Book Launch – Before Modern Ideas – The Diary and Annals of Little Gaddesden, edited by Roger Bolton. Thursday 1st December at 7pm in the TFH, Little Gaddesden.
Discovered in the Church archives, these documents tell the story of the village through the eyes of its Rectors, from 1870 – 1935, a period which saw dramatic changes in what was, under the Brownlows, an almost feudal village. They paint a picture of a lost age which made Little Gaddesden what it is today. There are stories of epidemics and wars, fights outside the Bridgewater Arms, harvest feasts at Ashridge (where children were allowed a pint of ale), scandals and tragedies, and they detail the efforts of two outstanding schoolmasters, who tried to give the village children opportunities of which their parents could only dream. Roger Bolton has added a brief history of the village before 1870, and short biographies of the key figures mentioned in the diary and annals, as well as notes on the Reading Room and the Bede Houses.
All welcome to attend.