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The Headley Society |
Founded 1985 |
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The Headley Society |
Founded 1985 |
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Whether you live in Headley, or simply have an interest in discovering its history and looking to its future, then you can do no better than join The Headley Society.
We are not just an Historical Society—we are keen to promote and encourage forward-looking plans within the parish of Headley which will be of lasting benefit to present and future generations.
The Society is established for the public benefit and interest in the area comprising the civil Parish of Headley and the neighbourhood—
Among other things, we—
The Headley Society – 20 years old in 2005. Ever since its inception it has been a lively society, and below we list just a few highlights—
In the Spring of 1991, each club or society in the village was asked to create a display of what they had done during the year 1990. It was very well supported, and gave a fascinating 'snapshot' of a number of aspects of village life at the start of the 90s.
Written in 1992 by Joyce Stevens, our founder and Chairman, this little book describing some of the more interesting buildings in the heart of the village has sold well, and has been updated and republished in 2003. It is available, price £2.00, at local outlets or through the web link above.
In 1992, the Society organised an Arts & Crafts show to enable local artists and craftworkers to exhibit their work. The diversity and quality displayed was quite astounding, and many new friendships were struck during the event.
Oone of our members, Wendy Bennett, has offered some of her paintings of scenes in the village to be reproduced as postcards by the Society for sale in local outlets.
What did the village look like in the past? We have created a photographic record of the pre-war village from old postcards and other sources. The resulting book was published by John Owen Smith in December 1999 (updated 2003). We hope to follow this with other books which will concentrate on the personalities and societies of the village. See also comparison of past with present photos of the village
We have checked the records of inscriptions on gravestones in Headley churchyard, correcting any errors, and added any which have been erected since a survey was last done in 1980. The results have been sent to the Hampshire Record Office, and are also available to searchers either on paper or via the Internet.
We sponsored a photographic record of scenes and activities in the parish at the turn of the millennium.
With the support of the Parish Council, we have set up a Village Archive in the room above the council office. This will act as a repository for items of local historical interest which might otherwise be lost or thrown away. Any items of value will be copied, if possible, and passed on to the Hampshire Record Office for safe keeping.
Our monthly speakers have fascinated us with talks and displays covering such diverse subjects as the National Curriculum and the management of local heathland. See current and past lists.
Not content to sit on our laurels, we have plans to continue our active programme of events into the future. Below are some of the ideas we are currently considering—but if you have better ones, please let us know!
We have a plan to add significant historical information to the Headley Archive. See relevant web-page for latest situation.
We continue to produce this series of booklets on topics of local interest to the Parish. See below for details.
We wish to interview people in the parish with a story to tell, and have bought the equipment to do this. Any offers of assistance are welcome.
Our monthly schedule of speakers remains the corner-stone of our organisation. See below for details.
We meet in Headley Church Centre at 8 pm on the first Thursday of each
month.
Visitors are always welcome (£1.50 entry per meeting), but membership
at only £6.00 for a full year is a more cost-effective way of joining in, and
also entitles you to participate in certain events reserved for ‘members only’.
2008
Jan 3rd — Wetlands & Waterways
— Nigel Choat (late change to programme)
Feb 7th — British Forces Broadcasting
Service — Alan Grace of BFBS Forces
Radio reminisces about the Service and the people and places he encountered
over the years
Mar 6th — AGM & Members' Evening
Apr 3rd — Smuggling in Hampshire
— Dolina Clark divulges the secrets of an historic
trade
May 1st — History of Aldershot &
District Traction Co — Peter Trevaskis
Jun 5th — The Bridger Diaries of Dockenfield — Maureen Stone
and Sheila Haytree: social history on our doorstep
Jul 3rd — Ludshott Common, Chris Webb,
on the centenary of its acquisition by The National Trust
Aug 7th — Members Only, 7.30pm —
summer visit to a local building
Sep 4th — Fifty five years of Recording Surburban Life — David
Piggott tells the story of Acorn Films and the 'Chingford
Newsreel'
Oct 2nd — Tales of the Unexpected — Alan Copeland (but
we're not sure what to expect!)
Nov 6th — The Greening Campaign & Sustainability Centre — Terena
Plowright advises on how to reduce energy consumption
Dec 4th — Members Only, 7.30pm at Curtis
Barn — Christmas Party and Quiz Evening
2009
Jan 8th — Update on Nanotechnology — Prof Mike Withers
reveals the latest developments in this field
Feb 5th — Ephemeral fabrics — Louise Lusby returns
to describe specialist costumes and props for TV and Films
Mar 5th — AGM & Members' Evening
Apr 2nd — "Food from the Middle Ages to Mrs Beeton" — Ann
Jones of Farnham Museum tempts our culinary palates!
Committee of The Headley Society
Chairman — John Owen Smith — (01428) 712892 — contact
Vice Chairman — Prof Michael Withers
Hon. Secretary — Joan Thorne
Hon. Treasurer — Judith Kinghorn
Committee Members:
Caroline Lemka
Brian Nicholson
Ann Viney — for membership – 'Chanvil', Stubbington
Avenue, Whitehill, Bordon, Hants GU35 9AP —
E-mail
Nicky Wilson
President — Betty White
If you thought there was nothing to occupy your leisure time in a village, think again!
Nearly 50 organisations and societies in and around Headley combined their resources to offer a display of their activities to the general public over the late May Bank Holiday weekend 2006.
Doors opened 2–5pm on Saturday 27th May, 11am–4pm on Sunday 28th May, and 10am–1pm on Monday 29th May.
Entry was free, and refreshments were available.
The weekend was organised by The Headley Society, and was judged to have been a resounding success.
The Society can produce prints on hand-made paper from five WOOD ENGRAVINGS & LITHOGRAPHS of views in Headley made in the 1960s by the late NORMAN WILSON. These are reproduced by kind permission of Sue Allden.
The prints sell for £5 each. Click here for a preview of them.
For further information or to order, contact Nicky Wilson on 01428 713113 or at one of the Society meetings.
We have produced a number of booklets on topics of local interest to the Village. Using the expertise, memories and resources of residents in the parish, and also from Headley descendants spread across the world, these will be of general appeal and will be sold to help raise funds for the Society's other work. Volume 1 was issued in 1999, Volume 2 in 2000, Volume 3 in 2001, Volume 4 in 2002, Volume 5 in 2003, Volume 6 in 2004 — others may follow in time.
Available at Society meetings, from the Headley Parish Office (next to the Village Hall), from Whittles Stores in Headley Down, or from Jo Smith's website — priced at £3.00.
Your late President has written this illustrated book, which relates the story of her great-great aunt, Ellen Suter, who emigrated to Australia at the age of 19 to escape the poverty of Portsmouth. The tale began for Joyce when she suddenly discovered 7 letters that Ellen had written 'home' to her brother, Joyce's great grandfather, who was then a papermaker in Headley.
Available from local outlets priced at £4.95, or from Jo Smith's website.
The first of a series of walks organised by members (Caroline Lemka and Jo Smith) took place on Saturday 20th October 2001 — called 'the 5 bridges walk', it started at the New Inn, Sleaford and ended at Mellow Farm, near Dockenfield, crossing the River Slea three times and the River Wey twice. The weather was kind and the 15 humans and two dogs who took part thoroughly enjoyed it.
The second walk was a circular one on Sunday 9th May 2004, starting and ending at Liss and taking in Hawkley on the return leg — those wishing to cut it short ended at Greatham.
Watch this space for news of further perambulations.
The first part of the project has finished, and the book Headley's
Past in Pictures was published in December 1999 (updated 2003). This covers
places in Headley parish. Work will continue on other books to
cover people and societies in Headley.
If you have any old photographs (up to about the end of the Second World War)
which you are prepared to lend us for a short period, please contact
us. We will take good care of them.
The first part of this project is complete. Information has been put into the
computer and is now available either on paper or on
the Internet.
Following the completion of this part of the project, the next phase will involve
checking the sheets against church burial records in order to include those
buried who have no headstone. Please contact
us for further details.
As a first step to doing this, we bought from the Hampshire Genealogical Society
a computer file containing approx. 3,000 burial records for Headley which they
have collected as part of their county-wide survey. This was checked for accuracy
against the original church registers before being loaded onto our website.
The Parish Council have kindly allowed us to start using the room above their
office for holding historical information about the parish, including some of
their own records. We have so far stored and documented a number of old maps,
and hope to add to this in the near future. See latest
list.
Anything of real value would be lodged at the County Record Office in Winchester
and a copy kept in Headley.
If you have anything which might be of interest to us, (eg. from an attic or
house clearance), please contact us.
See details of our monthly speaker programme.
The Headley Society — 20 years old in 2005. Ever since its inception it has been a lively society, and below we list just a few highlights of the past:
— This web site maintained by John Owen Smith —
Top of Page – Programme – Contacts – News – History
