Meldreth Local History Group

The Meldreth Local History Group on their First Visit to the Cambridge Record Office on July 25th 2007

Angus Bell

Meldreth Local History Group was formed by and for the local community in 2007.

Our aims are to:

research and record the history of the village and its environ
create and preserve an archive of local history which can be passed on to subsequent generations
publish material, both in print and digital forms, for the benefit of the local community and others interested in the history of the village.

Members meet on the first and third Mondays of each month (excluding public holidays) in the Sheltered Housing Community Room, Elin Way, Meldreth SG8 6LX from 9.30am until 11.30am. We welcome new members and there is never a shortage of things to do! We have attended talks, gone on guided walks, had lunch, competed in village quiz events, and on a more serious note, undertaken research in Royston Museum, the Cambridgeshire Archives and the Cambridgeshire Collection. So do join us and make some new friends.

Our activities are many and varied. We have organised or participated in the following events:

Our three Open Day Exhibitions in the Village Hall
An exhibition at the Tavern Gallery in Meldreth
Friends of Holy Trinity Spring Gardens days (exhibitions in Holy Trinity Church and Topcliffe Mill)
Holy Trinity Church fetes (displays in the church)
Our popular coffee mornings in the Sheltered Housing Community Room
Family History evenings at the Community Access Point
A guided walk of the village
The Christmas Tree Festival in Holy Trinity Church
The centenary celebrations at Meldreth Primary School (provided displays on the history of the school)
A fundraising talk in the Village Hall
An Heritage Lottery Funded archaeological test pit project
A project on World War One, undertaken in 2014, the centenary of the outbreak of the war

We have undertaken the following tasks:

Created a this website, dedicated to the village’s history. The website contains over 480 pages, including a comprehensive “Meldreth Today” section
Added images, text and audio files to the Meldreth Community Archive and the CCAN Between the Lines WW1 website
Started the Meldreth Local History Group Facebook page
Photographed Meldreth Primary School log books and admissions registers
Photographed and transcribed the Meldreth Award Book
Scanned albums from the WI and Guides
Transcribed Meldreth burial records
Transcribed the 1910 Land, Values Duties information
Conducted and recorded over 30 interviews with residents. (Each interviewee is given a personalised CD with a recording of the interview.)
Recorded the Friends of Holy Trinity (FOHT) Reminiscences Evenings
Research at Royston Museum, Cambridge Record Office, the Cambridgeshire Collection and London Metropolitan Archives
Produced notelets, Christmas cards, walk leaflets and audio CDs

We have also supported other villages in starting their own local history groups and/or websites. As part of our fundraising, we sometimes give talks to local groups, so please get in touch with us if you are looking for a speaker for a forthcoming meeting.

For further details please see our leaflet, which is also available by clicking the download link below. Alternatively, view the webpage giving a chronological list of our activities.

The Group has over 200 people on its mailing list, some as far afield as Australia, who receive regular newsletters and updates on the Group’s activities. If you are unable to attend the regular weekly sessions, there is plenty of scope for research and work that can be done from home.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list, then please use the link at the top of this page or email us.