nl 1511 wsv nov - st albans history · 2019. 5. 10. · line howkins, frank iddiols, gerard...

NEWSLETTER 198NOVEMBER 2015

ST ALBANS & HERTFORDSHIREARCHITECTURAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

President’s MessageAnnual General Meeting ReportGroup ReportsJohn Carrington

Ancient WallsThat Sinking Feeling

StumpedLecture Programme

SOME ITEMS INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE

After 117 years the Museum of St Albans in Hatfield Road closed its doors on

20�� September 2015

NEW YEAR PARTY - FRIDAY 8TH JANUARY

Photograph: Frank Iddiols

www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 198

Membership 2President’s message 3SAHAAS Annual General Meeting 2015 5Library Report 8Recent acquisitions 8Journal articles 9Home Front Project 9Clock Tower 10The 17�� Century Research Group 12Publications & Publicity 13War Memorials 13Civic Society Awards 13Elizabeth Gardner 14Rita Cadisch 14Roman Wall 15Hall Place Wall 16That Sinking Feeling 17Birklands School 18The St Albans Architectural Heritage Project 19Stumped no longer by odd game 20John Carrington, farmer of Bramfield 23Contributions 24Programme Development Committee Report 2014-15 25Friday Lecture Report 25Lecture Programme November 2015 –February 2016 26Foundry Data 30Diary Dates 31SAHAAS NEW YEAR PARTY 32

CONTENTS

Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this newsletter the publishers cannot be held responsible forthe accuracy of the information herein or any consequence arising from it

MEMBERSHIP

The Society welcomes the following new members:

Mrs Hester Gabbutt, HarpendenMr Bryan Morris & Ms Susan Jarratt, St AlbansMr Mike Neighbour, HoddesdonMr David & Mrs Pamela Samuelson, St AlbansMr Terry Turner, Harpenden

David SmithMembership Secretary


Continued on Page 4

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The last month has been dominated by the book sale ourSociety and the Civic Society have organised in aid of theNew Museum and Gallery for St Albans. It has involvedmany hours of hard work by people who have helpedcollect books from generous donors, stored books, sortedbooks, transported books, publicised this event usingleaflets, the Internet and the Herts Advertiser, and also provided refreshmentsfor the workers and the customers. The result was an astonishing sale ofbetween 5,000 and 6,000 books which filled the Assembly Room of the TownHall on Saturday 24�� October.

Inevitably, at the close of the sale, we were left with a number of unsold booksand these were reviewed and either donated to charities or are being offeredfor sale on the Internet. I am glad to say that the sale has raised over £2,000for the project. Congratulations to all concerned.

This was an example of team work at its best. It would be impossible, I think,for me to thank everyone individually who contributed to the success of theday, but I am grateful to everyone from both societies and the museum staffwho were part of this effort. It shows what we can achieve together!

On 13�� October I was invited to the Awards Evening at the Maltings organisedyearly by the Civic Society and went to represent us. I was impressed with thecare and professionalism with which the team inspected the various featuresput forward for awards and the variety of items, ranging from improvementsto walls, new housing, Earthworks new eco-building, and Farrow and Ball’s newshop. It was perhaps no surprise that the Odyssey was the overall winner, butI was particularly glad to note that the newly instituted Trevelyan family awardwent to the Council team of restorers who had spent time and funds repairingour unique First World War Abbey Parish street memorials. The long-standinginterest and all the hard work done by Alice Goodman, and more recently by


Continued from Page 3

John Cox and Ann Dean and the Arc and Arc generally was publicly acknowl-edged and the photo supplied by John Cox of Trooper Walter Bell proudlydisplayed.

My last message this time is to ask for more members to help with the ClockTower. It is the responsibility of both the Arc and Arc and the Civic Society andwe need some of the newer members to come forward to help. I have to saythat being a clockateer is enormous fun and I cannot quite relinquish it in spiteof now having other duties. This year has been a particularly successful one,due to the work of Caroline Howkins, Mike Carey and Jill Singer, but it alldepends on the clockateers who report in to do their turn and this can be aslittle or as often as you like. (See Page 11).

This will be the last newsletter before Christmas and our New Year Party onFriday 8�� January, so may I wish everyone a time of peace and good cheer.

Helen Bishop

Photograph : Roderick Douglas

SAHAAS NEW YEAR PARTYVerulamium Museum

Friday 8�� January 2016 at 7.30 p.m.

Our main social event of the year.Meet with fellow members for

Conversation and Quiz, Mulled Wine and Festive food.

New Members especially welcome

Tickets available at all SAHAAS functions or by post (see Page 31)


Continued on Page 6

SAHAAS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2015

The Annual General Meeting was held on 15th September 2015 at VerulamiumMuseum. Eight-six members attended. Bryan Hanlon opened the meeting bycommenting on the high numbers in attendance and asked members to let himhave ideas for a more suitable venue.

1. Apologies for absence were received from Helen Bishop (President), Caro-line Howkins, Frank Iddiols, Gerard McSweeney, Alison Metcalfe, RichardMein, David Moore, Liz Rolfe and David Smith

2. President’s comments: Donald Munro stood in for Helen Bishop who hadprepared an address which Donald read to the assembly.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 16�� September 2014 had been circulated.Their adoption was proposed by Ann Dean and seconded by Mike North andunanimously agreed.

4. Accounts for the year ended 31�� May 2015 had been circulated. Adoptionof the accounts was proposed by Christine McDermott and seconded by JohnCox and unanimously carried.

5. Reports from groups had been published in the Newsletter except for thatof Doreen Bratby, the Lecture Secretary. She reported that during the yearthere had been two changes of speakers at the last minute and she wasgrateful to those members who stood in at short notice. Overall the speakershad been of a high standard and attendance good. She thanked members fortheir part in the success of the programme. Adoption of the reports wasproposed by John Cox and seconded by Anne Wares and unanimously accept-ed.

6. Election of members of Council; The following members were elected enbloc, proposed by Mike North and seconded by Julia Merrick and unanimouslyagreed:


Continued on Page 7


Helen Bishop PresidentBryan Hanlon SecretaryDavid Moore TreasurerDoreen Bratby Lecture SecretaryRoy Bratby Chairman, Programme Development CommitteeMike Carey Clock Tower (jointly with Caroline Howkins)John Cox Publicity OfficerMaggy Douglas Minutes SecretaryRoderick Douglas WebsitePat Howe 17�� Century Research GroupCaroline Howkins Clock Tower (jointly with Mike Carey)John Humphreys Newsletter EditorFrank Iddiols Technical OfficerChristine McDermott Hertfordshire Archaeology and HistoryJohn Mein First World War Project GroupRoger Miles* Archaeology GroupDonald Munro LibraryDavid Smith Membership Secretary

Note: * Roger informed the meeting that he had joined the Society in 1983 andnow wished to step down from the leadership of this group. Membersacknowledged the tremendous work he has done and showed their appreciationwith their applause. (There have been two expressions of interest in Roger’sposition followed by extended discussions, but no decision as yet.)

7. Award of Honorary Membership to Kate Morris : Details of the proposalthat Kate should receive Honorary Membership of the Society were publishedin Newsletter 197. In addition, Jon Mein, in proposing this award, added hisown tribute. Most notable was when Kate was Mayor of the City in the year2007-8 when she put the history of the City at the heart of her mayoralty. Shepicked out six periods of history and organised an event open to the public tomark each of them. Kate also established the Mayor’s Prize – a competitionrequiring participants to research an aspect of local history and commit it to



writing. Her aim was to encourage people to participate in this activity andthe winner would receive £100. Jon Mein competed in 2011, won the prizeand his success opened the door for him to study for an MA. Another memberof the Society, Anne Wares, won the prize in 2012. Both felt that theseachievements led directly to the formation of the Home Front project. Anotherof Kate’s many contributions is the work she has done in the twinning of StAlbans with Worms. In September 2014 the Home Front Group put on asuccessful conference when Kate arranged for Dr Daniel Nagel from Worms tolecture on the experience of the German Home Front. In return, Kate gave aspeech in German at Worms involving many hours of preparation.

The proposal was seconded by Roderick Douglas and carried unanimously.

Kate responded by saying she was flattered to receive the honour, she wasgrateful to the Society from whom she had received encouragement andsupport, in particular J. T. Smith who had persuaded her to engage in tran-scription and data input for the 17�� Century Group which gave her a taste forfurther research.

8. Election of Independent Examiner: The election of Mr Chris Hall as Inde-pendent Examiner of the accounts was proposed by John Humphreys, second-ed by Jon Mein, and unanimously agreed.

9. The Street Memorials of St Albans Abbey Parish: Members were remindedthat this publication was available for sale at £8.00 each.

The meeting concluded with a presentation by David Thorold, Curator ofPrehistory to Medieval at Verulamium Museum, on ‘The Sandridge Hoard’.159 Roman gold coins had been found by a member of the public using a metaldetector. Apart from a find in Corbridge of 160 coins, this was the largestcollection of gold coins ever found in Britain.

Bryan HanlonSecretary


Continued on Page 9

LIBRARY REPORT

The Library continues busy as usualalthough regular procedures in cata-loguing have been badly held up bythe loss in recent months of the Inter-net connection. We are pursuing thiswith St Albans District Council (SADC).The Library team will be meeting inNovember to take forward planningthe move, and also to consider arestatement of SAHAAS Library poli-cies – to be brought to Council.

St Albans City Archive Catalogues –updated transcript. Our thanks go toJon Mein and John Cox who, with thepermission of HALS, have producedfor our website an updated editedtranscript of this major primary sourcefor local research.

Local Libraries Group. A meeting washeld on 27 October. Progress reportswere given on the impact of the HLFapplications affecting the Cathedral,Museum of St Albans and SAHAASlibraries. There has been majorrestructuring in the HertfordshireLibrary service, with changes at StAlbans, which fortunately remainswith Watford one of the major publiclibraries in the county.

In view of the extent of change goingon in all institutions, apart from theforthcoming Beardsmore Collectionlocal material disposals list (to beshown to SAHAAS, St Albans Muse-ums, and HALS) there is little scope atpresent for developing the sort ofcooperation we envisage – for exam-ple, local Union Catalogue, etc. Theseare on the back burner until the verysubstantial changes in the variousinstitutions have bedded down. Wewill however keep in touch and keepeach other informed of developments.

Donald Munro

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

The diary of John Carrington, farmerof Bramfield, (See Book Review Page23)

Archaeology in Hertfordshire: recentresearch, a festschrift for Tony Rook.Edited by Kris Lockyear. Hatfield: Hert-fordshire Publications, 2015. 356pp,illus., plans, tables. Tony Rook’s 80��birthday in 2012 was marked by aconference organised by WelwynArchaeological Society. The fifteenpapers presented there focus on thecounty’s archaeology



from the Neolithic to the post-medie-val periods. Two appendices listRoman coin hoards and excavationcoins and PAS finds from the county.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The Local Historian vol 45, no. 3, pp224-231. “How accurate are the nine-teenth century censuses? Using Par-liamentary reports as an externalstandard”, by Keith Lawrence.The occupations of women and familymembers were not systematicallyrecorded in 19�� century censuses.This study focuses on the occupationof toll-collectors, and suggests thatthe role of women in this occupationmay have been grossly underesti-mated.

In Herts Past and Present, no 26,Autumn 2015.P.2 “Brief guide to sources: sourcesfor population figures”, by DavidShort.

Pp 3-8 “A Hertfordshire tax strike inthe 1630s”, by Alan Thomson. K ingCharles I’s extension of the shipmoney tax to inland counties metfierce resistance. This is a detailedaccount of Hertfordshire’s oppositionto the tax in the years before the CivilWar.

Pp 9-16 “Hertford’s historic pageant1914”, by Philip Sheail. Examines thefunding of an historic pageant stagedin the spring of 1914 to celebrate thetown’s millenary.

Pp 17-19 “Barnet battlefield survey,2015-2017”, by Heather Falvey.Describes a project to identify the siteof the Battle of Barnet in 1471, a keybattle in the Wars of the Roses; theexact location of the site has longbeen disputed.

Pp 20-26 “The country engineer: thestory of Goode’s Engineering, Roys-ton”, by Martin Dawes. The historyof this agricultural engineering busi-ness from its beginnings in the mid-19�� century to its demise in the late1970’s.

Tony Cooper

HOME FRONT PROJECT

Further to the report in the Augustissue, the manuscript for St Albans:Life on the Home Front, 1914-1918, isalmost complete. We are gatheringtogether images for the book andhave received tremendous supportfrom Hertfordshire Archives and LocalStudies, St Albans Museums, national



Continued on Page 11

libraries - including the Imperial WarMuseum - and many very kind individ-uals who have given us permission toinclude images from their collections.Project team member Sheila Greenhas taken on the heroic task of com-piling the bibliography. The book willbe published next summer by Hert-fordshire Publications, an imprint ofthe University of Hertfordshire Press.

Sue Mann, Anne Wares& Jon Mein

CLOCK TOWER

2015 has been a very busy year for theClock Tower – 11,423 adults and chil-dren climbed the 93 steps to see themagnificent views during our summerseason, from Good Friday to when weclosed on the last weekend of Septem-ber. The highest number of visitorssince the early 1980s! The Towerjoined in with various local eventsduring the year including Residents’First Weekend (January), Palm Sunday(March), “Star Gazing” as part of theFilm Festival (May), and also in Maywhen the Clock Tower was lit fromwithin in purple to help raise aware-ness for the Charity Crohn’s and ColitisUK, and Heritage Open Days in Sep-tember. It is hoped that next year the

Clock Tower will join in with evenmore of the many St Albans festivals,including the Food and Wine Festival,but probably not the Fashion Week!

1207 visitors climbed the steps of theClock Tower over Heritage Open Daysalone, from Thursday 10�� to Sunday13�� of September – well in excess ofour usual visitor numbers. The specialevents held over these four days thathopefully helped to draw visitors tothe Clock Tower included: opening upone evening so visitors could takephotos of the setting sun and the starsin the night sky from the top of theTower; giving visitors a rare chance tolook round the third floor Dial Roomwhich is usually closed to the public;and a screening of a film of archive StAlbans postcards transforming intocurrent day photos. Two static dis-plays were also available to view onthe first floor – one showed theresults of the dendrochronologicaldate testing of the timbers of theTower and another, of post cards andphotos, showed the changing way theClock Tower was depicted over thepast 200 years. A replica Victorianceremonial Clock Tower key was alsoavailable for visitors to see, touch andhold; weighing 6½ lbs. and 17 incheslength it is a most unusual and inter-esting item.





100 blue, yellow and red balloonswere released from the top of theTower in a “Grand Balloon Race” onSaturday, 13�� September producinga lovely array of colour in the skiesabove the tower. The balloons, at £1each, were sold in aid of our funds anda prize of Clock Tower merchandisewill be awarded to the purchaser ofthe balloon that travels the furthestand to the person who finds andreturns the tag. Since their release,two tags have so far been returned –the furthest, from 60 miles away inLittle Thetford, will be the winner if nofurther tags are returned.

444 people signed the Visitors’ Bookover the six months that the ClockTower was open this year; startingwith the Mayor on Good Friday 3��April. And they came from every-where: Argentina, Australia, Austria,Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria,China, Canada, Czech Republic, Esto-nia, France, Germany, Greece, HongKong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan,Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Russia,South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,the United States of America, as wellas St Albans (Vermont) and St Albans(Australia).

Visitors described the view as – lovely,fantastic, amazing, great, wonderful,beautiful, excellent, magic, nice, bril-liant, super, splendid, stunning,delightful, awesome, outstanding,miraculous and enchanting. The Clock-ateers were praised too as “veryfriendly”, “very kind”, “very nicepeople” and “welcoming”. The generalcomments ranged from: “Amazing”to “Gyönyörű” (Hungarian for “beau-tiful”).

From the above you can see theTower and its volunteers are greatlyappreciated by those who visit. It isonly possible to keep this iconic build-ing open with the help of our merryband of Clockateers and we arealways looking for new volunteers tojoin the roster. Can you spare an houror two to man the Clock Tower nextyear for one of the sessions overSaturday or Sunday with a fellowClockateer? If you would like to volun-teer please do contact Mike Carey orCaroline Howkins via email:[email protected] come along to our Clockateers’Party on Friday, 11�� March 2016 tosign up for a session and meet yourfellow Clockateers.


The Clock Tower is now closed for thesummer season but will open again onSunday, 15�� November (2pm to 6.30pm) for the opportunity to watch theChristmas Lights being turned on at 6o’clock.

As always, Mike and I would like tothank all the Clockateers for givingtheir time to keep the Clock Toweropen for the public to enjoy and wehope to see you all at the Clockateers’Party.

Caroline Howkins & Mike Carey


Children release balloons from the ClockTower roof

THE 17TH CENTURY RESEARCH GROUP WISHES TO RECRUIT NEWMEMBERS TO TRANSCRIBE PROBATE DOCUMENTS

These documents are mainly wills and inventories which provide a fasci-nating insight into the lives of the people living in St Albans in theseventeenth century. We are working towards publication.

To promote this, a workshop will be held on Tudor and Stuart handwritingon Tuesday, 2ⁿ� February 2016 from 10am to 12 noon. This is intended toprovide an introduction for those new to transcribing and a refresher tothose with some knowledge.

For further information please contact Pat Howe at:[email protected]

Photograph: Andy Lawrence


PUBLICATIONS & PUBLICITY

WAR MEMORIALS

Sales of our new publication TheStreet Memorials of the St AlbansAbbey Parish progress well. The bookrecords the history of the Abbey par-ish's unique collection of First WorldWar street memorials set against thebackground of life in the city at thetime. Add in the results of Ann Dean'sresearch into the stories of the 110

men whose names are inscribed onthe memorials and you will find thebook to be a thought-provoking com-panion for anyone interested in thecity's modern history.

If you are starting to think aboutChristmas presents for someone withan interest in local history or perhapsthe First World War (or both), why notput our book at the top of your list?The cost is £9 if you buy from Water-stones in St Peter's Street, the TouristInformation Centre or the CathedralBookshop. As a SAHAAS member, youcan buy your copy at one of our lec-tures, at our library, or direct from me,for £8, the Society retaining the fullprofit.

John G E CoxCIVIC SOCIETY AWARDS

At the St. Albans Civic Society awardsceremony last week, a new award wasmade by the Trevelyan family. It wasPeter Trevelyan’s father, Sir GeoffreyTrevelyan, who founded the CivicSociety in 1961. This new award wasmade to the City and District Councilfor their efforts in conserving ourprecious, unique Street Memorials.The editor included a picture of thenewly conserved Holywell Hill memo-rial in the August newsletter.

John G E Cox


ELIZABETH GARDNER

Elizabeth (or Liz) died in September – aservice to celebrate her life was held in apacked Marlborough Road MethodistChurch on 21st of that month. Elizabethwas a Londoner born and bred – orperhaps more accurately a “Finchleyite”?– and a proud pupil of Henrietta BarnettSchool in Hampstead, before graduatingfrom Somerville College, Oxford.

With husband Andrew, Elizabeth movedto St Albans where both James andHannah were born, and became a volun-teer at the Museum of St Albans where,from a SAHAAS point of view, her mostsignificant contribution was the cata-loguing of their library. She was also a verywelcome addition to our own library team,and answered many enquiries frommembers and public alike. In betweenthese activities, Elizabeth somehow foundthe time to write the history of “Marlbor-ough Road Church 1898-1998” from itsorigins in a baker’s outhouse, and thenco-authored “Marshalswick: The story ofa house and its estate” and “Fleetville: ACommunity in St Albans”. Sadly, the onsetof cancer curtailed these activities, and herlong battle with this illness finally ended inSeptember. Our sympathy and thoughtsare with Andrew and her children.

Bryan Hanlon

RITA CADISCH

A retired head mistress, Rita andhusband John came to St Albans in 1977and she soon joined our Society, whereher special interest was Archaeology.She worked on “finds” from the StAlbans Chapter House Dig and enjoyedtelling friends how the various abbots’bones that came out of the ChapterHouse were ‘extremely clean’ as shehad personally washed them! Thefollowing ten summers were spent withMartin Biddle and his team, searchingfor the Saxon Abbey.

Rita was a member of Council forseveral years, organising rotas for theannual summer openings of the ClockTower. A regular attendee at the lec-tures, outings and social events, shewillingly assisted over the years withthe preparation and laying out of thefood at the New Year Party.

A “young” 89, Rita died on 11�� Sep-tember 2015, following a stroke. On2ⁿ� October her many friends came toSt Michael’s for a memorable funeral,the church was full, the measure ofwhat she meant to so many people.She was a true supporter and friend tothe Society - and she will be missed.

Ann Dean and Doreen Bratby



ROMAN WALL

Actions to maintain the fragment ofthe Roman wall in Verulamium Parkcontinue and include the main-tenance of the structure of the wall,signage, and protection of the site.

On 10�� September 2015 representa-tives of concerned organisations metat the Verulamium Museum and thechairman of the St Albans Civic Societyhas circulated a summary of theactions in hand or planned. An extractof the summary is published on ourSociety web site.

Roger Miles represented SAHAAS at afurther meeting on 30�� October andreported “ English Heritage havepostponed the repair work planned forthe wall fabric. The proximity of winterweather was judged to give themortar insufficient time to consolidatewell; next spring and summer willimprove the chances of a longer-last-ing job. Some small-scale, restorativelandscaping is to be carried outbetween the free-standing sections ofwall out in the park itself. Extendedconsideration is being given to thebalance to be struck between admon-itory and persuasive signage whichwill augment the information boards

already appearing. There is a realdanger of the object of the exercisebecoming obscured by signs sayingwhat is not permitted and what willbe prosecuted. A proposal for low levelbarriers between the path and thewall is under consideration, to makea not over-intrusive separationbetween viewers and viewed”.

Photographs above show details of twoexamples of the interpretative boards

recently installed



HALL PLACE WALL

And on the subject of walls, BryanHanlon draws attention to the follow-ing:

Many drivers (and pedestrians) maywell be concerned at the state of thewall outside Hall Place, where it abutsSt Peter’s churchyard – and wonderwhy nothing seems to be happeningto improve the situation. In fact,nothing is quite as simple as it mayappear.

In March of this year, the wall wasfound to be in a near state of collapse,and measures had to be put in placeto make it safe on a temporary basis,with the unfortunate effect of closingthe footpath and diverting pedestri-ans into the road. Due to the age,historic fabric and integrity of the wall,it is not a simple case of “patch repair-ing” as the wall itself needs to beretained in its original look. Rebuild-ing of the wall cannot take place inwinter months due to the chemicalcomposition of the lime and mortarreacting with low temperatures.

The section of the wall that needs tobe demolished will require the carefulremoval of all bricks, flint, etc, so thatthey can be set aside, restored andused again. SADC is carrying outextensive research before restoringthe wall to its original condition, andhave received ground scans and x-rays of the area within the churchyardwhich show a number of ‘anomalies’in the excavation area. These arepossible burial sites and St Peter’sChurch are obviously very interestedin these results, as it could lead to anarchaeological dig and hold up anyfuture works.

We shall keep you posted!

Bryan Hanlon

Scaffolding supporting wallin St Peter’s Street



THAT SINKING FEELING

The ongoing drama of the BernardsHeath sinkhole is made up of equalparts local history and geology, com-bining two of my interests and justify-ing a long wait for something big tohappen in the neighbourhood I movedto 40 years ago.

A full explanation of what took placerequires more space than is availablehere, but it can be summarised bysaying that it was one manifestationof a phenomenon which occurs theworld over in terrain based on calcar-eous rock, i.e., chalk or limestone. StAlbans lies on the former.

Our water supply is pumped out of theporous chalk beneath us. Dissolvedatmospheric carbon dioxide in rainwa-ter is weakly acidic and will, in turn,slowly dissolve chalk or limestone.

The hard evidence appears as scalein our tap water when it evaporatesor is significantly heated. In St Albans,or the higher parts at least (whereBernards Heath is to be found), thechalk bedrock is covered by some thin(by geological standards) layers ofsandy clay and pebbles. Rainwater hasto pass through this before it gets intothe solid chalk and variations in thepermeability of the covering, com-

bined with natural fissuring and weak-nesses in the chalk itself, result inenhanced flow through it in places.Dissolution of the chalk is increasedas a consequence and not necessarilyuniformly, resulting in 'pipes' downinto the chalk which the capping sand,clay and gravel will collapse into andfill.

Now the local history. Bricks havebeen made on and around the Heathsince medieval times, but the scale ofthe industry increased significantly inthe middle of the nineteenth centurywith clay pits of appreciable extentand depth resulting. Some are still tobe seen, greatly enjoyed by theyounger generation on mountainbikes. Others, which held water andbecame flooded and a danger, werebackfilled, some opportunisticallywith the town's rubbish. This practicein turn became offensive to the localresidents, especially in warm weather,and had to stop. Instead inert fills andsoil, possibly dug from the footings ofnew buildings, would have to be used.

Compounding the effects of clayextraction, bricks require mortar tobecome houses and in the 19thcentury this would have been lime(not cement) mortar. Lime is readilymade from chalk, by heating it in akiln. Thus in our locality a brickyard



could supply the two essentials abuilder required, dug from the samepiece of land. The chalk, being thedeeper of the two, may in places haverequired shallow shafts. OrdnanceSurvey maps around the turn of the20th century show where this localindustry was happening.

Thus, by around 1900, percolation ofrainwater through the layers coveringthe chalk under the Heath hadbecome in places even more irregularthan the natural pattern. Thereafter,any buildings constructed on knownor suspected 'made ground' requiredsuitable foundations. Fontmell andBridle Closes were developed in the1970s on ground known to have beenclay workings and, within local peo-ple's memory, still the site of an infor-mal tip. The consequence of this, ifnot adequately allowed for, is no sur-prise.

Modern geophysical survey methodsenable 'seeing beneath the surface'and the County Council haveemployed them to assess the high-ways next to the sinkhole, which aretheir responsibility. The security ofadjacent properties, unfortunately forthe owners, is not.

The foregoing is a 'stripped down'account of what led to the St AlbansSinkhole and of necessity omits much

detail. I am putting together a lectureand/or conducted tour on the geologyand local history leading up to theappearance of the sinkhole. This willbe under the banner of The Friends ofBernards Heath. The FoBH website,www.bernardsheath.org, will carrymore information in due course.

Roger Miles

.BIRKLANDS SCHOOL

I am researching the social reformerMadeleine J Symons (1895-1957),who attended (New) Birklands, aprivate girls’ school on LondonRoad, St Albans, from c. 1908 to1913.

I should be grateful to hear fromanyone who has any information ordocuments, including issues of theschool magazine, relating to thoseyears. (But I already have the mate-rial on the Hertfordshire Genealogywebsite.) Birklands seems to haveclosed c. 1969. Can anyone supplythe exact date and/or say what hap-pened to the school’s records?

Prof Martin Ferguson Smith, Braidfit,Foula, SHETLAND, ZE2 9PN. Email:[email protected]



THE ST ALBANS ARCHITECTURALHERITAGE PROJECT

(including the St Albans HistoricBuildings Survey)

My colleagues and I on the Local StudiesTeam at St Albans Central Library arecurrently working on tidying and repack-aging some of our material. We haverecently rediscovered the above resource,and it swiftly raised a question in mymind: how many of my fellow SAHAASmembers are aware of it?

The Project was carried out in 1986-87.Various local and national bodies contrib-uted to funding, and it was devised andco-ordinated by Adrian Havercroft, thenKeeper of Field Archaeology for Veru-lamium Museum. Its original title is TheSt Albans Archaeological Heritage Project,but what the library has is essentially anarchitectural survey, so we have retitledit as such, just to make it clear. (Whetherother research was involved we do notknow).

It is divided into seven areas. ColneyHeath, London Colney, Sandridge andcentral St Albans are kept at St AlbansLibrary and have been worked onrecently. Harpenden, Redbourn andWheathampstead are currently atHarpenden Library. From the areas cov-

ered, you may surmise that, it contains alot of relatively modern buildings as wellas more “historic” ones.

Each street takes the form of a “traverse”,walking up one side surveying odd num-bers, then down the other surveying evennumbers in reverse order. For each build-ing there is a black-and-white photographand an accompanying text page with adetailed list of architectural features. Onemight regard it as an earlier version ofGoogle Streetview with added architec-tural detail - a valuable record of houses,shops, businesses, pubs, farms.

In most cases we have combined photosand text in the same lever arch file, withthe relevant pages usually opposite eachother (if possible) for easy reference.However, the city centre (subtitled as TheSt Albans Historic Buildings Survey) hadphotos and text separate, with photosmounted on large sheets of black papercombined in a leather portfolio. For easeof access and storage we have hung thephotos in the last drawer of our Illustra-tions Cabinet, keeping to the originalorder. The hanging storage wallets shouldconserve them well, and these can alwaysbe taken out and combined as a group.The text remains separate, in the samelever arch format as the other areas.




In St Albans, only the more central, his-toric streets were surveyed: Chequer St,Fishpool St, French Row, George St, Hat-field Rd, High St, Holywell Hill, London Rd,Lower Dagnall St, Market Place, Queen St,Romeland, Romeland Hill, St Michael’sSt, St Peter’s St, Sopwell Lane, Spicer St,Upper Dagnall St, Victoria St, andWellclose St.

The introduction also refers to a computerdatabase, with instructions on how toaccess it using an Amstrad computer. Thiswas to remain in the care of the MuseumService, along with the original surveydata and photo negatives, so any enquir-ies on this aspect should be directed tothem.

The surveys are not yet on the computercatalogue. They are shelved on top of theIllustrations Cabinet in the Local StudiesReference section, awaiting the perusalof local experts and interested parties.

Scott ChalmersLibrary Assistant

St Albans Central Library

STUMPED NO LONGER BY ODDGAME

In the charming book entitled J HBuckingham - A Window On VictorianSt Albans, written by Felicity Hebditchwith a biography of the rather rascallyartist by our late President, DavidDean, there is one watercolour that isperhaps slightly more curious than allthe rest.

It is The Celebrated One Arm and OneLeg Cricket Match on page 26 of thebook and is dated “about 1858”. Heb-ditch describes the illustration as fol-lows: “One of Buckingham’s gossipypictures with comments like ‘Threesisters ready to make match to play agame with any young cricketer’: nodoubt contemporary St Albans peoplewould have known who they were!Likewise the man marked ‘Fine calves,little brains’!”

Such matches date from the late1700s, played by aged GreenwichPensioners against veterans from theChelsea Hospital, the latter in theirlong red frock-coats and the former innavy jackets and tricorne hats. TheRoyal Hospital Chelsea reports one ofthese events as taking place between1844 and 1854. In the same period, a




different source has a report of amatch between two teams of Green-wich Pensioners attracting 2,400 spec-tators, the majority it was said, beingthere “…merely for the say of thething”. On this occasion, the rewardfor each player included “… freepassage to and from the Royal Hospi-tal, a glass of grog to drink to HerMajesty’s health and ten shillings forhis two days’ exertions”.

Taking the date of “about 1858”,searches through the archives to findthe St Albans match proved fruitlessbut now the puzzle of the Buckinghamsketch has been solved by Jon Mein.He has found reports in the LutonTimes and the Herts Advertiser, whichindicate that the St Albans match tookplace ten years later, in 1868 and itwas a money-making enterprisestaged by James Gentle, a well-knownpublican, caterer and popularcricketer who played for the St AlbansCricket Club and other Hertfordshiresides.

Under the headline “Cricket Extraor-dinary, Great Sensation Match, OneArm v One Leg, Army and Navy Pen-sioners” it was announced: “Mr JamesGentle begs to inform the inhabitantsof St Albans and neighbourhood thathe has made arrangements with the

above celebrated Elevens to play oneof their novel matches at St Albans onMonday and Tuesday August 31�� andSeptember 1�� 1868.”

It was further reported that MrGentle, having been at considerableexpense, earnestly requested thatthose intending to witness the matchshould purchase tickets as early aspossible. A single ticket cost 6d. Thevenue was Victoria Playing Fields,between Folly Lane and VerulamRoad, the home of St Albans CricketClub at that time.

“The one-armed were of course thegeneral favourites,” stated the HertsAdvertiser, in a post-match report. “Itwas apparent from the beginning thatthey would not at the close be secondbest. And so it turned out, for onTuesday afternoon, when the scoreswere balanced, the one-armed weredeclared to be victors by 103 runs(326 against 223).”

We can see from Buckingham’s sketchthat there was a good turnout and soMr Gentle probably more thancovered his costs. The Herts Advertisercomplimented him stating: “Excellentrefreshments at moderate priceswere purveyed on the ground by MrJas. Gentle whose conduct throughout



gave general satisfaction and met hisbest reward in a grand success.”

The Luton Times reported some dis-sention: “It is said by some of thespectators that the game was notplayed, and that it was quite disgust-

ing – they would not go half-a-dozenyards to see anything of this kind”.

But who was the man with “finecalves, little brains”? Certainly not theentrepreneurial Mr Gentle.

Sue Mann

Caption: Greenwich Pensioners at playwith the spectator described as having "fine calves, little brains" to the right

Acknowledgement: St Albans Museums

References:J H Buckingham – A Window On Victorian St Albans by Felicity Hebditch with a biographyby David J Dean, St Albans Museums (1988)‘A Cricket Match with a Difference”, Royal Hospital Chelsea –www.royalhospitalchelsea.blogspot.co.uk ‘When a team of one-legged men faced a team of one-armed men at cricket’, JohnHotten, Guardian Sport Network - www.theguardian.com



JOHN CARRINGTON,FARMER OF BRAMFIELD

Book review of his diary 1798-1810Vol I, 1798-1804Edited and with an Introduction bySusan Flood.Hertfordshire Record Publication No 26for the membership year 2010-2011.Hertford, 2015. ISBN 978-0-9547561-9-2

John Carrington was a prosperous resi-dent and dutiful citizen in 18�� centuryHertfordshire – Lord Cowper’s tenant ofBacons in Bramfield near Hertford, wherehe was sometime churchwarden andoverseer. He was also chief constable forthe parishes in that part of the Liberty ofSt Albans and his community duties andbusiness affairs brought him regularly tothe Assizes, to meetings at the Town Halland inns in St Albans. His jottings concern-ing these and other journeys, the businessconducted and other personal activitiesprovide a valuable insight into the life ofhis times in St Albans and Hertfordshire.

Publication of the long known ‘diary’ bythe Record Society brings the informationin it to a wider audience. Susan Flood’sintroduction sets the scene, identifiesindividuals and places, and highlightssignificant areas of Interest.

Carrington was not a high status individ-ual, but he was successful and prominent.Starting life as a servant to a local land-owner, he became, in maturity, a substan-tial property owner with considerableresponsibility for local administration,enjoying income from the various posi-tions and the connections which broughthim a varied and pleasant life.

He tells us of the weather, crops, andmarket prices as well as of people heencounters, including a variety of lodgersand visitors to the farm. His later life,when his sons could look after the farm,is full of interest. He rides to market inHertford, to neighbouring parishes andtowns on Liberty business, and sometimesto London on business or pleasure. Hedescribes in detail a trip to Brighton onholiday. He travels usually on his ownhorses and ponies, but sometimes in hiscart and also remarkable distances onfoot. We hear of the routes he takes andwhere he stays and eats. His notes includecosts, prices, and what he gives by way ofdonations and tips, and taxes he pays andcollects.

Significant for St Albans researchers arehis frequent journeys to the town. Hestays and eats exclusively at the RedHouse, an inn centrally placed, at what wecan now interpret as at the ChequerStreet entrance to The Maltings. Run by a



cousin, Thomas Piggott, it was a naturalstopping place for Carrington. His con-tacts in the town revolve around thebusiness for which he came – so his fre-quent contacts with attorney JohnCowper may have led to articles for cousinThomas Piggott’s son Isaac. Isaac Piggottsubsequently became Town Clerk in StAlbans.

The notes are arranged by date and wereclearly intended only for Carrington’s ownrecord, but they were subsequentlybound together and so now form a diary.Separate from this volume is the ‘Arith-metic Book’. This was a workbook, maybefrom his own schooldays. It has been usedby family members for notes, both of abusiness nature and for more generalobservations. It is from this volume thatwe hear of the celebrations around thecoronation of King George III in 1761, wellbefore the start of the ‘diary’ notes, whichrecord his life only from 1798 to 1810,notably a period of both war and peace.This kind of social historical informationis interesting, but also valuable to setother historical data in context. Somedetails will add something for individualresearchers, but the picture of the life ofan active person with social responsibili-ties has value of its own. The backgrounddetails added by the introduction andcopious footnotes make it easy to digest,although I did note the deliberate mis-

take, which reminds of the need forcaution in using any material of this kind– the two boroughs in the county eachhad two representatives in Parliamentrather than the one suggested in one ofthe notes.

The book is a valuable contribution to theearly modern history of Hertfordshire andSt Albans, and a good read for its insightinto personal situations and the occa-sional extraordinary event. I enjoyed Car-rington’s candour when, ‘fuddled’ after anight out, he fell off his pony – this isinformation not readily found in textbooks!

Kate Morris

CONTRIBUTIONS

As always. I welcome members’contributions to our Newsletter(text or photographs)

Please email to me [email protected] post to:12 Church Crescent,St Albans,AL3 5JD.

Latest date for submissions is:Tuesday 19�� January 2016.

John HumphreysEditor


PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENTCOMMITTEE REPORT 2014-15

The Programme Development Com-mittee consists of Roy Bratby, Chair-man, Doreen Bratby, Pat Howe andRoger Miles.

The Committee held a number ofmeetings throughout the year andwas responsible for fifteen Tuesdaylectures, four of which were pre-sented by our own members. We areextremely grateful to them for theircontribution to the life of the Society.

Pat Howe arranged a very successfulday outing to Layer Marney and Pay-cocks in April which was thoroughlyenjoyed by all those who participated.Plans have been made for a furtherday outing to visit Saffron Walden andAudley End.

We continue to be indebted to thosemembers, namely Roderick Douglasand Frank Iddiols, who give of theirtime to assist with the IT/AV in con-nection with the lectures and ourthanks go to them. Once again I makea plea for additional help in this impor-tant area and would welcome volun-teers to come forward to spread theload.

I have been encouraged by the attend-ances at the lectures and as alwaysyour suggestions for lecture topics,possible speakers and future visits arealways welcome.

Roy Bratby

FRIDAY LECTURE REPORT

Looking back over some of the Fridaylectures of the past year . . . Dido Bellegrowing up at Kenwood . . . RobertHunter co-founder of the NationalTrust . . . and Thos Hollis V 18c Repub-lican Eccentric with St Albans connec-tions, I am mindful of two changesthat had to be made at the lastminute. To those speakers who stoodin at short notice I am truly grateful,as indeed I am, to all who lecturedthroughout the Friday programme.

There was a good track record ofmembers attending and showingenthusiasm by the quality of questionand answer sessions, often com-mented on to me by encouragedspeakers.

Thank you members for the part youplay.

Doreen BratbyLecture Secretary

(Editors’s note: reports held over from NL 197)



LECTURE PROGRAMME –NOVEMBER 2015 –FEBRUARY 2016Tuesday 17 November 2015Geoffrey de Havilland, Two OldHouses and Freeman’s FollyMike Garrick

This talk will contain a brief history ofSalisbury Hall and Astwick Manor anddescribe Salisbury Hall as de Havil-land’s Design Centre. Included will bea description of the development ofthe Mosquito and Horsa glider includ-ing a short film clip illustrating howwood was used to make aircraft andthe importance of construction tech-niques and the importance of bothaircraft to victory in WW2. The devel-opment of apprentice training at bothSalisbury Hall and Astwick Manor andits progression to present day appren-tice training at the University of Hert-fordshire also feature.

Mike was born and grew up in Americaand subsequently gained a BSc in Biologi-cal Science followed by an MA in ScienceEducation at Kings College, London. Hewas a Commander in the US Navy with3,700 pilot hours to his name and morerecently, after qualifying as a teacher in

1994, he taught all science subjects toGCSE standard and biology to A-levelstandard and was Head of Science atChesham Park Community College.

Friday 27 November 2015Those Wild Wyndams – Three Sistersat the Heart of PowerClaudia Renton

Mary, Madeline and Pamela – thethree Wyndham sisters – werepainted by John Singer Sergeant in1899. For The Times it was ‘thegreatest picture of modern times’.These beautiful rich, fin de sièclewomen clad in white came to epito-mize a vanishing world: the leisured,gilded, existence of the late Victorianaristocracy that was to be dealt adeathblow by the First World War.

Yet their lives were far more turbulentthan their air of calm suggests.Brought up in artistic and liberal cir-cles, their childhood was freedom-loving and filled with medieval fanta-sies. Their parents were intimatefriends with the Pre-Raphaelites, andthe sisters, with Mary as a leader,became involved in ‘the Souls’ – anaccidental grouping of brilliant,sincere and loyal friends with liber-




ated morals and shocking beliefsabout sexual equality. Bowing to con-vention, all three made excellent mar-riages, but only one was happy. Allfound emotional support from others– Mary with Arthur Balfour and thepoet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt; Pamelawith the Liberal statesman and orni-thologist Edward Grey.

Claudia Renton gained a First atOxford and was awarded the GibbsBook Prize for Modern History. Now apractising barrister, she has alsoenjoyed a career as an actress,appearing with the RSC and at theNational Theatre. She is co-author of‘Heroes’ with Simon Sebag Montefioreand was identified as one of theGuardian’s ‘new history girls’ and oneof Vogue’s 'Bright Stars' of the nextdecade. She lives in London.

Tuesday 8 December 2015Horace Warner and his SpitalfieldNippersThe Gentle Author

The Gentle Author will tell the story ofphotographer Horace Warner and how hecame to take portraits of some of London'spoorest people at the end of the nine-teenth century, now acclaimed as the

most important series of images of Lon-doners in this era.

Friday 8 January 2016

New Year Party

Tuesday 12 January 2016The High Sheriffs’ role past andpresent dayFergus McMullen

Fergus McMullen will tell us about theMcMullen’s family long associationwith the county when the firstMcMullen, William, arrived fromIreland with the household of the 2ndMarquis of Downshire to settle inHertfordshire. In 1827 his son, Peter,founded the McMullen Brewery.Fergus, who was High Sheriff of Hert-fordshire from 2014-2015, will explainthe role of the High Sheriff both pastand present.

Fergus McMullen is currently the Pro-duction and Sales Director for thebrewery and pub business which is stillfamily owned. His wife, Kate, works inan interior design shop in SaffronWalden and they have five childrenbetween them.




Tuesday 19 January 2016The Secret Wireless WarStephen Barnard

During the Second World War, secretgovernment departments set up aseries of radio stations at purpose-built studios hidden deep in ruralBedfordshire. Their purpose was tobroadcast black propaganda toGermany to sow dissension andspread disinformation. Under thedirection of German-born SeftonDelmer, the stations put out an amaz-ingly mendacious mix of truths, half-truths, fabricated news and music. Inthis illustrated talk, Stephen Barnardexplains how and why the stationswere set up, what impact they had onthe war effort, and what evidenceremains of the studios today.

Stephen Barnard worked at Reader'sDigest for 21 years before going it aloneas a freelance writer. He is the author offive books and he has lectured extensivelyon the history of broadcasting, popularmusic and wartime cinema. Brought up inDunstable, Stephen now lives inLetchworth.

Friday 29 January 2016Cyril Swinson and the 1948-1953St Albans PageantsPeter Swinson

Cyril Swinson was a St Albans manthrough and through and a foundingmember of the Company of Tenand The St Albans Film Society. Healso founded and was Chairman of theSt Albans Ballet Club; President of StAlbans School Old Albanians andwriter/director and Pageant Masterof the 1948 and 1953 St Albans Pag-eants. He was also a Director of theLondon publishing company A&CBlack, famous for publishing ‘Who’sWho’ and many books about ballet,which was his area of expertise. Hewas also one of the founders andchairman of the St Albans Civic Soci-ety, a governor of St Albans College ofFurther Education and on the boardof St Albans Library.

Peter was the first son of Cyril and BrendaSwinson and has lived in St Albans all hislife. He joined Marconi Instruments in1966 as an apprentice, becoming an Elec-tronics Design Engineer. He had a fascina-tion with the Cinema Industry. 2003 sawhim setting up his own consultancy in thetechnical film industry before retiring in2010. During his business travels Petervisited more than 55 countries.



Tuesday 9 February 2016Fire and Steam – How the Railwayschanged BritainChristian WolmarThe railways were the key inventionof the 19th century. They enabledthe spread of the industrial revolu-tion and as a result stimulated themassive economic development ofthe Victorian era. In their wake theybrought about a whole host of ma-jor changes in the way people lived:from bank holidays to big sportingevents, fish and chips to mail orderbusiness – all were made possibleby the railways. Christian will ex-plain all in this talk.

Writer and broadcaster specialising intransport and railways, Christian haswritten a series of rail history books andthousands of articles, many of which canbe found on his website,www.christianwolmar.co.uk

Tuesday 16 February 2016Nouveaux Riches to NouveauxPauvresThe Story of the Macalpine-LenysIan Macalpine-Leny

Ian will describe how beginning in 18��Century Scotland, the story goes firstto Moghul India, then 19�� CenturyDumfriesshire, the Boer War, Arabia,the First World War, colonial Kenya,the Second World War and, finally,Lincolnshire. No Prime Ministers orArchbishops of Canterbury (yet) butan amazing array of characters thathave got up to all sorts of fascinatingthings. Fortunately, despite housefires and the nomadic existenceforced on military families, a largenumber of original records and photo-graphs have survived to paint a veryclear picture of how this family lived,and the fun they all had doing it.

Ian Macalpine-Leny was educated atUppingham and read Biological Sciencesat the University of Birmingham. Afterdoing research in Zoology, he joined inter-national insurance broker Willis Faber in1972. He retired in 1999. Married to anAmerican with two sons, he now livesmainly in the Lincolnshire countryside. Hismain interests are natural history, flyfishing, game shooting and family, past,present and future. He has published twobooks.




Friday 26 February 2016When the British ruled Germany afterthe end of the Second World WarChristopher Knowles

After the end of the Second WorldWar, Germany was divided by thevictorious Allies into four zones ofoccupation. The country was in chaosand the scale of destruction, ofhouses, factories, roads and railwayshad to be seen to be believed. Thewhole fabric of the Nazi state hadcollapsed. This talk looks at how threeimportant and influential British indi-viduals - Field Marshal Montgomery,Harold Ingrams and Henry VaughanBerry - set about the task of recon-struction, political renewal, and per-sonal reconciliation with their formerenemies.

Christopher Knowles studied history as anundergraduate at Gonville and Caius Col-lege, Cambridge, from 1971-74. After acareer in electronic publishing and compu-ter software, he resumed his academicstudies at the Centre for ContemporaryBritish History (CCBH) at the University ofLondon in October 2005. His PhD thesis,‘Winning the Peace: The British in occupiedGermany, 1945-1948’, was awarded theannual prize of the German HistoricalInstitute, London, for 2014. He is now avisiting research associate at Kings CollegeLondon.

FOUNDRY DATA

Foundries used to be almost every-where. The metal work that theyproduced filled the streets, factoriesand homes of Britain (and much ofthe rest of the world) and is rapidlydisappearing. The firms have mostlyclosed. Everyday stuff is beingmelted down, often leaving no traceand certainly no written or photo-graphic record. Those of us who areinvolved in this project are attempt-ing to capture this informationbefore it’s too late.

This is a heritage project using digitaltechnology and an invitation isextended to members of SAHAAS toparticipate.

For further information about theproject see: www.foundrydata.org

We hope you can join us!

Many thanks,

The Foundry Data team


DIARY DATES

21�� November 2015 (10 am to 4 pm)HALH 36�� Local History Symposium

(Jon Mein and Graham Boseleyare speakers)

Railways in Hertfordshire:their effect on the county

Wheathampstead Memorial Hall MarfordRd, Wheathampstead, AL4 8AY

HALH Members £12; Non-members £15Lunch £10Applications to David Short,59 High Street, Ashwell SG7 5NP

(complete application form available onour web site)

23�� -24�� January 2016Residents First WeekendThe Society's contribution to ResidentsFirst Weekend in January 2016 will be adisplay in the Abbey about the life andwork of Frederic George Kitton. A leadingmember of the Arc & Arc around 1900.

Kitton contributed significantly to ourunderstanding of the history of St Albans.His writing, including articles on the historyof the Clock Tower and the local inns,remain influential and supplement themany drawings he made of the area andbeyond. Our display aims to explore themany facets of his life: for example, he wasa nationally renowned expert regardingCharles Dickens.

F�� 8�� J�� 2016at the Verulamium Museum

Please send me the following tickets for The Society’s New Year Party

….......................... Tickets at £6.00 Total enclosed ……………………….…….

Please make your cheque payable to SAHAAS and send with this formand a Stamped Addressed Envelope

To: Bryan Hanlon, 24 Monks Horton Way, St Albans, AL1 4HA

Name ………………………………………………………………...….….….….….….….….…..….….……..……..…….

Address ……………………………………………………………….

…................................................................................................... Post Code …………………

Telephone …………………………………… Email (in capital letters)…………………………………………….


SAHAAS NEW YEAR PARTYVERULAMIUM MUSEUM

Friday 8th January 2016, at 7.30 p.m.

Our main social event of the yearMeet with fellow members for Conversation and Quiz

Mulled wine and Festive foodNew members especially welcome.

A finger buffet will be organised by Val Argue(Tel: 01727 853083 Email: [email protected])

She would welcome a contribution of a plate of sweet or savoury -the Society is very happy to reimburse members financially

Liquid refreshment will be in the capable hands ofBryan Hanlon, Carole Oldknow, Robin Green and Pat Howe

Tickets £6.00 (when ordered in advance) £8.00 at the doorTickets are available at each evening talk, or by completing and

posting form reproduced on Page 31

Scene from the Book Sale - 24�� October 2015

Photograph: Roderick Douglas

nl 1511 wsv nov - st albans history · 2019. 5. 10. · line howkins, frank iddiols, gerard...

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