SULGRAVE HISTORY SOCIETY

ANNUAL REPORT

1st November 2005 – 31st October 2006

The activities of the History Society over this last year have been confined to the work of the Oral History Group, support of the Sulgrave Castle Archaeology Group, and, through those of us with two or maybe even three different hats, the work of the Castle Green Management Committee. We propose to have separate reports on each of these areas.

Oral History Group Update

At last year’s AGM I made a plea for more help and expertise to join our group so we could do justice to the vast amount of material we had gathered. I stated that the ultimate success of Phase 2 depends very much on this happening. Unfortunately, despite articles in the Newsletter we have had no response. Rather than leave it there and lose out on any chance of using such valuable material, we decided to look at involving professional help.

Two meetings were held with Danny Moody, who set up the award winning Helmdon Website, and runs a company called ‘Click Start Computing’. After viewing the material and discussing possible objectives, he and his partner, Dave Howes, have costed out a project to produce a website and a series of booklets to complement the site. This came to £12,000, which would have taken all the funding available to us under the Local Heritage Initiative Scheme. After discovering that the LHI scheme had now ended, we learned that it would be possible to apply to the Lottery’s ‘Your Heritage’ scheme, which awards grants up to £50,000! This would enable us to add other things to the project, such as DVDs to circulate to Sulgrave residents.

However, as Clare, Peter and myself have been heavily involved in grant applications regarding the Archaeology Group and the Castle Management Committee, we were unable to take these ideas any further. In fact with all the ramifications involved in administering the successful Archaeology bid, and the continual work putting together the Castle Green project (which will intensify in 2007), it is proposed that we delay applying for Phase 2 of the Oral History Project until these pressures have considerably eased.

The delay will also enable us to tie up the loose ends of Phase 1 of the 52 interviews, 45 have now been completed, processed and cleared. We still have problems relating to 6 interviews, which are not on CD and thus, while first drafts have been done, second drafts have not been completed, or cleared for our use. I know it has been frustrating for us all not to have everything complete, but I feel we can be pleased to achieved so much with so few helpers with the necessary skills. Here I must single out Sue Young, as she really has borne the brunt of the problems we have had, and alone has been valiantly trying to get us to a final conclusion.

My thanks to Julie Metcalfe and Joan Gottowik for the delightful series of “snippets” they produced for the Sulgrave Newsletter. I know that Colin Wootton would like to put some extended versions of these on the Sulgrave Website, which I am pleased to say he now has under control and revamped considerably.

Thanks to Clare Pollak for her superb little leaflet “Sulgrave Characters and Heritage LHI Project”, which gives an excellent history of Phase 1, and has now been put on the LHI website by Colin Wootton. Hopefully it will soon be on ours as well.

Lastly thanks for the magnificent work of Peter Mackness, who has photographed large numbers of old photographs of Sulgrave and its residents and these are now on CD and available for use in publications if required.

Concerning the work of the Castle Green Management Committee, it is hoped that the retaining wall to the outer bailey will be renovated, a pedestrian path across the green created and information boards erected within the next year. However this is still dependent on the outcome of several grant applications. In addition Jo Powell was able to announce in last night’s Parish Council meeting that the Castle Green has finally been formally registered as our VILLAGE GREEN, and will thus be protected as an open space in perpetuity.

Martin Sirot-Smith, Chairman