KENILWORTH HISTORY & ARCHÆOLOGY SOCIETY – May 2016 Newsletter
» Last Month: Last month Roy Smart gave us an entertaining account of the colourful life of The Last Naval Hero: David, 1st Earl Beatty, in which he incorporated a musical interlude and finale. In contrast, Roy’s statistics concerning the number of British ships and British lives lost at the Battle of Jutland brought a very sobering note to the proceedings.
» Tonight: We are privileged to welcome Dr Richard Buckley of Leicester University who has been a lead figure in the whole of the “Richard III Project”, from its earliest days.
» Next month June 13th: David Snowden of our associated Society at Evesham is offering – “Riding the tiger”: the Life and Death of Simon de Montfort. Expect an excellent evening.
» Kenilworth Civic Society AGM followed by Paul Garrison who will give details of the events planned to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the Great Siege. 7.30 pm Tuesday 17th May, Senior Citizens’ Club. www.thekenilworthsociety.co.uk/The_Kenilworth_Society/Kenilworth_Civic_Society_Home_Page.html
» Kenilworth Family History Society Meetings 7.30 at Senior Citizens’ Club. 11 May Mike Sharpe: Writing Your Family History. 8 June Members’ outing: Visit to Warwick Yeomanry Museum www.facebook.com/KenilworthFamilyHistorySociety
» Warwickshire Local History Society. May 14th: Visit to Farnborough Hall and Grounds, led by Stephen Was. Saturday 11 June 2016 A visit to Southam including the fabulous Heritage Collection, a walk around the town, a look at the latest history exhibition and tea. www.warwickshirehistory.org.uk/
» Warwickshire Industrial Archæology Society: 12th May Anthony Coulls on The London Water and Steam Museum Pyne Room (Warwick School, Myton Road, Warwick) 7.30 www.warwickshireias.org/
Important:
Your Society is privileged to send a representative to Warwick District Council’s Planning Forum. In the past this has been your Vice-Chairman, but now, without personal transport, he is finding the evening meetings in the Town Hall too arduous. The Society is therefore looking for a member to take his place, so that our concerns regarding Kenilworth’s historic environment may be expressed when necessary. One is rarely required to contribute, but there are occasions when it is vital to make a point – it’s important that we are there to do that. Volunteers, please, to the Chairman as soon as possible.
Making ‘The Barn Museum and Heritage Centre’ accessible to the public.
Last month’s appeal for Members’ help bore some fruit, but there is still a need for more. Please contact [wpml_mailto email="mformstone@mac.com"]Michael Formstone[/wpml_mailto]
or Margaret Kane on 864624, and give just two hours a year! If the weather stays like this, you’ll be grateful for a comfortable environment in which to spend your Sunday afternoon!
Website and Useful Links
It’s good to report that our own Website is attracting a lot of visitors, some of them being directed there from social sites. We are, hopefully, broadening our appeal as people become aware of us. It seems appropriate, then, to draw Members’ attention to other websites that may help their researches, or feed their interests.
- A recently overhauled website that is certainly going to have a lot of interest is that of the Museum of London. It gets a five star rating in a leading magazine, and is described as “gorgeous”! Try www.museumoflondon.org.uk You can actually browse through the galleries (as you can now with the BM).
- Historic England (a hived-off part of English Heritage) has a huge archive. This is what you do: Visit HistoricEngland.org.uk/archive. Choose “Advanced Search”. Choose
a “County/Unitary Authority”, and narrow the search to a parish. If you only want to see results with images, tick the “only records with online images” or you’ll get a
string of references. If you want the references, of course, don’t tick the box!
A message from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum: “Please find below links to our events for the Summer Term which may be of interest to your members. We have a range of courses including a real archaeological dig at the Lunt Roman Fort, Egyptian Mummies, Practical Art Workshops, Degas and performance in Art and Women’s
Costume of the Early 19th Century.” http://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/events-exhibitions
The Secretary reports: I’ve been contacted by Andante Tours, wishing to draw our attention to the range of tours they offer on historical themes. Details are available at: www.andantetravels.com and www.historicaltrips.com (Ed: tempted to ask if you travel in an Allegro: you would get there more quickly, perhaps!)
Contacts:
Chairman – 01676 532654; Secretary – 01926 858670; Treasurer – 01926 852655; Vice Chairman & Editor – 01926 858090
Website www.khas.co.uk