NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2009
Dear Friends,
We would like to thank you all for the support given to the History Project during 2008 and for the generous donations of photographs and memorabilia. Our first event for 2009 will be our Exhibition at the ‘Elizabethan' on Sunday, 22 nd February 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. This year's theme will be ‘THE UNITED SERVICES COLLEGE' plus lots and lots of new pictures and information
Listed below is a brief summary of our events during last year.
At a ‘Drop In' session at Pathfinder's in early February the main attraction was the United Services College blazer and cap dating from the 1800's which had been donated by Mr. Robin Kelsall. Quite a lot of interest was shown in these items which we hope one day to have on permanent display in the village.
At the beginning of May we were contacted by Mr. Tony Francis, a researcher for the BBC programme ‘The One Show' and asked if we would like to take part in a series of programmes they were filming entitled ‘Claim to Fame - our village's claim to fame being the only place in the country whose name is followed by an exclamation mark and also named after Charles Kingsley's book ‘Westward Ho!' Of course we were thrilled to take part and on May 12 th a television film crew duly arrived - luckily the weather was excellent and they were able to film Westward Ho! at its very best. Maureen was interviewed while walking on the beach and was able to tell everyone what a wonderful place we all live in. The programme was shown on the June 3 rd .
Potwalloping weekend found us sharing the Kingsley Hall with the Headlands Art Group.
In August, and in extremely poor weather conditions, rain and high winds, a group of 20 people set out from Seafield car park with Janet & Peter Keene to walk the cliff path to Cornborough. Peter spoke about the evolution of the cliffs and Janet talked about various aspects of flora en route. Thanks to everyone who turned out and stayed the course in such atrocious weather.
Two events were held in October. Maureen was asked to give a talk to the Northam Methodist Church Thursday Fellowship which took the form of a journey through the history of Westward Ho! This talk was well received and we would like to thank everyone for their donation and hospitality.
We were invited by Pathfinder at Westward Ho! to take part in their ‘Full of Life' drop in programme. Twelve people joined Marilyn on an extremely interesting and knowledgeable ‘Guided Walk and Talk' around Westward Ho! We hope to do more of these walks next summer for residents and visitors alike.
Late November, Rod Garner, author of ‘The Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore Railway' gave an illustrated talk on the above theme at the Elizabethan in Westward Ho! The evening was well supported with over 100 guests filling the hall. Some of the visual material had been donated by the History Project which Rod presented on a large screen accompanied by a very interesting commentary.
In early December Maureen gave an illustrated talk to members of the 1 st Group of the TAW U3A. This talk was well attended and we would like to thank everyone for their generous donation and hospitality.
Our web pages have proved to be a great success. Many people throughout the UK and abroad have made contact through them, and added their wonderful memories of Westward Ho! to our Guest Book. Also through these pages, we have received many new photographs, information on various buildings and reunited people with friends from their past employment and visits to Westward Ho!
We look forward to seeing you at our Exhibition in February Don't forget you can access events and information on our web pages at:-
http://beehive.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/westwardhocommunityhistory
Best wishes for 2009 from Maureen, Marilyn and Anne
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