News

POSTED ON 6 Feb. 2020

We’re recruiting! We’re looking for an experienced medieval historian to help with a piece of work on Loughborough’s markets and fairs 1221-1600. Details here.

POSTED ON 13 Jan. 2020

Charnwood Roots databank

Many of our Charnwood Roots volunteers have asked when they will be able to see all the items in our databank. The answer is Very Soon. We are sorry it has taken so long, but the many IT issues involved are now close to resolution. It will be open access, available to anyone, without the need to register for a login.

Watch this space, or subscribe to our mailing list to be notified when it becomes available.

POSTED ON 7 Oct 2019

Latest Newsletter

Our 2019 Newsletter is now available to download

POSTED ON 16 Sept. 2019

New Loughborough Project underway

Our new group of volunteers met for the first time on 10 September, and have now started work on a new piece of research for VCH Leicestershire, on public health improvements in Loughborough between 1840 and 1920. Concentrating initially on the provision of piped water and sewerage, a key document is the public health inquiry of 1848 and the findings of William Lee, an inspector from the newly-formed Board of Health in London.

POSTED ON 7 Mar. 2019

Recruiting for our project on 19th-century Public Health improvements

We are currently raising money towards the cost of completing the research and writing our first ‘Red Book’ since 1964, which will focus on the market town of Loughborough.

We wish to complete a short piece of research with a new group of volunteers on public health in Loughborough, focusing on the period between 1840 and 1930.

Paige Emerick has recently been appointed to lead this work, over a 10-week period to mid-November, and we welcome her to our team

We are now recruiting volunteers to work with Paige on this project.

POSTED ON 1 May 2019

Help us to celebrate the VCH’s 120th birthday!

We want to fill a red box (A4 box-file size) with objects which tell the history of Leicestershire. What should we chose?   We want the objects to reflect as wide a range of periods (anything from prehistory to 2019), Leicestershire places, people, communities and historical topics as possible.

The objects can be serious or quirky, and some may be surprising to people who don’t know Leicestershire. The only criteria is that they must not be unique, irreplaceable, of great value or perishable, and they all have to fit inside the box (together), so they can’t be large or bulky.

We welcome your ideas. A small panel will select a representative selection from these in August, and will then obtain the objects. Our selection will be displayed (with the boxes of other counties) at an event in London in November, and then in an online virtual display on the VCH website.

We don’t want objects now, just your ideas. Be imaginative. How can we best tell Leicestershire’s rich and diverse history through a few small items of low value? We look forward to hearing your ideas!

POSTED ON 26 Apr. 2019

Loughborough Volume

We are planning a new project, for the first Leics ‘big red book’ since 1964. This will be a history of the town of Loughborough and perhaps half a dozen or so adjacent parishes.

Do you think this is a good idea? Why?
What do you think this volume should contain?
Which neighbouring parishes do you think should be included?

We are holding a meeting on 15 May where we hope those with an interest in Loughborough’s history will come along to hear more about what we want to do, and join the discussion to help to shape the content of this volume.

POSTED ON 25 Feb. 2019

Charnwood Roots: next steps

With the help of all our Charnwood Roots volunteers we have collected a lot of data about the histories of the parishes in the Charnwood area. The next stage will be to turn this into published histories. We have decided to concentrate our efforts on Loughborough and intend to produce a Red Book on the town’s history as the next major activity. 

We’ve started raising funds towards this, but further grants and donations are needed before work can commence.  We will then be recruiting volunteers to help us with this second stage. We want to consult with different communities in the town to understand which topics are important to them. We shall need help with research to fill gaps in our knowledge. We shall also need assistance in spreading the word through events and displays.

As a first step, it is our intention to hold a get-together in Loughborough in the near future to talk about the next steps. Details will be posted as soon as the arrangements have been made.

POSTED ON 22 Nov. 2017

Thank you to the Heritage Lottery Fund!

The Charnwood Roots project (2013-17) was generously funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Many thanks to all of the National Lottery players who made this project possible. The second phase of this project will make the research available to the public. Watch this space for more details.