Uttlesford Local History Recorders
Chairman's Report 2003
|
|
|
ULHR CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2003
(extracts)
The Uttlesford Local History Recorders have had a good year, with a number of important achievements. Firstly I have been able to thoroughly re-organise the rather out-of-date list of Recorders which I was given when I became co-ordinator of the newly-formed district group in 1998. A number of Recorders had moved away, or retired or even died in the interim and we now have a useful working list of those who are actually active in their villages. This work is ongoing, as there are still a number of vacancies, which I am pursuing via parish councils. Our thanks to those who have retired and welcome to the new ones who are giving their time to this important task.
Secondly, we have finally become a fully constituted organisation with a committee, officers and building society account. The first action of this new body was to adopt a proposal that we formulate proposals to set up a computerized database to record details on village local history collections. This has been pursued by your committee, and I would like to thank Gantwell Solutions for their excellent work. The name 'Ruth' has been adopted for the database, standing for 'Recording Uttlesford History'. The proposals include also a link to the Saffron Walden Museum website. This will mean ultimately that the ULHR have their own web page which will help to raise the profile of Recorders' work.
This project is the third of our new changes this year, and the final one has been to set in motion some additional activities and facilities for Recorders. These include a regular newsletter, the first of what we hope will be a series of workshops (this one on the conservation of historical materials) and the first pages of what will build into a Recorders' information pack. We could not do all this without the back-up of the Recorders themselves, particularly the committee.
I am quite positive that the coming year will see even more progress, particularly if we are successful in obtaining a grant, and the Uttlesford Local History Recorders will gradually raise their profile: this in turn can only be helpful towards our essential tasks of recording the present and conserving the history of our communities.
Jacqueline Cooper
