Sarum U3A Press Release
The December coffee morning started with information about the New
Year Party on January 15th at 11 o'clock – tickets should be obtained in advance - ;and
the Strollers group walk followed by lunch on January 27th. The Art group were
congratulated on the sale of 87 paintings an, following the “artistic”
theme, the results of the Photographic competition were announced. The
exhibition of photographs showed entries of a high standard, with a
wide range of subjects. Prizes were won by Jim Wade, Ena and Tony
Baldock and Phyll Babb. Jim Hopkinson was thanked for judging the
competition. Information on the many topics for summer schools is now
available and application forms can be obtained from the Chairman. A
theatre outing to the Mayflower Theatre is planned for mid-February and
more information will be available in the January Newsletter.
The speaker on this day was Rex Sawyer, the noted local historian, who
was warmly welcomed back to give a talk on “The Bowerchalke Parish
Papers”. These weekly 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. They give a revealing picture of life in a tiny rural
Wiltshire village through the eyes of someone living there at that
time. These newspapers were read by villagers and were also sent to
interested people both nationally and internationally. In World War 1
copies were sent to soldiers and POW's to keep them in touch with what
was going on in their home village. Besides details of church
activities the papers contained 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 headteachers 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. Mr Sawyer interspersed his talk with many amusing
asides and quoted from many sources which he had researched in great
detail. He was also able to give a feel for the man who produced these
interesting historical commentaries.
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.
Ray Thomas thanked Mr Sawyer and led enthusiastic applause for an
interesting talk.
The next meeting will be the New Year Party on January 15th at 11.00am at St Francis
Church Hall. New members are warmly welcomed and enquiries can be made
to the Membership Secretary on 01722 322570
