VCH NEWS & EVENTS
Click here to read the VCH Annual Report 2005
during term time
Click here for this academic year's programme
Conveners: Professor John Beckett, Dr Matthew Cragoe, Dr Carol Davidson-Cragoe, Dr Christopher Miele, Dr Alan Thacker, Dr Chris Thornton, Dr Andrew Wareham, Elizabeth Williamson
Sir Laurence Gomme (1853 - 1916), one of the instigators of the VCH and an early pioneer of the Blue Plaques Scheme was
honoured with the 800th Blue Plaque at a special ceremony at 11.30am on 12 May 2006 at 24 Dorset Square, London, NW1, where Gomme lived from 1895 to 1909.
The unveiling of the plaque was attended by Elizabeth Williamson, Architectural Editor of the VCH. In a short speech, Ms Williamson expressed the VCH's appreciation for Sir Laurence Gomme's initiative in working with Henry Doubleday of the publishing firm Constable's in the founding of the VCH. She added that, "in broadening access to history through the England's Past for Everyone project, the VCH iscontinuing Gomme's campaign to communicate the important link between people and places that underlay the Blue Plaque scheme". .
19 July 2006
Medway Campus, University of Greenwich
More information to follow shortly
Saturday 23 September 2006
Clore Management Centre, Birkbeck
This year's Fitch Lecture will be given by Professor John Beckett.
Further details will be posted soon.
Sunday 29th October, The Winding Wheel, Holywell Street, Chesterfield.
Free admission. 10.30am - 4pm
Now in its fourth year the Scarsdale Local History Fair is a hugely popular event. The local VCH Tust arranges the fair, which features stands from many family, local history and heritage organisations.
In 2006 the event is being held in conjunction with Chesterfield Borough Council as part of the the annual Chesterfield Festival.
Entry is free and there is free parking nearby. There are also handy pblic transport links to the town centre venue. There is a special market in Chesterfield on the day of the fair and other events as part og yhe Chesterfield Festival.
is available in the About our Books section
are appealing for funds
Click here for more details
OTHER NEWS & EVENTS
15 - 23 July 2006
National Archaeology Week is a chance to discover and explore the archaeological hertage og the UK. During this nine dat event you can take part in excavation open dats, guided tours, exhibtions, lectures, ancient art and craft workshops, and more.
You can read about the events that have been organised for National Archaeology week at www.britarch.ac.uk/naw
Making history matter in the community - A competition to find 'Britain's local community history ambassadors'
The History Matters - Pass It On campaign, led by the National Trust, English Heritage, and the Heritage Lottery Fund, has now launched, with the aim of raising the profile of history across the country.
History Matters are looking for the best and most innovative ambassadors - individuals or groups - for history at the local and community level. Do you fit the bill?
For more information, please visit the BBC History Magazine Awards web page at: /www.bbchistorymagazine.com/localhistory.asp
Higher Education Libraries in your PERsonal history reSearch
The Helpers web interface has now been launched. Aimed at family and local historians who are used to using public libraries but are unfamiliar with collections in Higher Education, Helpers is easy to navigate and features:
- tutorials and other introductory material about Higher Education libraries and archives
- new, user-centred descriptions of University of London collections tailored to the needs of family and local historians
- information on access arrangements
- digitised examples of the material described
The Helpers web interface was developed as part of the Accessing Our Archival and Manuscript Heritage project, funded by the LASER foundation and the former Electronic Access to Resources in Libraries (EARL) Consortium.
A National Conference run by English Heritage and the National Trust
2 - 3 November 2006
Manchester Town Hall
Albert Square
Manchester M60 2LA
How can we bring new audiences to heritage?
What does access mean?
What does success look like?
Why are we trying to engage missing audiences
with heritage?
What does heritage mean to people?
How do we change as organisations in order
to respond to different views of heritage?
What is the impact on local communities?
How do we measure this?
All these questions and more will be explored in this major
national conference. The conference aims to motivate and
inspire people involved in community engagement and
heritage work, through sharing ideas and experiences,
learning practical skills and debating key issues. It is an
opportunity to look at how and why we engage new
audiences, such as people from Black and Minority Ethnic
groups, young people, people on low incomes and people
with disabilities, with heritage.
For more information on the programme, hotels in the area and delegate rates, go to:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/yourplaceormine
DETAILS OF RECENT CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
The Fitch lecture, generously funded by the Marc Fitch Fund, was given in 2005 by noted historian and broadcaster, Michael Wood, on the theme of Shakespeare and Local History . It took place in June 2005 at the Art Workers Guild in Queen Square, London.
at Westminster City Hall
Michael Wood gave a presentation on Westminster and its landowners. Invitees were also given a tour of the ancient silver in the Westminster Plate Room.
