Helmdon Branch WEA – Local Studies

Helmdon Branch WEA – Local Studies
Charity reg. no: 1112775

Some four years ago, John Raybould tutored a course entitled “The Changing Village”. It covered the last hundred years, and focused on Helmdon. His enthusiasm lingered after the course was over, whetting the appetite for further historical research, and several members of the original class formed themselves into a local studies group. Val and Stewart Moir, Judy Cairns, Audrey Harwood, Jean Spendlove and Will Watson remain the core members. In Spring 2000 two new members, Danny Moody and Kate Mawson, joined the group, both very interested in the difficult-to-unravel early history of Helmdon. Meetings were, and still are, held every three months or so to discuss progress. From the outset, the group felt that what was researched should be recorded in some way and so, steered by Ross Vicars for a considerable time, and then by Audrey Harwood, Aspects of Helmdon 1 was published, followed later by Aspects of Helmdon 2, 3 and 4.

In between all this, under the direction of Val Moir, the churchyard inscriptions were recorded. Early in 2000 we showed Will Watson’s film “A Year in the Life of a Village to the village. It was produced with posterity in mind and a video disc is on the point of being deposited at the Northampton Record Office (we await the latest technology). Our latest venture has been the Helmdon web site, now a joint venture between Audrey Harwood and Danny Moody.

The Local Studies group is open to anyone interest in local history or geography, or indeed any other aspect of local life. It is not “closed group”. You do not have to be an attender at a WEA class to belong. We welcome new members at any time. Just contact the WEA Helmdon branch secretary, Audrey Harwood [phone number removed] or [email address removed]