Sarum U3A

The monthly Coffee Morning of Sarum U3A was held in our usual venue of St Francis Church Hall on Wednesday 16 May.  Members were asked to remember to collect any Newsletters which had not been emailed and information was given out on the activities of groups including:- Trips on Local Buses and a guided visit to Old Portsmouth. 

U3A Diaries should be ordered now. 

In addition goodbye was said to our Newsletter Editor, Alan Reeve who is moving away and welcome and thank you to our new Newsletter Editor, Bob Bradshaw, who is taking over.

The speaker on this day was Rex Sawyer, the noted local historian, who was warmly welcomed back to give a talk on “Collett’s Farthing Newspaper”.  These monthly farthing papers, which, in fact, amounted to a village newspaper, were produced by the then Vicar, Edward Collett, over a period of 40 years (1700 editions) printing them on his own printing press.  

Mr Sawyer interspersed his talk with many amusing asides and quoted from many sources which he had researched in great detail, including reading all of the Farthing Newspapers which are in the Bodleian Library.  He was also able to give a feel for the man who produced these interesting historical commentaries, telling of his training for the priesthood and his time as curate and later vicar of Bowerchalke. 

The Newspaper give a revealing picture of life in a tiny rural Wiltshire village through the eyes of someone living there at that time.  The talk was illustrated by some fascinating slides, many of them reproduced from photographs taken by Edward Collett, himself, showing Bowerchalke village and life there about a hundred years ago.  With a reminder that agricultural workers in Wiltshire and Dorset were among the poorest in the whole country the slides gave an insight into the way of life at that time, including work and school situations.

  His newspapers were read by villagers and were also sent to interested people both nationally and internationally.  Besides details of church activities the papers contained both national news and comments about the village.  They clearly show the contribution of individuals to the life of the village and the importance of farmers, the wheelwright, the blacksmith and school head teachers in the life of the community.  Hearing that transport by carrier’s cart to Salisbury market took 3 ½ hours there and 5 hours on the return journey brought gasps from the audience.  The Farthing Papers ceased in 1924 and Edward Collett died in the November of that year. This was a popular and interesting talk and the applause following the vote of thanks showed members appreciation. The next meeting is on Wednesday 20 June at our usual venue when the speaker will be Jo Motto on a Victim Support Charity.