Tuesday 26 August 2008

Elderly of Penkridge help write our History


We have now had two gatherings of the elderly/senior long-term residents of Penkridge, many of whom were born in Penkridge and even some of their parents and grandparents were too. At the first meeting in Haling Dene 24 people attended and at our second meeting, 30 people attended with about 10 apologies.

Robert Maddocks (author already of two history books of Penkridge) and myself have set ourselves a target of producing several smaller social history booklets of Penkridge and approached the older residents of Penkridge for help in providing information from their memories of the village/town in the past. So far we have produced one booklet (the Pot Shop have one or two left) entitled "Who Lived in Penkridge in 1901?". This was based on the 1901 census (the last so far to be made available to the public) but with more information about some of the residents and their lives at that time, with some photos of them and where they lived.

As well as providing us with lots more information about the people and their lives in the last 40/80 years, the meetings have turned out to be successful social events for people with many of them having grown up together in the community. We have also had lots of laughs and fun listening to the stories they tell - some you will read about in future booklets.

Our next one will be about the Shops, Businesses and Trades of Penkridge over the years and we have lots of ideas for future ones too. These booklets will be produced as cheaply as we can and any profits will be ploughed back into producing further ones.

If you, or anyone you know, feels they can help with information and stories about Penkridge over the last century, please ask them to contact me or Bob Maddocks.

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