The Group has pursued two main projects during 2024.
Firstly, following a proposal from Adrian Mongredien, we set out to list the date of construction of all the buildings in the village. This generated a lot of interest and a substantial number of villagers came forward with information. There will of course always remain uncertainty about the village’s older properties, but we now have dates for well over half of the village. This will continue as an ongoing project for 2025 and we will aim to publicise the results in due course.
Our second project concerned the writings of Thomas Oakey about Holy Rood Chur. I undertook to convert his manuscripts from the early 1900’s into publishable form, with an introduction and explanatory notes. Group members contributed to the process around the year and I was able to contact one of Thomas’s grandsons who provided valuable information. The project reached a successful conclusion at the end of the year with the publication of “Changing Scenes.” Following a launch event and other publicity, sales have already approached half of the print run of 100 copies. Our thanks go to the Parish Council for a grant from the Solar Fund and to Context for their publishing expertise.
Group meetings around the year have been well-attended with lively discussions. In late autumn we heard a fascinating account by Adrian Mongredien about his French ancestors and their role in a royalist rebellion in the 1790’s following the French Revolution.
Towards the end of the year another village group unexpectedly made a grant of £300 to our funds, giving an indication of the Group’s reputation in the village.
I would like to thank all Group members for their contributions around the year. Sue Brown has again minuted our meetings and provided information on all kinds of aspects of Packington history. Robert Dilworth has kept our website in good shape and again represented us on the Memorial Hall Committee. Doug Pratt has astonished us with his memories of events from up to 60 years ago. Yvonne Eaton has kept the Group’s finances in good shape.
We approach 2025 in a positive spirit!
Robin Boucher
4th January 2025