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PVHG Helps Commemmorate WW1 Armistice Centenary

PVHG helped Packington commemmorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War 1, by mounting on the 11th November 2018 weekend at Memorial Hall two displays of local people who had been involved in the Great War.

The single photo image on the right comes from a Packington family:

This photo image is of Private Walter Woodward of Packington, who was a “Mountie”,  a mounted trooper in a Canadian regiment. He died in 1915 near Ypres. Buried in the Westoutre war graves cemetery near there, he has a memorial addition at his parents’ grave in our village church cemetery, row A no 24 – the most South-westerly of all our church burial plots:

Walter Henry Woodward of the 2nd Canadian Mtd Rifles Third son of WW and A Woodward, who fell in action near Ypres October 8, 1915, aged 37 years. Buried at Westoutre
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2938959/woodward,-/#&gid=null&pid=2
You can see these details, and search for other casualties and memorials, at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, cwgc.org
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Minutes of the PVHG September 2018 Meeting

MINUTES OF THE September 2018 MEETING OF PACKINGTON VILLAGE HISTORY GROUP PVHG

held in Venue 35 – the Memorial Hall Meeting Room – on Tuesday 25th September 2018 at 7:30 pm

Present: Chairman Robin Boucher, 6 members. and guest Terry Hammond

Apologies received from:- Diane, Doug, and Nev.

Minutes of the previous meeting were approved and signed.

Robin welcomed Terry Hammond who brought the meeting up to date with the World War 1  commemoration events in November:

  • A copy of the programme for the Saturday evening Music Hall entertainment was circulated.
  • Terry explained that regrettably the actors reading the soldiers’ story would not be in military uniform, as the cost of hire was prohibitive.
  • It was with some regret that members heard the film to be shown on Friday night the 9th November was not a war film. The possibility of whether a war film could be shown at some other time over that weekend was discussed, but at this stage of the arrangements it was not thought to be possible.
  • Robin has been searching the archives for suitable photographs for the display in the Memorial Hall and showed members his findings. Some were of the village as it was during the l914/18 period, as well as some of the village soldiers and sailors who served in the first world war.
  • The display stands required to house the photographs for the display can be kindly supplied by Sue.
  • Members thanked Terry for his hard work on this WWI commemoration project

Robin reported he had organised the replacement Packington display poster for the museum and had succeeded in obtaining a grant from the Packington Parish Council for this purpose.  Thanks were expressed by members for this.  The new poster is now on display at the museum.  The question of what should happen to the old poster which was brought from the museum, was discussed and it was decided to keep the top portion of photographs which would be added to the archives.

Members who had taken archive boxes over the summer for thinning reported their progress, Sue had achieved almost 50% as newspaper reports were hand written as well as typed, this being just one example of unnecessary archive space being used.  There was much discussion regarding what should be kept and what constituted genuine historical information to be kept.

Robert suggested approaching the memorial hall committee requesting space in the meeting room for the group to use at any reasonable time, but it was pointed out that the trust had to adhere to rules laid down and therefore this request was unlikely to be granted.  As playgroup are no longer using the memorial hall, storage space is now available, members felt the memorial hall committee should be approached asking if the history group could place their archives in such a space.

It was therefore proposed a representative of the history group be on the memorial hall committee.  Robert was proposed by Stephen and seconded by David, passed unanimously and agreed to be our representative.  Future meetings were discussed and Robert  suggested an invitation be sent to Paula Dring to speak on her research of the first Packington Baptist Minister. This was agreed.

Robin had received a letter from Wendy Frear who was requesting help from the history group and Robin will reply, inviting her to speak at our November meeting.

The village is slowly changing, population and buildings, therefore photographic evidence for the archives is essential showing these changes and it is hoped Richard Jones would be willing to take the necessary photographs.

The meeting closed at 9.30. The next meeting is on Tuesday 30th October, 2018 at 7.30pm

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Poster at Ashby Museum

On visiting the Museum in May 2018, History Group members noticed that a poster about Packington, which was on permanent display, was out-of-date in a number of respects. We believe that the poster was drawn up about ten years earlier and not surprisingly needed to be revised.

The Group applied for funding from Packington Parish Council for the cost of replacement, whereupon the Council made a grant of £275.  The Group itself funded the VAT element of the cost, being a further £55. The new poster  was produced and put on display in the Museum on Wednesday 19th September.

Thanks go to the Parish Council for their financial support and to Quiet Storm Solutions of Whitwick for the production work.

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Minutes of the PVHG June 2018 Meeting

MINUTES OF THE June 2018 MEETING OF PACKINGTON VILLAGE HISTORY GROUP PVHG

held in Venue 35 – the Memorial Hall Meeting Room – on Tuesday 26th June 2018 at 7:30 pm

Present:  Chairman Robin Boucher and 5 members.

Apologies received from:- Robert and Nev.

Robin welcomed Terry Hammond, who gave a report on the latest arrangements for the commemoration of World  War 1.  The funding is in place for the weekend’s events, and guests for the Saturday evening event are asked to be in dress of the age.  The 3 actors for the evening’s entertainment have been appointed, however 2 mid-to-late teens actors are required – any volunteers?  Chris Miles is co-ordinating the Sunday’s events. The school and youth club are involved as well as other village organisations.

Robin had prepared a short history of Charles Walter Henson, details being taken from an oral history, and this he read to members.  Walter Henson was a First World War soldier and a well known and respected Packington resident.  Members agreed this to be part of the commemoration exhibition together with photographs of Mr. Henson.

Terry left and the meeting continued with discussion on the storage of the archive material.  Following our May visit to the Ashby Museum, members agreed it was important to store all the material in purpose-made boxes, as it is vital the paper copy is kept as well as digitised storage. Robin had details of Spectrum 5 and members agreed this was expensive, but possibly to be considered in the future.

Members agreed the archive should be kept in Packington, and as the Memorial Hall have applied for planning permission for additional storage, it is hoped space can be found for the History Group to have a locked cabinet there. Access would be for members,  and the general public accompanied by a group member.  Records should only be kept at  Ashby Museum as a last resort.  Adrian proposed that the history group be represented on the Memorial Hall committee, this was agreed and a representative to be appointed at our September meeting.  Members agreed that boxes similar to those at the Ashby Museum should be purchased for all our archive material, grants are available and Yvonne agreed to look into where and how the group can access these.

Robin had been in touch with Ken Hillier with regard to the Packington display poster at the museum to establish the company who originally printed the poster. Alterations are now required as some of the information is no longer correct, and the group needs to know costs for the alterations.  Members went through the list to make the necessary alterations.

The minutes of the April meeting were duly signed and the meeting closed at 9.25pm.

The next meeting is on 25th September, 2018 at 7.30pm.

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Minutes of the PVHG April Meeting

MINUTES OF THE April 2018 MEETING OF PACKINGTON VILLAGE HISTORY GROUP PVHG

held in Venue 35 – the Memorial Hall Meeting Room on Tuesday 24thApril 2018 at 7:30 pm

Present: Chairman Robin Boucher, and 11 members

Apologies received from: Paula, Stephen, Jonathan, Jan and Diane.

Matters arising: Robin reported he had passed on 4 photos of WW1 soldiers associated with Packington to Terry Hammond

Robert gave a resume of the Archive Assessment meeting of the disseminators at Yvonnes on the 17th April when they discovered the full extent of the archive held, unfortunately Sarah was at work and unable to attend, but emailed points for discussion which were aired.

The same points were brought up for discussion by members, these being the pros and cons of the present indexing of the archives and the need for them to be digitised. How this can be achieved was the biggest question – scanning each item was suggested. As the text archive material indexed had been taken to the meeting, members were able to take the opportunity to look at some boxes before we had further discussion.

Following time spent looking through some of the material it was felt scanning each item was going to be a major task especially as there is more archive material still to be indexed. The matter of bringing in members of the Packington community who were willing and able to help in the scanning process was also discussed and including a small historical piece in the Packington Post. No decision has been made.

The first step is the scanning of one box of text, and Sarah very kindly offered to take the box relating to items from 1598 to 1894 to do a trial run. The question of costs therefore arose and it was important to make a note of the time taken and any expenses. Cassette tapes are also held in the archive and it is important that these be digitised, this to be looked into.

The Leicestershire Guides are celebrating 75 years and Sarah told the meeting the Packington group are anxious to find out what Packington was like in 1943. Yvonne agreed to look out Peter’s High Street walk which should have sufficient information for the Guides to be able to describe Packington in that era.

The meeting closed at 9.25pm.

The next meeting is Tuesday, 22nd May at Ashby Museum at 7.15pm for 7.30pm.

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Commemorating the end of World War One.

Later this year, the Group will be contributing to village events commemorating the end of the war. We are hoping to have a small exhibition of pictures, articles and other memorabilia to display in the Memorial Hall over the weekend 9th – 11th November. We would be pleased to hear from anyone who has items which could be displayed. Please note that, for this purpose, there does not need to be  a direct connection with Packington – anything related to the war and its conclusion will be welcome. Do contact us if you have anything!

Robin Boucher tel.: 01530 411638, e-mail randdbboucher@googlemail.com

 

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1901 Events – from the PVHG Archive

Some aspects of 1901 in Packington:

  • 22nd January 1901 – Queen Victoria died after 63 years on the throne. Read about Packington’s memorial service in early February, conducted by the vicar, Rev A S Mammatt,  at which the Earl of Loudoun and parishioners from both Willesley and Packington attended. (Burton Chronicle transcribed report below.)
  • November 1901 – In our Parish News, vicar Rev A S Mammatt described the Re-opening of the church. “..thoroughly overhauled and repaired..” “The outside walls, buttresses, parapets and roof have received attention, and the mullions of several windows renewed. The whole of the floor inside has been covered with a bed of cement concrete, four inches thick..” (Full details in  two Parish News text images below)
  • December 24th 1901 – Packington reeled at the sudden death of Rev A S Mammatt, who had been vicar since 1890 and who had been responsible both for the restoration of our Packington Church and for the new church of St Faith at Snibston. A sad Christmastide indeed.. (See Burton Chronicle transcribed report in the image below.)

Continue reading “1901 Events – from the PVHG Archive”

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Minutes of the PVHG March Meeting

MINUTES of the March 2018 MEETING of PACKINGTON VILLAGE HISTORY GROUP PVHG

held in Venue 35 – the Memorial Hall Meeting Room on Tuesday 27th March at 7:30pm

Present: Chairman Robin Boucher and 10 members. Apologies were received from Jonathan and Jan

Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

Robin welcomed our guest, Terry Hammond, and invited Terry to describe the proposed commemorations celebrating the ending of World War 1,  which will take place in Packington on 9th 10th and 11th November.

Terry is a member of the Memorial Hall Committee, and agreed to explore the possibility of holding an “Old Time Musical”; he hopes to bring in many village groups to take part in various events, one group being the Film Club with the possibility of a film being shown on the Friday evening. There will be a Sunday service in church in the morning of the 11th and in the afternoon childrens’ entertainment.

Members were all in favour of helping, by way of a display in Memorial Hall of what life was like in  1918, and also by having someone read extracts of wartime experiences of servicemen who were village residents.

The meeting continued after Terry left, with many ideas from members, all of which to be finalised at a later date.

The Disseminators have yet to meet. They are to gather at Yvonne’s to see what documents are in the archives, following which, items are to be taken to the meeting on 24th April.

Robert encouraged members to look at this PVHG website.

The meeting closed at 9.30pm

The next meeting is on Tuesday, 24th April at 7.30pm in Venue 35, with the main item being the future of the Group’s archive, building on discussions of the dissemination group.

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100 Years on from WW1 – PVHG Open Meeting Tuesday 27th March 2018

An early WW1 Recruiting Poster – later, conscription was introduced and people had to join anyway.

The Packington Village History Group’s next meeting will take place on Tuesday 27th March at 7.30 pm in Venue 35, the Memorial Hall meeting room.

Sunday 11th November 2018 will mark exactly a century since the end of the First World War.   We will discuss how we might take part in our village’s November events celebrating this pivotal juncture, perhaps alongside major national and worldwide commemorations.

World War One Military headstone in Packington Village Graveyard
World War One military gravestone in Packington’s South Churchyard

This is an open meeting, and anyone interested will be welcome to join us.

Continue reading “100 Years on from WW1 – PVHG Open Meeting Tuesday 27th March 2018”

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Minutes of the PVHG February Meeting

MINUTES of the February 2018 MEETING of PACKINGTON VILLAGE HISTORY GROUP PVHG

held in Venue 35 – the Memorial Hall Meeting Room

on Tuesday 27th February at 7:30pm

Present: Chairman Robin Boucher and 9 members. Apologies were received from Robert Dilworth and Sarah Marvin

Robin welcomed members and proceeded to give an extremely interesting talk on Anglo-Saxon England. We learned what life was like then, and the many wars and skirmishes from 350AD to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 when the Anglo-Saxon period ended. Questions to Robin and general discussion followed.

Other Business: Robin has been in touch with Terry Hammond with regard to the commemoration of the ending of the First World War. Terry will join us at our March meeting to tell of his proposals.

Yvonne is to contact Ken Hillier to see when members are able to visit the Ashby Museum.

The meeting closed at 9.35pm