The History Group always welcomes all U3A members. Our usual meeting place is Central Methodist Church: time 2pm – 4pm ish. Our next meeting is on February 16th when Malcolm Darroch is coming to talk to us about ‘When the Balloon Went Up’. He says it is a fascinating story.
For the benefit of other members perhaps I should say the History Group have started on a High Street project of their own by members writing down the shops and businesses they remember. First we looked at the one done in combination with Hucknall Heritage Society and Holgate School for the 1930s but we are aiming to bring the dates nearer our own time. It might take a few months but we are hoping to have something to show later in the year.
I asked if anyone had tried accessing the 1921 Census. The answer was no (including myself) but I attended a zoom meeting a few days ago about the census and made a few notes. It will be a couple of weeks or so before you read this account in our newsletter. The National Archives chose findmypast for the digitisation project. The Census was originally planned to take place on Sunday April 25th but was not actually taken until 19th June. The paperwork people filled in was not changed to the new date meaning it still listed 25th April. Enumerators numbering 38,000 took out the forms to 8,739,197 families; making 38 million records. The resulting forms were bound into 30,000 volumes covering 1.5 kilometres of shelving. It took many people 3 years of work, over thousands of hours, to digitise and transcribe the records; taking 18 million digital images.
I try to make sure we have a variety of topics and visits to suit different history based subjects but if you have heard a speaker or been to a venue you think suitable please let me know. A full list of meeting dates for the group with details of speakers and visits is available below and copies can be picked up at meetings.
Bye for now, Maureen
Meeting dates: 3rd Wednesday of the month:
Usual venue for indoor meetings: Central Methodist Church.
Time: 2.00npm prompt.
MEETING DATES 2022
February 16th 2022 Malcolm Darroch is coming to talk about ‘When the Balloon went up’. (He says it is a fascinating story.)
March 16th 2022 Peter Godley from the Nottingham Historical & Archaeology Society is coming to tell us about ‘Archaeology in Nottingham’. Images, maps, etc on slides and artefacts from some of the digs will be on show.
April 20th 2022 Visit to Cromford mill. We will have a guided tour of the buildings. Plus the Arkwright Experience. Leave Hucknall 12noon. Leave Cromford 4.30 pm. Arrive Hucknall 5.30 pm(ish) Cost £16.
May 18th 2022 Stephen Flinders is coming to tell us about ‘My Kind of Paris’. He says it is: What you may or may not know about Paris and what Paris has to do with Nottingham born dancer Dorothy Frettingham.
June 15th 2022 Much delayed visit to Doddington Hall & Gardens. Leave Hucknall 9.30am: Leave Doddington 4.00pm. Return Hucknall 5.30pm (ish) Cost £20 Price cut to the bone.
No meeting July or August – Holidays
September 21st 2022 Denis Hill is coming to talk about Victorian Housing Conditions which is a century or so before most of the bureaucracy and health and safety rules came into being. It would cover the lifetimes of our great grandparents.
October 19th 2022 Visit to Derby Museum and Art Gallery. We will have a talk about Joseph Wright of Derby (Famous artist) then a self guided tour of the museum. Leave Hucknall 1pm. Leave Derby 5pm. Arrive Hucknall 5.45pm(ish) Cost £10
November 16th 2022 Trevor Lee is coming to talk to us. He usually provides us with mind pictures of entertainers; sometimes even their voices. Lots of reminiscing at this meeting.
