be assessing the programme one meeting at a time and we will confirm each event when we are reasonably confident that we can run it. 

The Community Archive Project: an appeal for Ideas.  As many of you will know the Group has been trying to raise funds to construct a room in the Village hall to house village archives, in order to preserve them and make them available for consultation by the community.  This has been an ambition of the group for more than two decades, and we are now closer to achieving it than ever before.  We have a costed scheme, planning permission, and the support of the Village hall Trustees, and many village organisations and groups.  The costs are such that we will need more than our own resources to complete this project.   Our application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, has been turned down on the grounds that the project did not include sufficient community activities, despite being aimed at preserving and enhancing access to the heritage of the village.  We intend to submit a new application soon which will meet this HLF requirement in terms that will chime with  their aims. 

We would welcome your views on what sort of outreach or community activities could be promoted within the remit, and using the resources, of a community archive.  Your committee is looking at this matter now with a view to submitting a new application in February, so please let us know your  suggestions for us to consider.  Email me at frekedj@globalnet.co.uk or talk to a committee member at our meetings.

Other Society Events

Warwickshire Local History Society

K&DLHG is affiliated to WLHS and our members are entitled to join their meetings.

The next WLHG talk via Zoom is:

Tuesday 15^th February, 7.30pm.   Dr Andrew Watkins, Late Medieval Towns in Arden.   

Check the Warwickshire Local History Society website for up-to-date lists.  https://www.warwickshirehistory.org.uk

British Association for Local History.  The Kineton Group is also a Member of BALH and they run lectures and talks which are open to our members. 

Their next, talk available virtually is:

Thursday 27^th January 7.00pm Pnm Smith and Julie Miller:  Non-conformity from the 17^th to 19^th centuries.  Virtual talk, visit www.balh.org.uk for details

Lapworth Local History Group: 

Tuesday 25^th January: 7.45pm, Joe Harvey:  Mapping the Tunnels of Warwick

Lapworth Village Hall (may be via Zoom, contact:  www.lapworth history.co.ukfor details)

Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society.

Tuesday 1^st February. 7.30pm.  Prof Felix Schmid The First London to Birmingham Railway.

Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham.  Tickets bookable from BWAS website:  bwas-online.co.uk

Warwickshire in WWII

The link below takes you to a fascinating article about WWII in the locality, keep going to the end to read about PoW Camp 31 at Ettington. 

https://www.forces.net/heritage/history/doorstep-history-german-soldiers-buried-warwickshire?fbclid=IwAR2glVLC2bOpFyt0W1hkJRPiG_zjVhlc7d-y4KjAfZ3uBySlvBj7w63esv0

Don’t forget to check our own website at:

Kineton and District Local History Group (kinetonhistory.co.uk)

KDLHG Committee

 President:                               Robert Bearman MBE           

Chairman                                David Freke                           

Vice-Chairman                       Roger Gaunt                          

Secretary                                 Ilona Sekacz                                     

Treasurer                                Alec Hitchman                       

Outings Secretary                   Isobel Gill                                    

 Programme Secretary            Claire Roberts                                

Other committee members 

Rosemary Collier

George Lokuciejewski

Catherine Petrie

Pamela Redgrave

Peter Waters

Committee News.  The committee met via Zoom on 17^th January. Alec outlined the continuing satisfactory state of our finances but reported that the transfer of access to our PayPal account to him from Ted was still a problem.  Roger, Alec and Lucie are attempting to resolve this and will make arrangement to meet.   HSBC has started making a “handling charge” for paying in funds, Alec to investigate.  The 2022-23 talks programme was confirmed.  Arrangements were discussed for streaming or recording talks so that remote, housebound or safeguarding members can participate: DF to investigate.  Suggestions for the Summer Outings were discussed;  David and Rosemary to pursue contacts for several suggested venues. The Programme Card will be available to members at the January talk.  The HLF had turned down our bid for the community archive on the grounds of insufficient outreach activities.  The membership to be asked to suggest ways of meeting this requirement.  .  David Beaumont has commented that the Group’s yahoo email account receives quantities of spam, scammers and adverts, and he asked if it would be better to switch provider?  The consensus was that all providers have the same propensity to deliver rubbish, and our sympathies are with David in dealing with this stuff but it is unlikely to improve by switching.  Roger reported that the number of visitors to the web site took a dip since the last meeting, although one hit was from Germany, a first.

Date of next Committee meeting:  14^th March via Zoom (tbc) 7.00pm,

DF 18.01. 22

Contact:  David Freke   tel: 07876 290044

NEWSLETTER 6th December  2021

Christmas Treats.  Our Christmas meeting this Friday 10^th December [note it’s the second Friday, not the usual third one] is our biennial opportunity to hear short pieces by our members before consuming mulled wine or soft drinks and mince pies. This year we have three contributions.  Anitra Hall  will entertain us with a piece entitled “What’s in a Name?”  Many of you will remember some years ago the dry humour of her account of her genealogical researches.  Sue Hammon has given me the title “The Mystery of Khiva” and despite Googling Khiva’s location (it’s in Uzbekistan – where’s that?), and a hint from Sue that a vital aspect of European culture is involved, I remain agog to hear her explore the mystery of this place.  Brian Morgan took up the challenge which I was issued at the start of the pandemic, and has kept a journal to record the last extraordinary 20 months.  In the footsteps of Daniel Defoe he calls his talk “The Ramblings of an Old Man During the Pandemic”.  I hope as many of you as possible will come to this pre-Christmas meeting, the last K&DLHG gathering of 2021.

At present there are no mandatory covid-related restrictions on the use of the village hall, so we expect to present a normal evening.  However, we advise that masks be worn, and that the hand washing facilities be used.  Seats will be spaced, although not at the previous 2m distance.  Please wrap up warmly as the hall will be ventilated. 

Report on November 19meeting.  Ellie Reid, a Local Studies Librarian at Oxfordshire History Centre, and an independent researcher, gave a comprehensive description of the role played by Warwick’s pioneering 1906 pageant in the local, and wider, manifestations of the 20^th century pageant craze.  In her well-illustrated talk entitled Dressing up the past: the 1906 Warwick Pageant and the 20^th century Pageant Movement she showed how persistent publicity over many months was crucial for the huge success of the event.  Local dignitaries, such as Lord Willoughby de Broke and patrons of the South Warwickshire Hunt, took leading roles in hired costumes, while lesser parts were inhabited by members of the wider community in costumes created by teams of seamstresses.  As many as 44,000 people saw the pageant, performed for a week in the grounds of Warwick Castle under the direction of Pageant Master Louis Napoleon Parker.  A dozen episodes illustrated the sometimes mythic history of the town, including a scene involving the infamous Dun Cow, represented by a giant smoke-breathing head, designed by local artist John Bolton.   The success of the Warwick pageant stimulated many other towns to mount their own local celebratory events, and Parker became a peripatetic Pageant Master, much in demand.

The popularity of pageants waned in the thirties and post WWII, with Birmingham’s rain-affected 1938 event making a loss of about £10,000.  Against this is Kenilworth’s 1939 celebration which made a profit of £1,500, and included microphones and pyrotechnics.  The Festival of Britain included a pageant, and the spectacular 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony was essentially a pageant.  Ambridge staged a pageant in 2016, in a way which recalled the pageant in Mapp and Lucia, where village politics and personalities proved as compelling as the ostensible historical theme.  The current appetite for costumed re-enactors at historical tourist venues has a faint echo of the pageant, albeit much diluted. 

Our President Bob Bearman noted that the late Peter Ashley-Smith had researched and published an article about the Warwick 1906 Pageant in Warwickshire History in 2006, a debt which Ellie fulsomely acknowledged; indeed she had included a copy of Peter’s article with her fascinating display of pageant memorabilia.   Gill Ashley-Smith gave the vote of thanks with her characteristic panache.

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Membership.   If you are, or would like to become, a Member of the group, your 2022 subscription (still £10pa!) will be due in January 2022.  Our Treasurer Alec Hitchman awaits!  You can pay by cheque made payable to Kineton and District Local History Group, sent or delivered to Alec Hitchman, The Hills Farm, Pillerton Hersey, WARKS, CV35 0QQ,  or by BACS to our bank business account:

name: Kineton and District Local History Group,

sort code: 40-43-19;

acc. no. 71281992. Please be sure to include your full name so we can correctly attribute your payment!

 Or you can pay at a talk. 

2021-2 Programme update: 

Dec 10           Christmas treats

2022-3

Jan   21            George Derbyshire:  Arts and Crafts in the Cotswolds

Feb 18             James Ranahan: The Photographer’s Gaze: Viewing Warwickshire Since 1839

Mar 18            AGM

22 April	Alan Benjamin	‘The History and Music of Morris Dancing’ with instrumental accompaniment.
20 May	Anne Langley	‘Early allotments in Warwickshire’ a major institution of Victorian village life
16 September	Norman Hyde	‘Tennis the Leamington Way.’ the oldest tennis club in the world and its importance to Leamington over 170 years.
21 October	Roy Smart	‘David Beatty – The Last Naval Hero’ fame and celebrity following the Battle of Jutland, the greatest naval battle in history.
18 November	Rosemary Collier	The History of the Royal Horticultural Research Institute, Wellesbourne
9 December	VARIOUS	Christmas meeting
20 January	Beat Kumin	‘For a Good Cause – Church Ales and Early Modern Drinking Culture.’
17 February	tbc	tbc
17 March	AGM

Official covid advice and regulations may change for better or worse in the coming months, so we will be assessing the programme one meeting at a time and we will confirm each event when we are reasonably confident that we can run it. 

Other Society News

Warwickshire Local History Society

K&DLHG is affiliated to WLHS and our members are entitled to join their meetings.

Many other local societies are running their talk series via zoom!  Check the Warwickshire Local History Society website for up-to-date lists.  https://www.warwickshirehistory.org.uk

British Association for Local History.  The Group is also a Member of BALH and they run lectures and talks which are open to our members. 

Their next, talk available virtually is The Human Cost of the British Civil Wars given by Prof Andrew Hopper on Thursday 9^th November, 7.00 – 8.30pm. 

Details:

One of a series of digital skills workshops and webinars hosted by BALH in 2021.

The BALH Annual Winter Lecture

The British and Irish Civil Wars (1638–1652) are now taking centre stage as a critical event in the welfare history of Europe. During these conflicts, the Long Parliament implemented a national pension scheme for those who had suffered ‘in the State’s service’. Maimed soldiers no longer able to work, bereaved war widows and orphans too could petition Justices of the Peace for a pension on a local level, through the county quarter sessions courts. For the very first time, this signified the state’s acceptance of a duty of care to both its servicemen and their families. The impact of war-related deprivation was widespread, given that civil-war population loss in England and Wales was around 3%, with even higher percentage losses in Scotland and Ireland. This lecture will showcase evidence from the Civil War Petitions Project’s website in order to assess how this system of military welfare operated, how claimants fashioned themselves as deserving recipients of relief, and how the victims of the war looked back on their experiences.

Check out their website at: balh.org.uk

Warwickshire in WWII

The link below takes you to a fascinating article about WWII in the locality, keep going to the end to read about PoW Camp 31 at Ettington. 

https://www.forces.net/heritage/history/doorstep-history-german-soldiers-buried-warwickshire?fbclid=IwAR2glVLC2bOpFyt0W1hkJRPiG_zjVhlc7d-y4KjAfZ3uBySlvBj7w63esv0

Other local on-line offerings:

Birmingham Museum virtual tour https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/virtual-tour

Herefordshire Museum and Art Gallery: Life through a Lens virtual tour https://www.herefordshirelifethroughalens.org.uk/virtual-exhibitiontours/

Don’t forget to check our own website at:

Kineton and District Local History Group (kinetonhistory.co.uk)

KDLHG Committee

President:                               Robert Bearman MBE           

Chairman                               David Freke                           

Vice-Chairman                        Roger Gaunt                          

Secretary                                 Ilona Sekacz                                     

Treasurer                                Alec Hitchman                       

Outings Secretary                   Isobel Gill                                  

Programme Secretary             Claire Roberts                       

Other committee members:

Rosemary Collier    

George Lokuciejewski       

Catherine Petrie 

Pamela Redgrave    

Peter Waters

Committee News.  The committee met at Pamela Redgrave’s home on 15^th November. Alec outlined the continuing satisfactory state of our finances but reported that the transfer of access to our PayPal account to him from Ted was still a problem.  Roger, Alec Ted and Lucie are attempting to resolve this.  The 2022-23 programme was discussed and a short list drawn up for Claire to pursue.  In the matter of the archive in October we submitted a new application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for help with financing the proposed archive room behind the stage.  We hope to hear whether we have been successful before Christmas.  Roger reported that the number of visitors to the web site continues to rise each month, with hits 60% from UK, 20% from the US, 12% from China(!) and others from Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. 

Date of next Committee meeting: 17^th January (tbc), 7.00pm, at Pamela Redgrave’s home by kind invitation: 8 King John’s Road, Kineton, CV35 0HS

DF 06.12. 21

Contact:  David Freke

Email frekedj@globalnet.co.uk

07876 290044

NEWSLETTER 14th November  2021

Next meeting: Friday November 19^th.  Ellie Reid will describe the local, and wider, manifestations of the 20^th century pageant craze in a talk entitled  Dressing up the past: the 1906 Warwick Pageant and the 20^th century Pageant Movement.  Pageants are mass, costumed, theatrical events celebrating usually historical themes, often involving hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of participants.  They began as a craze in the very early years of the 20^th century, and then continued in the interwar years.  Their popularity then waned, but the Festival of Britain included a pageant, and the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony was essentially a pageant.  Ambridge staged a pageant in 2016, in a way which recalled the pageant in Mapp and Lucia, where village politics and personalities proved as compelling as the ostensible historical theme.  The current appetite for costumed re-enactors at historical tourist venues has a faint echo of the pageant, albeit much diluted.  Ellie Reid is Local Studies Librarian at Oxfordshire History Centre, and an independent researcher, with a special interest in the social history and material culture of 20^th century historical pageants.  We are looking forward to a stimulating talk by an expert researcher.  

At present there are no mandatory covid-related restrictions on the use of the village hall, so we expect to present a normal evening.  However, we advise that masks should be worn, and that the hand washing facilities be used.  Seats will be spaced, although not at the previous 2m distance.  . Please wrap up warmly as the hall will be ventilated.  To minimise risk there will be no tea and biscuits, sorry.

Report on October 15^th  performance.

Our session on Friday 15^th October was led by Michal Luntley, with his folk trio Tricaorach, in an evening entitled  From This Ground: songs and stories about 19^thcentury Warwickshire agricultural  workers.  Michael sang his own compositions describing the conditions of the agricultural labourer at the end of the 19^th century, accompanying himself on a variety of guitars and banjos, with Maura Barnett on violin and Nickly Luntley providing backing vocals.  Interspersed were poems by local poet Olga Dermott-Bond which considered the wider aspects of displacement, emigration, and exploitation.

The particular narrative Michael explored was the emigration of scores of local agricultural workers and their families to Brazil in the 1870s, promoted by Tom Alsop, an agent from Napton-on-the-Hill.  The enterprise was a disaster, built on false promises and lies. It led to the destitution and death of many of the hopeful emigrants and their families.  One survivor managed return to denounce Alsop at a public meeting in Napton.  A consular official called Phipps had helpfully documented the whole sorry saga, and his evidence put an end to the corrupt project.  Michael’s approach was in the folk singing tradition, embracing contemporary political and social commentary in his songs, drawing parallels between the effects of modern states’ policies on refugees, and the events of 150 years ago.  It was clearly a heartfelt commentary on contemporary issues as much as an examination of  historic misdeeds. 

Michael’s “other life” is as Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Warwick University, where his specialism is the study of the educational implications of the ideas of that supremely humane thinker Wittgenstein.    

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Membership.   If you are a Member of the group but have not paid your 2021 subscription yet (£10) our NEW Treasurer Alec Hitchman awaits!  You can pay by cheque made payable to Kineton and District Local History Group, sent or delivered to Alec Hitchman, The Hills Farm, Pillerton Hersey, WARKS, CV35 0QQ,  or by BACS to our bank business account:

name: Kineton and District Local History Group,

sort code: 40-43-19;

acc. no. 71281992. Please be sure to include your full name so we can correctly attribute your payment!

 Or you can pay at the talk. 

2021 Programme update: 

Nov 19            Ellie Reid  Dressing up the Past: the 1906 Warwick Pageant and the 20^th century pageant movement in Warwickshire.

Dec 10           Christmas treats

2022

Jan   21            George Derbyshire:  Arts and Crafts in the Cotswolds

Feb 18             James Ranahan: The Photographer’s Gaze: Viewing Warwickshire Since 1839

Mar 18            AGM

Official covid advice and regulations may change for better or worse in the coming months, so we will be assessing the programme one meeting at a time and we will confirm each event when we are reasonably confident that we can run it. 

Other Society News

Warwickshire Local History Society

K&DLHG is affiliated to WLHS and our members are entitled to join their meetings.

Many other local societies are running their talk series via zoom!  Check the Warwickshire Local History Society website for up-to-date lists.  https://www.warwickshirehistory.org.uk

British Association for Local History.  The Group is also a Member of BALH and they run lectures and talks which are open to our members, and some of which are available via Zoom.  Check out their website at: balh.org.uk

Warwickshire in WWII

The link below takes you to a fascinating article about WWII in the locality, keep going to the end to read about PoW Camp 31 at Ettington. 

https://www.forces.net/heritage/history/doorstep-history-german-soldiers-buried-warwickshire?fbclid=IwAR2glVLC2bOpFyt0W1hkJRPiG_zjVhlc7d-y4KjAfZ3uBySlvBj7w63esv0

Other local on-line offerings:

Birmingham Museum virtual tour https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/virtual-tour

Herefordshire Museum and Art Gallery: Life through a Lens virtual tour https://www.herefordshirelifethroughalens.org.uk/virtual-exhibitiontours/

Warwick Castle Virtual Tour, relevant to next Friday’s talk….

https://historyview.org/library/warwick-castle/

Sibford Ferris Dig Open Day Thursday 18^th November 11.00 – 12.00.  Oxford Archaeology and Gade Homes are showing the evidence of iron age occupation at their excavation in Sibford Ferris.  Email planning@gadegroup.co.uk if you would like to attend.  The OA blog is at https://blog.oxfordarchaeology.com/sibford-ferris

Don’t forget to check our own website at:

Kineton and District Local History Group (kinetonhistory.co.uk)

KDLHG Committee

President	Robert Bearman MBE
Chairman	David Freke
Vice-Chairman	Roger Gaunt
Secretary	Ilona Sekacz
Treasurer	Alec Hitchman
Outings Secretary	Isobel Gill
Programme Secretary	Claire Roberts
Other committee members:	Rosemary Collier
	George Lokuciejewski
	Catherine Petrie
	Pamela Redgrave
	Peter Waters

Committee News.  There has been no committee meeting since the October Newsletter, but I can report that a fortnight ago we submitted a new application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for help with financing the proposed archive room behind the stage.  We hope to hear whether we have been successful before Christmas.  

Date of next Committee meeting: 15^th November, 7.00pm, at Pamela Redgrave’s home by kind invitation: 8 King John’s Road, Kineton, CV35 0HS

DF 14.11.21

Contact:  David Freke

Email frekedj@globalnet.co.uk

07876 290044