It was good to see many members on the guided tour of Long Buckby on 17 July, particularly as the weather was a bit miserable. Not many people knew our neighbouring village has its own castle. Their history shows that the various Lords of the Manor down through the centuries frequently backed the wrong side and had their lands confiscated and sometimes their lives too. The Earl of Warwick and William Catesby being a couple of examples. Long Buckby attracted a lot of people who were of an independent frame of mind. Hence in addition to the parish church they also had Baptist, Independent and Roman Catholic churches. We also noted that the Old Kings Head extended a warm welcome to strangers.

The trip to Chester was very successful and as no-one has asked for their money back I assume everyone enjoyed their day out - I certainly did. The little Derbyshire village we stopped at en route is worth a trip in its own right. As with most of our previous trips the weather was just great, so well done the committee member who chose this year’s date!!!

In August we visited the Central Library, Abington Street. As you know this was our first BHS meeting in August and it was included in this year’s programme following a request from several members who didn’t want a ‘month off’ during the summer. The library staff had spent a considerable amount of time preparing a selection of the library’s material on Brixworth for us to see, and the 20 + members who came had a very interesting time studying the documents and maps on display. It was particularly interesting to see part of the actual library of the immortal John Clare. We were made extremely welcome and many of us are planning individual visits in the near future.

The next ‘in house’ meeting is in the Village Hall on 18 September when our guest speaker will be someone we know very well, Julie Wooding, who will be presenting one of her new talks, entitled ‘The Tudor Age’. Look forward to seeing you all there and any one who hasn’t been to one of our meetings before will be made very welcome.