Newsflashes

Here you will find a compendium of Newsflashes that have appeared on the Home Page since the site was started in April 2011.

If you wish to see any Newsflashes posted by one of our users then go to the Comments Section at the bottom of this page.

If you have any Newsflashes or newsworthy comments to add to the site then either post them in this page's Comments Section or on the General Message Board. They will then additionally appear in the panel at the top of the Home page for a short period.

If you wish to comment on an existing article or wish to add closely associated additional material to it then please add your comment to the bottom of the article in question. Please note that if you have any photos or other multimedia then you won't be able to add them to an existing article yourself so in this case just tell us about them in your comment and we'll contact you to take things further.

Archived from Home on 10/04/19:

Three comments published today 1st Feb 2019. See comments section below or look for link in top bar.

A.  Interesting wartime information about the Paglesham WI and Australia submitted by Ann Choppin.

B.  Linda Jenkins is trying to find out where her great-grandfather Frederick Lazell lived. It was in Rayleigh but she would like something more precise. If you have any ideas please leave a comment: either here at the bottom of the short article; or here on the general message board.

C.  Peter Cottis has asked us to add an interesting audio recording of Raymond Wright which is on our YouTube channel here. Raymond worked for Rankins for many years. The audio also now has an explanatory page on the site here with links to YouTube. Peter has also added several new articles - including a fascinating one about his aunt "Mart" who lived at Canewdon (click on the "NewPages" link in the top bar or the "Raypits" link here).

D.  There is now a new 12 part article from Martin Edgar detailing his life at Butlers in Shopland. Part 1 is here (and in the new article list) and there is an index at the bottom of its page that takes you to other pages. For completeness one of the links is to the entire article put on a single page. The index is partly truncated on iPads and, possibly, on other similar devices - just use one finger to scroll up and down and two to magnify the text so you can click on the correct link.

Archived from Home on 17/11/18: 

Just back from France and have just published a flurry of interesting comments (click this link to see all 5 of them). I also have a couple of articles in the pipeline from contributors which I'll be publishing in the next day or so ... regards Bob Stephen.

Peter Cottis has sent interesting material about his grandfathers Bridge and Brian Pettitt has unearthed some photos on Rochford and Wallasea.

Keith Evans is seeking information about the 1966 death of one of his relatives in Rochford Hospital. Please have a look at the latest new page if you think you can might be able to help and drop a comment there if you can.

Tim Fransen has drawn our attention to his reworking of the Chapman and André map of 1777. Click on the link in the article and then use the + sign and a bit of dragging to home in to an area of interest. The detail is remarkable.

Brian Pettitt has reflected on nicknames, starting with a short paragraph on cricket and then listing those he has come across in the area.

Archived from Home on 19/03/18: 

  An explosion of comments:

Jennifer Roughton, who now lives in SW France, has posted several comments recently. Nice to see we are being looked at from further afield.

  New Query:

Anyone know about Hector 'Jock' Wallace. Post information on the General Message board
http://www.rochforddistricthistory.org.uk/forum_id__1_state__st_idthread__33_idmessage__83.aspx"
here.

  New Articles and Comments:

A few new articles and several comments have been submitted in the last few weeks - click the links in the top bar or scroll down this page.

The latest article concerns the old secondary school in Rocheway which may soon be demolished to make way for houses. 

One of the latest comments deal with the future of the Foulness Heritage Centre now that its 15 year lease is nearing its end - anyone know anything?.

  New Sports category:

Another of the new articles deals with cricket - a first for us. We have therefore opened up a new sports category (see under the Topics view at the left). Come on all you historic local sports collectors - open up your attics and get posting!

Archived from Home on 25/10/17:

  Rochford Hospital query: Have a look here. Can anyone help? Please post your comment at the bottom of the hospital page or drop us an email.

  Audio and Photo archives: Our archive of 18 audio recordings is available here: it includes the well known "Rochford Past and Present" audio of Peter Whittingham). We also have photo archives available holding 258 photos from the Hewson Osborne collection and 46 from the Saxby-Hill glass plate collection. In future we will be adding some hundred or so photos from the recently acquired Echo archive.

  Nurseries in Hawkwell: Have a look here at the latest post on the Message Boards (on our General Board). Can anyone help?

  Hall at end of South Street: Have a look here at the latest post on the Message Boards (on our General Board). Can anyone help?

  Rochford Town Trail: An attempt is being made to get a town trail set-up. There will be a meeting this Thursday (13/02/17), other are likely. Have a look at the latest post in Message Boards (on our General Board). UPDATE - Brian Pettitt attended the meeting: apparently Rochford Council have obtained a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to setup a Rochford Town Trail as a smartphone application. Other meetings will be taking place to refine the content of the application. More general information here.

Archived from Home on 06/06/17:

 Information Please: We have had requests recently for information : one about a project on Canewdon Myths and Legends - click here ; another about the existence of books or booklets on South Fambridge and the Rochford Workhouse - click here - (Brian Meldon has recently come up with a pdf book about S. Fambridge - copy and paste his link into your web browser); finally one of our viewers seeks photos and additional information about Hawkwell Hall Farm - click here - (Brian Pettitt has posted some suggestions).

 RDCA Display at Paglesham Show: This year's Paglesham show took place on the August Bank Holiday weekend. RDCA had a display on the Saturday with the stand surrounded by people interested in the display and photos. We were given a number of contacts about memories of Ashingdon, Fambridge and Hawkwell as well as a name or two for some of Peter Thorogood's photos. Thanks to Viv Irvine and Len Bickford who were at the stand for 4 hours. Brian Pettitt, chair RDCA.

Archived from Home on 20/10/16:

Information Please: We have had two requests recently for information. One concerns Sutton Hall inhabitants and the other the Creeksea Ferry Hotel. If you know anything or have any photos etc then please add a post, or drop me an email at the site address opposite in Contact Us.

Hewson Osborne: The 258 photos we were given by Hadleigh from their digitisation project of more than 2000 images are now on Google Drive, here, as are the Saxby-Hill photos. This store is better for us technically than Flickr but we will be leaving the Saxby-Hill photos there as well for the time being. Here is a direct link to most of the Hewson Osborne Rochford photos on Google Drive.

Flickr: We have begun adding photographs to an external server named Flickr which will allow us to make many more photographs available. Our first batch of 46 photographs is from the collection of Samuel Saxby-Hill. Others will follow - particularly the 258 we have from the large Hewson Osborne collection of 2000+ photos and memorabilia recently digitised by Hadleigh Archive. 

Facebook: We have taken down a Facebook page dedicated to the site due to lack of resources. However, those of you with Facebook pages can still spread the word about the site by making use of the social media links at the bottom of each article page.

Mobile Friendly: Our site is now "mobile friendly". What this means is that you can now view it satisfactorily on smartphones and tablets. If your phone has a QR app you can access the site directly using your phone's camera - click on the QR code panel to the right for more information.

Ron Ewers: Has anyone got anything to add to support Brian Pettitt's handful of photos he obtained from Ron. Maybe someone worked in the "market garden" or knew someone who did?

 Archived from Home on 24/05/16:

Canewdon Church: The church tower will be open for tower tours and church bell ringing demonstrations on Sunday 12th June, 12-5pm, as part of the Canewdon Open Gardens event. Have a look here for more details.

Clements House: We have been contacted by a Mrs Mower who would like to find a Clements House which is/was located near Rectory Road. Have a look here if you have any idea. Brian Meldon has posted a response: he thinks the house is shown here (overlay maps courtesy of the  National Library of Scotland website - move the blue slider handle to the left to blend map and satellite images). Jill Mower has seen Brian's post and has responded here.

Alec Morton Steele: Jonathan Betts is interested in contacting any of the Steele family descendants from Shopland Hall. Take a look here.

 Archived from Home on 17/03/16:

Social Media: If you are a member of one of the social media sites and want to let your friends know about an article of interest then click the relevant "Like" link at the bottom of the article.

Help!: Interested in finding out what we do and possibly joining us? Then why not come along to our next meeting -Rochford Library 10:30 Friday 8th April. We have a wide range of things where we could use additional help.

 Mary James: Can anyone help Angela Reed find out more about her relative from Great Wakering? Click here to view her post on the site General Message Board. Also see Brian Pettitt's offer to help by clicking here and info from Brian Meldon here. Angela Reed acknowledges help starting here.

 New stuff: We have had twelve new comments on articles since 11/11/15. The first few lines of the first four of these are listed below and there is a link to the first 50 comments underneath this. Click on article titles to get further.

 Keith Williams: Does anyone know the whereabouts of Keith? If you do please have a look at the recent comment on our Rochford Hospital article and then post another comment or drop us an email.

 Latest Scrolling Images: Have a look at the latest scrolling banner image here. It comes from a collection of glass plate photographs made by Samuel Saxby-Hill in the early 1900s. The two previous scrolling images come from the NLS website (there is a link to the Scottish Library with the second image). With the NLS link you should easily be able to find where you live and compare past and present. Have fun !

 Audio Files: There are a number of articles on the site with attached audio that you can find here. We also run a YouTube channel holding other audio not published on the site. Click here for more information and a link to the channel: it contains things like Peter Whittingham's "Rochford Past and Present", to be found at the bottom of the list and here on YouTube.

 Archived from Home on 14/12/15:

 New stuff: New article today and three interesting comments - two from Au/Nz.

 Keith Williams: Does anyone know the whereabouts of Keith? If you do please have a look at the recent comment on our Rochford Hospital article and then post another comment or drop us an email.

 Latest Scrolling Images: Have a look at the two latest scrolling banner images here. The images come from the NLS website and we give a link to it with the second image. You should easily be able to find where you live and compare past and present. Have fun !

 Audio Files: There are a number of articles on the site with attached audio that you can find here. We also run a YouTube channel holding other audio not published on the site. Click here for more information and a link to the channel: it contains things like Peter Whittingham's "Rochford Past and Present", to be found at the bottom of the list.

Archived from Home on 22/10/15:

 Paglesham VPA Show, 29th August: Once again this year our stand was very busy with plenty of interest from local people. Discussed with Pearl Perryman about a photograph of the Barling Wakering and Shopland home guard in which her father was shown. This photo was part of the Peter Thorogood collection which once again created much discussion and we got a number of names for the photo of the last students at the Paglesham School which we will hopefully develop further. A number of other interesting leads were provided and will be pursued over the coming weeks particularly one from George Kempen regarding the crash of a German plane in North Shoebury/Wakering border, which we hope will form a new article for us.

 Canewdon Village Fête, 5th September: This was our first major event at Canewdon and a parish-focussed display was provided showing articles of the local witch history and a number of other relevant pieces. A number of leads were provided by local people with names of long standing village residents who may be prepared to be interviewed. It was good to see Steve Joslin, a former member of this archive, who has some ideas for the site and also kindly provided some of his own research on Canewdon history on the day. Some old scorecards of Canewdon Cricket Club were on display which created some comment and may result in a subsequent article about its history and numerous incarnations. Local cricketers the Augers and Fances from the late 19th Century still have relatives in the village who we will hope to contact.

 Rayleigh WI Hall, 12th September: We were again alongside Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass and this time also with a display from the new Rayleigh Museum all of which meant plenty of interest on the day. We spoke with David Hurrell of the Thundersley and Hadleigh Archive and obtained an update on their progress copying and cataloguing the extensive postcard collection to which they have been granted access. We expect to receive a number from various locations in the Rochford District including Barling and Foulness.

Archived from Home on 18/09/15:

 Another date for your diary: We will be at the WI Hall, Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh on Saturday 12th September, from 10am to 4pm. This event is to be held in conjunction with Rayleigh Town Museum and Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass. (A report on this event will appear shortly).

 Dates for your diary: If you are a follower of this website, and live locally, you might like to visit thePaglesham VPA Show and Fête on 29th August or theCanewdon Village Fête on 5th September where you could meet and chat with some of the archive team. (Reports on these events will appear shortly).

Archived from Home on 22/08/15:

Sid Barker: Its with great regret that we report the recent death of Sid Barker who was a member of the Group and who contributed actively to the site. Sid's funeral will take place at 12:00 next Wednesday (12/08/15) at Southend Crematorium.

Connaught House: Can anyone help Kimberly Baker who has posted this query on the general message board?

Archived from Home on 01/07/15:

Canewdon Church Tower: Canewdon Church Tower tours will be run this coming Saturday afternoon 13th June from 12-5pm run by regular contributor to this web site Brian Meldon. This is the only day this year that Canewdon Church tower will be open to the public.

Rochford Aerodrome: Can anyone help Vince Greene who has posted this query on the general message board ?

Audio Developments: We have decided to make all the audio we have so far recorded, or have been given, available to all. Some is already on the site as snippets for articles but we have now recently uploaded the majority of everything we have to our Rochford Archive Channel on YouTube. Have a look at Audio Archives and Sails In The Wind for more information.

Broken Links: We have had some trouble with broken links of the site which is now "under control". Please click here for more information.

Message Boards: Have you heard of the  hymn called "Rochford"? Otis Read whose ancestor wrote the hymn would like to hear from you. Please click here for more information and then post a reply if you wish.

Following items archived from Home prior to 01/07/15:

 Message Boards: Does anyone know anything about "Frinton" on the Canewdon Road? If you do then please have a look here and post a reply.

 Library visits: We were at Rayleigh Library recently (February 2015) with a WW1 display which generated a fair amount of interest. We have also been to Hockley Library which was well publicised in advance: there were some interesting items displayed about Hockley with old photographs as well as the WW1 material. At both events we were able to speak with several interesting people. We are hoping to arrange a visit to Hullbridge Library before too long.

Old-Maps website: We are now sorting out the outstanding problem on the site with broken links to the old-maps website - about half are done so far. If you come across any still unconverted links that take you nowhere then please accept our apologies.

 NLS website: While investigating the old-maps problem we stumbled on this resource. Its highly recommended even though it doesn't offer the widest range of old maps. Click here for a demonstration of a satellite image overlay of an old Rochford map. When the map image appears move the slider Change transparency of overlay (at bottom left of screen) and see what happened to the Rochford Hospital site. Then do the same for where you are!

 Library visits in February: We will be at Rayleigh Library with a WW1 display on Saturday 21st from 10am until 1pm. We will also be at Hockley Library on Tuesday 24th February from 10am to noon. Please come along if you can.

Contributions simplified: We welcome material from anyone, especially articles and comments on articles. However, the publication process on the site may be a bit daunting for newcomers and even for those who don't publish often. Click here for information on how we can give you more help.

Old-Maps website: We have an outstanding problem on the site with broken links to the old-maps website. A solution has been found and the broken links will be repaired one-by-one starting next month. If you stumble on one of these broken links and click on it then nothing at all will happen - so just move on somewhere else and accept our apologies.

NLS website: While investigating the old-maps problem we stumbled on this resource. Its highly recommended even though it doesn't offer the widest range of old maps. Click here for a demonstration of a satellite image overlay of an old Rochford map. When the map image appears move the slider Change transparency of overlay (at bottom left of screen) and see what happened to the Rochford Hospital site. Then do the same for where you are!

Old-Maps website: This website has recently become subscription only and the links to it from our site no longer work: "bother" is the most polite way of putting it! --- Brian Meldon has since discovered a work around which, in due course, might help us to repair the links.

Wakering Library, Tues 25th November: We had a great and very busy morning. The library staff had done a magnificent job in advertising the event and setting up their displays. Along with RDCA there was a Red Cross display with a "nurse" in VAD costume and Marion Cunningham was there in period costume with a display about her book "For the love of Amelia".

Remembrance Day, Nov 2nd: The joint WW1 display with Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Rayleigh was well attended in spite of heavy rain. The Rayleigh Town Museum project team were also present. WW1 talks were given to a large audience during the afternoon which were accompanied by slides and audiovisual presentations: all was very well done and well received.

Wakering Library, Tues 25th November: We will be displaying local WW1 material at the Wakering Library from 10:00 to 12:00. Refreshments will be served!

Remembrance Day, Nov 2nd: The joint WW1 display with Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass at Holy Trinity Church Hall in Rayleigh was well attended in spite of heavy rain. The Rayleigh Town Museum project team were also present. WW1 talks were given to a large audience during the afternoon which were accompanied by slides and audiovisual presentations: all was very well done and well received.

Remembrance Day: There will be another display with Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass on Nov 2nd at Holy Trinity church in Rayleigh.

Heritage Weekend: The event on Saturday 13th September went very well - Viv Irvine writes, "We were very busy. We may even have a couple of new members, hopefully some more contributions. Brian Meldon from Canewdon called in - he has a few ideas for articles. Rochford DC chairman June Lumley and Rayleigh Town chairman Eddie Dray plus 4 more councillors from Rayleigh visited. We even had very brief visit from MP Mark Francois. We made £16 in sales and donations. My thanks to Brian Pettitt and Sheena Booth for their help".

Heritage Weekend: There will be a display at the WI Hall, Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh on Saturday 13th September from 10am till 4pm in conjunction the with Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass.

Paglesham Show: There were over 500 visitors from all over the District at the show on 23rd August. We developed numerous new contacts and we are very hopeful of getting more articles on the site.

We've had lots of new contributions over the last few weeks - have a look below or use the links in the top and right side bars. The latest Scrolling Banner image features those who returned to Rayleigh after WW1 (click on any of the above banner images to enter the banner gallery and find further information). (editor, posted early August 2014).

A WW1 display by Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass starts on 26th July in the Rayleigh Windmill and runs until 10th August.

It'll be open Saturday & Sundays 1pm till 4pm, apart from 2nd & 9th August, and Wednesdays 10am till 1pm. As a bonus it'll also be open on Monday 4th Aug & Tues 5th August from 10 till 1 - to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the war.

We would love to see anyone turn up with any memorabilia, photos etc.

Canewdon Tower Tour this coming Sunday (29th June 2014)

We are starting to add full length audio material to a dedicated YouTube account. So far there are two items:

1. A description of Rochford Past and Present by Peter Whittingham

2. My Life in Stambridge by Donny Stranks

1. New Steve Oakley site about St Mary Magdalene, Shopland and also Brian Meldon's RDCA article about what happened to the bits after the demolition.

2. Can anyone help further with this query ? 

We hope to be at Rayleigh Library on every 3rd Saturday of the month from 10:00 to 12:00.

Please bring along to these "surgery" events any material you think might be of interest or just come along for a chat. We particularly want to get in touch with anyone who has photos, memorabalia etc for a family member who took part in WW1 - army, navy , RAF, nurses etc etc. 

We now have a regular monthly article in Roundabout Rochford.

We will be at:

• Great Wakering Library on Saturday 29th March, from 10:00 to 12:00 

We hope to be at Rayleigh Library on every 3rd Saturday of the month from 10:00 to 12:00.

Please bring along to these "surgery" events any material you think might be of interest or just come along for a chat. We particularly want to get in touch with anyone who has photos, memorabalia etc for a family member who took part in WW1 - army, navy , RAF, nurses etc etc. 

We now have a regular monthly article in Roundabout Rochford.

We were warmly welcomed at Hullbridge library on 26th February 2014. We met several interesting people who discussed their memories and showed us old local newspapers and some early 20th century proposed building plans.

We were at at Rayleigh Library on Saturday 15th Feb (2014) from 10 to 12.

Our Next Events:  We will be at Rayleigh Library next Saturday 18th January from 10 till about 12. Thereafter we will try to do the 3rd Saturday of every month. Please bring along any material to our surgeries you think might be of interest or just come along for a chat. We particularly want to get in touch with anyone who has photos, memorabalia etc for a family member who took part in WW1 - army, navy , RAF, nurses etc etc.

Surgeries

We have held surgeries in the latter part of 2013 at:

Hockley Library on Thu 24th October;

Great Wakering on 15th November; and

Rochford Library on 7th December.

In the New Year we hope to be able to hold regular surgeries at Rayleigh Library.

Please bring along any material to our surgeries you think might be of interest or just come along for a chat.

Roundabout Rochford

We now have a regular monthly slot in this local publication: last month we dealt with the WI clock; this month we feature the Lesney brothers factory at Ashingdon.

Lesney Matchbox at Rochford

Did you work there or know anyone who did ? If so please have a look at this article.

Rayleigh Arts Festival - 12th to 15th September

We will be there. Have a look here for a programme of events.

Hockley "Together on Sunday"

Unfortunately we had to cancel a presentation planned for 7th July. We will reschedule for the Autumn - the date has yet to be agreed.

Rayleigh Library - Wed 19th June

We were at Rayleigh Library on 19th June. It was a fairly quiet morning but we had lots of interest from people who came into the library.

Hockley U3A 5th June

A very successful Powerpoint presentation was given by Helen, our Chair, to the local history group of the Hockley Branch of the University of the Third Age. This has led to further useful contacts.

"Rayleigh Through Time"

This recently published book is now available at a 10% discount if purchased via the Amberley Books website. This link  will take you directly to the book order page on the site.

RDCA @ Rochford and Rayleigh Libraries

We were at Rochford and Rayleigh Libraries during 14th and 15th May meeting the public and local councillors and displaying some of the material in our archive.

Rayleigh Through Time

A fellow community archive group has recently had published a collection of Rayleigh images, most of which have never been published before. Have a look at some of them here.

Can anyone help Sheryl?

I am a descendent of one of the owners of Gusted Hall, John Peck; 1814-1900. I was wondering if anyone call help me locate his gravesite? I have a photo of the headstone, but do not know it's location. I live in Australia, so getting around to looking for the site is a near impossibility.! ... If anyone can help please add a new comment at the end of this collection of comments or drop us an email to mail@rdca.org.uk.

I am a descendent of one of the owners of Gusted Hall, John Peck; 1814-1900. I was wondering if anyone call help me locate his gravesite? I have a photo of the headstone, but do not know it's location. I live in Australia, so getting around to looking for the site is a near impossibility.! ... If anyone can help Sheryl Sutherland please add a new comment at the end of this collection of comments or drop us an email to mail@rdca.org.uk.

Foulness Heritage Centre -  Sunday 7th April

The interesting Foulness Heritage Centre at Churchend will open its doors for the first time in 2013 on Sunday 7th April. Thereafter it'll be open each first Sunday of the month until October. Have a look here for more information. These are among the few occasions in the year when the public are allowed to visit Foulness Island.

Tudor Queen Productions - does anyone remember this?

Mary Holding (nee Hackshaw) writes ...

Tudor Queen Productions was an amateur dramatic group active in Rochford in the 1960s and onwards. Leader of the pack was Eric Gooch and we used to meet for rehearsal at the old site of Rochford Secondary School under his direction. All the plays etc were performed in the hall at the school. I remember Eric's wife Pam and also Mary Kyd. We covered some of the classics and also had fun with a panto "Dick Whittington".

Each year we would enter a float in the annual parade with donated trailer and tractor. I wish I could remember the names of the rest of the actors. Please help me out if you can by sending further information or photos to mail@rdca.org.uk.

New website and email addresses

Some of us were getting fed up with stumbling over the keyboard with the complicated website "history" address. The site name is now shortened to www.rdca.org.uk and we have the snappier email address mail@rdca.org.uk. The old versions are, however, still valid.

Plough and Sail

A very successful evening took place at the Plough and Sail, Paglesham, on Monday 18th February 2013. Peter Thorogood was there with his large photo collection. There was an animated exchange of memories and considerable interest expressed in adding more material to the site.

Of note:

Peter Thorogood has very kindly lent us a large amount of material on the district which will appear on the site in early 2013. Here are some examples: Farming the Land and the Water, Life on the Land and Save Our Trees. We have also recently added some short audio clips to the articles by Len Bickford. More articles will appear during the coming months.

Rochford Arts Trail

Our archive had a stall at Rochford Library on 3rd November 2012, as part of the last day of Rochford's Art Trail for 2012. A very good turn-out, many thanks to all who dropped by.

Rayleigh Arts Festival

On Saturday 22nd September, RDCA took part in the Rayleigh Arts Festival at Rayleigh Mill Arts and Events Centre. A busy day, many people met. Lots of interest in the new photos of Paglesham, and we introduced ourselves to the Chairman of the Rochford District Council. 

Discovery Day at ERO

On 8th September, the Essex Records Office hosted a Discovery Day at the ERO, Chelmsford, which provided an introduction to the Record Office and showcased the local history archives.

Articles and volunteers - July 2012

Nine new articles have been published on the site in the last month. We are also extremely pleased that three new volunteers have joined the Group. More volunteers, more articles and more comments are always welcome.

Scrolling Banner change - June 2012

Send us YOUR old images and we will make them into a scrolling banner. Details here.

Rayleigh Windmill - 2012 Exhibitions

Sails in the Wind: 12 May - 27 June

Diamond Jubilee and Olympics: 30 June - 12 August

And from 15 August - 30 September, an installation by Max Dolding showing how the mill may have looked in 1907, the last time it operated as a working mill driven by wind power.

Further details can be found here:

Rayleigh Library - Wednesday 9th May 2012

We were at Rayleigh library on 9th May with a display of local photos and memories. Many thanks to all the people who stopped  to look at the display and speak to us.

Hullbridge Library - Thursday 19th April 2012

RDCA had a display of Hullbridge past and present at Hullbridge Library on Thursday 19th April. Many local people came in to share their memories and experiences with us. A very enjoyable afternoon.

Hockley Library - Thursday 22nd March 2012

RDCA representatives were at Hockley Library to demonstrate the site and talk to the local people about their memories. Lesley Vingoe, who has written a book on the history of Hockley, came along to support us and chat with visitors.  Our materials were supplemented by those brought along by Chris Radley, who has collected a number of documents of local interest including the plot layouts which were sold to form the Plumberow and Harrodate estates as well as the will of a former publican of the Bull Inn, a Mr Osband.  Perhaps most interesting was the plan of the proposed Wadham Park Estate which was planned at the beginning of the 20th Century but was never built.  Chris kindly provided us with a scan of part of the plan and this along with an associated article will be added to the site shortly.  We now look forward to our next event at Hullbridge Library at 1pm on 19th April.

Ashingdon Art Group - Tuesday 6th March 2012 

Representatives of RDCA visited the Ashingdon Art Group on 6th March at the Ashingdon Community Hall. Many thanks go to Janet Smart for arranging this. A fascinating morning ensued, with a number of people sharing their memories about life in Ashingdon and elsewhere in the Rochford district.

John Chambers was a mine of local information and has also taken many cine-films which we can hopefully publish on the site. Farming life in Rochford, the Queen's coronation, Silver and Golden Jubilees and Rhubarb Kilworth (chimney sweep, local character and father of author of "Witch Water Country", Garry) all featured in a lively discussion, which showed how much local and social history there is to discover in our district.

Great Wakering meeting - Saturday 18th February 2012

“The RDCA team were out in force at Great Wakering Library on Saturday 18th February to meet with the locals and hear about their recollections of life in the village and surrounding area.  The event was set up by Sue Greengrass who works at the library and also has a close interest in the village’s history and community and she had done a great job in getting people along who had lots to tell.

"Gordon Wiseman came to tell us about the barges that worked the surrounding waterways and Gordon Butler told us about the brick makers craft and life in the village in the 2nd half of the 20th Century.  With a promise of more to come from these chaps and others this was a hugely successful event and thanks go to all involved”

Brian Pettit, Chairman RDCA

24/02/12

Site rework

The site is in the midst of an extensive restructure which started on 10/02/12 and will finish mid May. This involves a radical reorganisation of the materal, better searching and a better graphical interface. Thereafter a little more will need to be done but at a slower pace. We hope you will now find the site easier to use and navigate. If you want to participate by adding material yourself then please click here - note that the help file is greatly improved to cater for beginners to the more expert. Of course we are always available if anyone finds adding material to the site too difficult or time consuming - in that case why not think about contacting us here or come along to one of our periodic meeetings at local libraries.

Domesday relaunched

The BBC opened it's Domesday Relaunched site this month, May 2011:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday

The BBC site is a partial loading of all the data in the 1986 Domesday project which gathered words and pictures from across the UK to be put on Videodisc.

School children were heavily involved at the time and there will be many who vividly remember making contributions. Their stories about the project would be worth retelling in this archive.

Unfortunately, the Domesday project was far ahead of it's time and the hardware proved to be too expensive. So only several thousand discs and players were ever produced.

Also the way he data was stored was novel and the discs were only readable on special Philips players. So obsolescence had almost overtaken the data by the millenium as players were becoming scarce and the Videodiscs themselves were deteriorating.

Fortunately, the BBC have now recovered much of the data and have put it on the web. Towards the end of the year they will hand the material to the National Archive. But in the meantime they would be interested in receiving corrections and missing material and updated photographs.

So, to see what is there for your area just put in a post code on the site and then have a look at the nearest data block.

The images and text are not as spectacular as you might expect as all this work was done in 1986 as part of a national project but nevertheless it's very interesting and relevant to what we are doing in the archive.

RDCA is now official

The RDCA archive is now fully operational and had its official launch on 2nd April 2011 at the Essex Records Office, Chelmsford, in front of VIPs and Library representatives from across South East Essex.

The launch went very well and there was a great deal of enthusiasm from the 6 archives represented and from those supporting the venture financially.

Press realeases have been issued and the Benfleet archive have  uploaded videos of the 5 speeches:

http://www.benfleethistory.org.uk/page_id__198.aspx

Thank you, Benfleet.