Uttlesford Local History Recorders Chairman's Report 2007

email Chairman

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT (extracts) on 2007 activities

(given at 2008 AGM)

Our main activities in 2007 were the AGM, the IT workshop and the continuing efforts to get the RUTH database online. The AGM was held at the Bury barn, Manuden on Saturday 7 July with a speaker, Tom Doig who gave an enlightening analysis of dating old photographs, much appreciated.

Workshops have now become more frequent events for ULHR, and this time we had a very good day on computer-oriented subjects. It was held at the day centre in Thaxted on Saturday 29 September. The morning was devoted to a training session in how to use the RUTH database, and the afternoon session a lesson in how to construct your own history website. Both of these workshops were excellent, and our grateful thanks to all those involved.

The Recorders continued to operate loan system for our equipment, which was very well used last year. A number of societies have affiliated and make use of it. We have affiliated to Essex Congress, and now receive their newsletters and invitations to their meetings – Recorders can therefore advertise their events on the Congress website. A Recorders’ discussion forum has been set up as a means of exchanging news and views. As in the past, I have continued to distribute news and views to Recorders, subjects including useful websites, archival boxes, history news items, campaigns, grants information, occasional warnings and various appeals. Email is proving to be the ideal way for us to keep in touch in such a large district, and to develop our common concerns and develop a higher profile for the Recorders system.

We continue to maintain a close relationship with the Town Library, ERO Archive Access Point and the Saffron Walden Museum. At the request of several Recorders, a letter was sent expressing various views about the move of the AAP to the library. These did not influence any change of heart. We continue to enjoy cordial relations with the staff of the Library, ERO Archive Access and Museum. The curator made a valuable offer to the Recorders of temporary storage space in the new Heritage Quest Centre, and a questionnaire was circulated about this, which indicated there would be a certain amount of take-up of this offer: it was generally aimed at storing original archives that are required for easy access, but needed special archival conditions. I wrote a letter of support from ULHR for their grant application to build the Centre [granted in March 2008, to be opened 2009].The Museum is also interested in transferring their MODES database on to our RUTH format so that it can be disseminated more widely, and there have been discussions with their documents officer about this. Since the last AGM, we have gained a new Recorder in Felsted.

The Recorders committee decided to go ahead with a new website of our own,
www.recordinguttlesfordhistory.org.uk which will be launched at the AGM. It only remains to thank you all for all the work you do voluntarily in your communities and in raising the profile of Recorders and local history generally, and to particularly thank the committee for their continuing support. In June 2008 ULHR will be 10 years old, which is something to celebrate. The challenge for the next 10 years is to raise the profile of Recorders in communities, to emphasise the importance of preserving the evidence of the past, continuing to record the present and to get our local collections catalogued on RUTH.

Jacqueline Cooper