March 2013

STOKESLEY HERITAGE PROJECT: REPORT ON FORUM, TUES 18 February 2013

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Attendance: 11 with 2 apologies.

Schools: Kev reported that as yet there had been no response from the Primary School. As there is little time left this term, he has asked the Head for dates for the Summer Term. If this is not possible he will check the prospects for next year, with the alternative being to transfer the funding to work with the Stokesley School (the secondary school), where Mr. Howell, the Head of the History Department is keen to collaborate. There has already been an excellent response with many Rigg & Furrow worksheets completed by the pupils to a high standard. David Maudsley will go through these and enter the results on a map, and also prepare a Press and Loop release with Derek Whiting, noting the help provided by Kev and the Society. A picture of the bundle of completed sheets could be considered.

Transport: Chris Taylor reported that work on Pannier Ways was being completed. Interest in Railways is widespread, with material supplied from as far afield as Manchester. There are many people interested in Railways: we need to appeal for participants, eg circular to participants, the Loop, and as part of a press release. Tim Allison referred to work already available in the library Local History files.

World Wars: Due to the centenary of WW1 and the need to collect personal WW 2 memories and information while available, this is a priority. Keith Burton displayed the work that he has done on the Heritage Internet site, particularly on The Fallen, (1914-18), well displayed and illustrated by photographs from pages of the Book of Remembrance in the Parish church. The entire book is now viewable on another page of the website. It would be good if Stokesley people can add to the story of some of the individuals: Keith outlined one moving account. An appeal for additional information to be made at an Exhibition and through the Loop and a Press Release, also covering what is on the Internet site

Internet Site: Keith demonstrated the scope and structure of the site. It was agreed that the Wiki system of headings and sub-headings was good. Keith is still working on the Forum section on the site, which will allow people to submit material and comments. Kev notes that there is probably a lot of completed research material not included in the Leaflets, which should be made available on the site, eg for the Grand Houses leaflet. It was agreed that for work in progress, a separate Wiki site should be created, limited to participants, so that they can share their work and seek colleagues’ comments. Wiki offer a free Community site, but this was perhaps not appropriate at this stage.

Blue Plaques: Derek was congratulated on the lively debate he has stimulated on the Loop about The White Swan. While continuing to use the Loop for debating Plaques, the Heritage Internet site can be used to summarise information and conclusions in a convenient and easily accessible way. Derek will consider whether to refer to the SPIOTA site for the collection of existing Plaques or to copy them on the Heritage site.

Publicity Summary: Publicity Topics are School work on Ridge & Furrow, Railways, WW1&2, Internet site, Blue Plaques and future programme. Those concerned are asked to pass proposals to Derek. We need to consider whether to cover different topics in one or several press releases.

Forum programme: Agreed that evening Forums were acceptable. The April Forum will be a Public Meeting at 7.30 pm in the Town Hall when Chris Bainbridge will give a talk on an Armchair Walk around Stokesley. This will be a good opportunity for participants to choose topics on the People and Buildings theme. This could be followed by a Forum in May/June at the Records Office when participants working on People and Buildings are ready

Hugh Charman

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