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Little Waldingfield Suffolk, Our Village History From 1840 to 2014
Our first book, which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is now on sale (softback only) and has been extremely well received, as the following unsolicited quotes demonstrate:
Jenny Antill (Suffolk County Councillor), from her blog entry Tuesday October 28th 2014
This week I collected our copy of the recently published Little Waldingfield, Our village history from 1840 to 2014. I have to say that it is one of the best produced books on local history that I have seen.
A sequel to Harry Clive's book, Beyond Living Memory, which documents the history of the village up to 1840, the book is a fascinating collection of pictures, reminiscence and fact. Organised thematically, there are chapters, among many other topics, on Village Development, Crimes and Misdemeanours, Pubs and Clubs and Little Waldingfield at War. Some of the photographs are truly stunning, all are interesting, and the book promises many happy hours for the historically inclined.
The publication is a real credit to the Little Waldingfield History Society, who received a grant from the Heritage Lottery fund towards the costs of production. The money must have been important and a great help, but what is really impressive is the amount of work that was clearly put in by the five authors of the book. They modestly hide their identities away on almost the very last page, but I feel that I should give them full credit here. So congratulations to Susan Moore, Diana Langford, Andy Sheppard, Sue Sheppard and Dennis Duffy.
Barbara Eeles (Suffolk Free Press) from her Feature dated 16th October 2014
Nothing puts flesh on the bones of history like seeing it through the eyes of those who were there. So when villagers wanted to tell the story of their community, memories of friends and neighbours spanning more than 80 years were crucial.
The oldest contributor to Little Waldingfield's village history was 102 when she shared her recollections. In 350 glossy pages, it covers everything from buildings and development to farming, from sports and the village school to the effects of two world wars. And every penny raised by sales will go towards preserving the village's St Lawrence Church.
Little Waldingfield Suffolk, Our Village History From 1840 to 2014 is on sale priced £18.00 collected or £21.00 posted (softback only), and is available from:
- Andy and Sue Sheppard on 01787 247980, or
- Di Langford on 01787 248298.
History Lovers Present Book Sale Proceeds To Village Church At Carol Service
Following the very successful launch of our updated history of Little Waldingfield, proud trustees presented the first tranche of book sale proceeds to St Lawrence Church at last Thursday's carol service.
The total raised so far amounts to £5,178.00, an incredible sum for such a small village, with monies raised from book sales specifically allocated to the future preservation of the fabric of the church. As Rev'd Judith Sweetman said at the time ‘We are thrilled and delighted to receive this cheque and congratulate everyone who has been involved with the book. We have just had some essential repairs to the church costed at around £10,000.00, and to have half of it paid for already is a real Christmas present'.
As for the History Society, trustees observed that sales of the book had far exceeded expectations, generating considerable ongoing interest in the history of the village and its people which was a credit to the small community. As our chairman Susan Moore put it ‘Writing the book has been an amazing life changing experience for us all, and to know that proceeds will really benefit our beautiful church whilst stimulating further interest in our shared history is a truly wonderful thing'.
By general agreement the book, which has been widely touted as the model for future local histories, is a delight to read; as trustees have often commented, the book does make for a very nice Christmas present for anyone with even the slightest connection with the village.
Book sales continue apace, and whilst we can achieve sales without going through any external agency, 100% of sale proceeds will go to the church.
