Potton History Society

This month's featured archive is based upon our Land and Property Archive. The Society holds a small archive of plans and documents relating to sales of property and land in the parish. It is always happy to gain new items or to copy and return documents. Click on the right image advertising a property sale relating to King Street to download the archive as a pdf.

This month King Street is our 'Featured Photo Archive' to tie in with this month's talk. The photo album is number 122 out of the 188 the Society owns. The file has been split in two to enable it to fit on the web site.Click on the right image of 'King Street' to download part one as a pdf. Please let us know if you have any photographs (ancient or modern) that we could add to our collection.

Click on the left image of 'King Street in 1966' to download the part two as a pdf. The Society holds two albums of King Street photographs from late Victorian to the present day.

Please watch this space for further 'Potton History Society Photographic Archives' from our extensive collection.

Thursday 22 July. British Schools Museum, Hitchin.

Our next meeting features a trip to the British Schools Museum in Hichin. This provides Society members with an evening in which to experience life at a Victorian school.

Unfortunatly the trip has already sold out but we would strongly recommend any one with any interest in the subject to visit the museum especially if they have children. To visit the museum's site please click on the image to the right.

The next talk will take place as usual at 8pm in the Community Centre, Brook End. Admission £2.00 Non-members. Members free.

Why not join one of Bedfordshire's most active Local History Societies?

2010 membership available now.

Please see the 33rd Programme for a full guide to our talks in 2010.

Please click on the image to download the latest newsletter as a pdf file to catch up on news and many interesting articles.

Newsletter 47 contains the next instalment of the history of the Potton Flower Show, an article on Dirigibles and airships from 1884 up until 1930s (including the famous R101), an article on the development of this web site, further provincialisms from Bedfordshire, congratulations to two couples from the Society celebrating their Diamond Wedding Anniversaries, an article on the Tysoe Ledgers and Potton Brass Band, a look back at the events 70 years ago at the outbreak of war and memories of the Rising Sun Public House and its well (sunk in 1720 and finally covered in the 1950s.

On June 5 Potton History Society hosted the Bedfordshire Local History Association's Annual Conference.

Local History Societys from across Bedfordshire were in attendance to discuss "The Challenge to 21st Century Local Historians". Stuart Antrobus has included a detailed report of the day which may be read here on his blog spot.

Whilst in attendance Des Hoar sketched St Mary's church which he finished after the Conference.

When was the first market held at Potton?

How old are its buildings?

Where did the design of the Clock House come from?

Further to our report last month about Society member Mr Peter Ibbett's production of a new leaflet called the Potton Market Square Walk we can now offer this as a free pdf download.

To download the leaflet please click on the image to the left.

Photos of "The Hollies", Potton.

A series of photos of the Hollies have been donated to the Society by Mrs Natalie Chapman of Potton.

Mrs Chapman's maiden name was Suggs and the family lived in the Hollies after the War until the property was sold to Gordon Felber Group who demolished it in the early 1960s and built a manufacturing factory. She recalls going to work for them when she was about 21 years old.

The portal picture to the right shows the Suggs family, from L to R: Natalie, Her Mother and Father and her sister Hillary. The photo was stamped April 1958 when she was 16 years old.

The black and white photo below of the back of the Hollies was probably taken about the same time.