Buckden Local History Society

A Brief Account of the Society and its Origin

In 1978 a course on the History of Buckden was conducted at the village school by a local professional historian, Sue Edgington, under the auspices of Huntingdon Technical College. The course proved to be very popular with those who attended and the formation of a society was proposed so that talks and other activities could continue the following year. Sue agreed to be Chairman, Les Button, secretary, and Eric Nash, treasurer.

The Society meetings continued to be held at the school for some time but eventually were moved to Buckden Towers in 1984 where they are still held in the beautifully restored Conference Room. The meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month from September to June inclusive at 7.30p.m. An outing to a place of historical interest is usually arranged for July, there being no indoor meeting. No meeting is held in August.

Speakers are recruited from within a radius of 40 miles or so and range from dedicated amateurs to professionals in a wide range of topics. Although the Society describes itself as a Local History Society it does not confine the topics covered to the area described above. A study of the current programme will illustrate the type of topic covered. For example a talk on "Opium-growing in the Fens" ranged from the Fens to Lancashire to India to Hong Kong and back!

Four members have given talks. Notable, apart from Sue Edgington, are David Thomas, a former Chairman, who speaks on several village and natural history topics and Peter Ibbett, schoolmaster, who speaks on a wide range topics mostly relating to Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire but some further afield.

The Annual General meeting is held in June and has often been followed by a talk by the chairman or former chairman on a subject of her or his own choosing.

The Society is affiliated to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.

An album of photographs of the village received from various sources is being assembled with financial support from the Parish Council. Views from times past are being accompanied by present-day photographs from similar viewpoints. When possible photographs of areas in the parish where change is imminent are being taken.

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PROGRAMME 2007 - 2008

Meetings will be at 7.30pm in the Conference Room at Buckden Towers unless otherwise stated. Any changes to this programme will be published in the Buckden Roundabout whenever possible.

2007
September 5th	THE GREAT FENLAND MONASTRIES
	An old rhyme goes: Ramsey the rich of gold and fee, Thorney the flower of many fair tree, Crowland the courteous of their meat and their drink, Spalding the gluttons as all men do think: Peterborough the Proud as all men do say, Sawtrey by the way - that old Abbay gave more alms in one day - than all they. But what are the REAL stories and what about Ely? Brian Jones makes a welcome return to tell us.
October 3rd	CINDERELLAS OF THE SOIL
	The Women's Land Army in the 1940's. A well-illustrated, entertaining talk by Stuart Antrobus, historian and former adult education tutor, on how, over 200,000 young women took the place of men on our farms and in our market gardens to help feed the nation during the Second World War and beyond.
November 7th	EVERYDAY LIFE IN 17th CENTURY HUNTINGDONSHIRE
	Following retirement from NHS management, Ken Sneath has amassed a creditable list of academic achievements. Arising from his present studies for a PhD in social and economic history, his talk will explore many of the new household goods that people began to acquire in the seventeenth century. They included clocks, window curtains, forks, mirrors and china.
December 5th	VICTORIAN EVENING
	We welcome back Geoff Hales, for an inimitable pre-Christmas presentation of popular, mostly comic pieces from the nineteenth century. It includes well loved poems such as The Owl and the Pussy Cat, The Road to Mandalay and The Charge of the Light Brigade and readings from comic masterpieces such as Three Men in a Boat and The Diary of a Nobody.
2008
January 2nd	THE MYSTERY OF ST.NEOT AND HIS PRIORY
	No visible trace of the Priory of St. Neot remains. Society member, Peter Ibbett, looks at the mysteries surrounding its building, development and destruction as well as the challenge of bringing its heritage back to life.
February 6th	HUNTINGDONSHIRE COUNTY POLICE 1857 TO 1967
	Buckden has always had its share of petty crime and in the late 1880's residents were complaining of speeding traffic in the High Street - stage coaches that is! Dave Dodman, a local policeman for 30 years and village 'bobby' from 1964 to 1971 describes the changing times throughout the history of this proud force.
March 5th	BUCKDEN AND THE SPANISH CONNECTION
	There are few ministers of the Church of England who are also Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. It is this combination that led Rev. Miles Falla to an eighteen months contract as Marketing Manager to Peterborough Cathedral. It was during this time, because of his own Spanish roots, he became interested in the relationship between the Cathedral, the Diocese and the village of Buckden, his home for almost thirty years. His talk describes that relationship.
April 2nd	THE FENS 1919 TO 1939
	Survivors of the Great War returned to the promise of a "eland fit for heroes"e but sadly it soon became a land of poverty and hardship. Mike Petty, popular speaker, local historian, writer and lecturer makes a welcome return to tell us about it.
May 7th	WARTIME FLYING AROUND BUCKDEN
	Buckden was mid-placed among very active British and US wartime airfields. In 1944 over four million operational sorties were flown over Cambridgeshire plus a further two million training and other flights, quite a lot of them over Buckden. Mike Bowyer, prolific aviation writer, photographer and holder of the RAF's Public Relations Trophy (an honour shared with The Dambusters film, poet John Pudney and other writers) will tell us all about it.
June 6th	ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
	Following the meeting, member Mike Storey will present a talk entitled 'KERWHOOOOSH!' It was nearly five feet tall, weighed 8½ stone and with its six legs was the fastest thing of its kind on earth. For a few weeks in 1888 it made Buckden a centre of interest to the world's press (not to mention Harry 'the Fat' Smith and the men from Chicago). It also had four wheels and its story is just one of the odd tales Mike tells in this brief history of Buckden's love/hate relationship with the world of early cycling.
July	VISIT
	To be announced.

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COMMITTEE 2007-2008

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Founded in 1979, the Society aims to promote the study and knowledge of local history in its very widest sense, primarily by means of talks on all manner of topics in any way connected with the subject and will be pleased to promote individual or group research into local history projects. Anyone interested in research is asked to contact the Chairman.

Buckden Local History Society is affiliated to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS