Image above Courtesy of Old Photos Halifax : Stephen Gee . https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldphotoshalifax/ 

" The Past is a foreign country; They do things differently there" 

It can be difficult now to imagine just how absolute and desperate the war effort became for every local community in the British Isles during the traumatic years 0f 1914-18. The British collective memory of the Twenty First Century looks back on the Great War and sees nothing but an absurd act of futile self destruction, but if you turn the pages of the local newspapers of the time you will witness a totally different world. Here you will find an amazing display of communal solidarity buoyed up by an unshakable belief in the justice of their cause and a resolute determination to see the war through to nothing but complete victory.

The Halifax Great War Trail  will take you round this largely forgotten and frequently misunderstood period of Britain's History and view it through the eyes of the local communities of the old Parish of Halifax.   

INTERESTED IN JOINING US ?

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Click on the recruitment poster
to the left and it will take you
to our contact page.


Image LU-USZC4-621: Courtesy of Library of Congress

OUR OBJECTIVES

  • To research the history, culture, and  everyday stories of Calderdale during the time of the Great War. 

  • To create a searchable database  of items related to the Great War from the local newspapers of the time.

  • To create walking trails that will interpret the Great War locations of Calderdale.

  • To offer people the opportunity to learn about Calderdale's Great War experience and share with others any memorabilia from that time.

PROJECTS

Click on the buttons below for more about our projects.

GRANT SUPPORTED BY

Copyright

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the copyright of material used on this site and apply credit where it is known.

However the complexity of copyright interpretation, the extended age of some images, the frequent  cross duplication of images on the internet and  plain simple  human error means  that we sometimes fall short of this ideal. The webmaster welcomes any information that clarifies the copyright ownership of any  material displayed and every effort will be made to correct any deficiencies.
millichope42@gmail.com

NEWS FEED   :      Scroll down for older items.

The Incredible Illustrated Diaries of William Henry Stott
Posted 12 April 2014

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Diary images left copyright Stephen Gee.

What a find! The delightful  illustrated diaries of William Henry Stott recently came to auction.  Our expert auction watcher, Alan Rhodes tracked down the successful bidder (discretely via the auctioneer) and we were very pleased to discover it was local man, Stephen Gee. Meetings followed and Steve has been more than generous in supporting our interest. One of the key features of these diaries is the charming illustrations which are copiously found among the daily entries. It is an historical treasure that has an interest value that goes beyond Calderdale and we want to do our utmost to see that it does. 

The war years of 1914-19 are of particular interest to us but there are sixty three volumes covering a year each and they stretch from the Battle of the Little Big Horn to the advent of Hitler.   
We are convinced of the importance of these dairies and are in the process of placing a proposal with a publisher who shares our vision for them. 

Presentation for March : The Belgian Refugees in Calderdale 
Posted March 22 2014

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The presentation this March was a fascinating tour through the story of the Belgian refugees who fled the German invasion and came to Calderdale in 1914/15. John Sunderland entertained us in  humorous style and was accompanied by Graham Bradshaw who had collated the research material over the last twelve months. Both are members of the Halifax Great War Heritage Society and the ‘double act’ approach made for a very relaxed and enjoyable evening. Perhaps the ‘glamourous assistant’ approach is a model for the future ?

We were very pleased to receive a thank you email from a trio of the guests who attended our showing of the Malins’ film on the Battle of the Somme in February :-

We were very grateful to be put so much at ease by the relaxed and friendly welcome.  The hospitality was remarkable - such a generously shared, comfortable venue (we were expecting bare boards and bits of old machinery heaped in the corners).  It was impossible not to smile when you topped the coffee and biscuits with ice cream - a marvellous idea.

The next presentation on 17 April at the Old Mill is by David Millichope on ‘The Halifax War Machine’  and is a look at how the industrial landscape of Halifax became transformed by the concept of Total War.  More details by clicking the DIARY button above.  

Little Khaki George Story on 
BBC Local Radio World War One At Home series.
Posted February 21 2014

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As part of the BBC's WW1 coverage, local radio are doing a series called World War One at Home. We have been working with Jane Chesworth ( Special Projects Producer) form Radio Leeds on two stories as part of the series. The first one about Little Khaki George is to be broadcast in full on BBC Leeds Friday 28 February at 8.15 am. 

There is a shortened version on the BBC website available to listen to now. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01p34hj

A second one to be broadcast in April is being recorded in the next few weeks and will feature the claim that local Halifax man, Alfred Bates, is the true originator of the iconic 'Tin Hat' worn by British Tommies and other Commonwealth servicemen.

Geoffrey Malins' 1916 Film The Battle of the Somme 
Posted February 21 2014

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This proved a very popular February attraction with the Old Mill at virtually  full capacity. It was also good to see a cross section of all ages and genders.  

Jeremy Paxman had given us the perfect plug by including something of the film in his Britain's Great War series broadcast on BBC1 earlier in the week.

There was also a very varied and interesting response from the audience lasting over an hour when we moved to the discussion part of the evening. 

Successful Funding Bid : Bearder Charity
Posted 15 February 2014

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We are very grateful to the Trustees of the Bearder Charity who recently awarded us a grant to extend our access to digitised versions of the local newspapers.

 This grant has allowed us to have the Great War issues of the Brighouse Echo digitised. Not only does this extend our own research coverage but it allows the newly formed Brighouse and District Great War Heritage Society to  begin their work researching stories for their own activities. Over the last few months we have been working closely with this group to provide training in the use of our newspaper indexing system (NewsCat).

Additionally the funding has allowed us to digitise the all important 1919 issues of the Halifax Courier Weekly which means that we now have digital access to the period 1914-19 for this newspaper.

Meeting : Voluntary Recruitment into the British Army 
Posted 4 February 2014

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Our meeting for January 2014 was a well researched and clear presentation by Rob Hamilton on voluntary recruitment into the British Army during the Great War. Rob included a lot of locally relevant material  to illustrate how this unfolded in and around Halifax and was able to lead us into what proved a lively and quite extended Q and A session with lots of interest value.

 It seems we are now getting better known because  the meetings are attracting  larger numbers. This is a welcome trend and new faces are always welcome. The next meeting is a slight departure from our usual routine. This will be a showing of the classic Geoffrey Malins film, ‘The Battle of the Somme’  first screened at local cinemas around the country in 1916. It will be followed by an open discussion of its content and importance.  

This will be on Thursday 13 February from 7.00 pm onwards at the usual venue. More Details by clicking the DIARY button below.

Dr Peter H Liddle, PhD, FRHistS.
Patron of the Halifax Great War Heritage Society
Posted 10 Jan 2014

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It gives me great pleasure to announce that Dr Peter Liddle has agreed to become the Patron of the Halifax Great War Heritage Society.

As many of you will know, Peter Liddle is a very well respected historian with a national reputation. In his long and distinguished career he has authored many major publications but he will probably be best known for establishing the nationally recognised Liddle Collection (University of Leeds) housing personal accounts mainly from the Great War.  

For nearly fifty years now, Peter has been committed to the rescue of evidence of personal experience in the Great War. This was achieved by tape-recorded interviews ultimately amounting to several thousand and the collection of letters, diaries, photographs, artwork and related memorabilia of men and women living through the war years. For some time now Peter has extended this interest to both world wars and been developing The Second World War Experience Centre at Walton near Wetherby.

Peter first contacted our group in 2012 to congratulate us on our website and the aims of our society. We have maintained a contact ever since then. We are greatly honoured that Peter has taken an interest in the Halifax Great War Heritage Society and agreed to accept this role.  

A Happy New Centenary Year Everyone
Posted 10 Jan 2014

With so many things coming on stream and with so many people and organisatioss gearing up for this year, we have never been busier !

Tommy Atkins goes to War
Posted 7 January 2014

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November Meeting. John Spencer, the curator at the West Riding Regiment Museum at Bankfield, gave  his usual enthusiastic and knowledgeable talk on the equipment used by the British soldier during the Great War. This included both Officers and other ranks. As always John was supported by a huge array of props and entered into role play with great gusto. Great entertainment for everyone.

'Little Khaki George' and other Children Collectors 
 Posted 2 December 2013 

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Elaine Beach on the right
 Elaine Beech was our October speaker  and presented a charming story which has emerged from  the group's research into the Halifax Courier. Collecting money for various support funds was widely reported by the Courier, particularly in the first two years of the war and children were often deployed by their parents in this role. George Bentley became the most celebrated of these and acquired the nickname of Little Khaki George. The story was submitted to BBC Radio Leeds who have commissioned it for their WW1 at Home series which is to be broadcast next year. We have been told that it has now attracted 'network interest'. 
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Little Khaki George Image courtesy of Calderdale Museums Service

New Name for our group
Posted 11 October 2013 

Following an EGM held on 10 October, the Halifax Great War Trail  Association members in attendance voted to  incorporate a change of name into the constitution . Our official name  will now be :-
Halifax Great War Heritage Society

This was to reflect the wider activities of the group which is no longer involved in creating walking trails only. 

It will take some time for the new name to percolate through the system so both names will probably have a currency for a while yet. 

We won't take umbrage if you refer to us by our original name ! 

Publication : Halifax in the Great War
Posted 1 October 2013

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Our chairman, David Millichope, was recently approached by the publishers Pen & Sword who were looking for an author to write a book about Halifax in World War 1. After some initial soul searching due to his existing commitments David has agreed to write “Halifax in the Great War”. There is quite a tight timescale but, with a little help from his friends, we are sure David will deliver on schedule. Watch this space.

The image above is the provisional layout of the title. The image on the lower front cover will be substituted by an appropriate one based on Halifax


Revd T B Hardy VC DSO MC : Presentation Meeting by David Raw
Posted 1 October 2013

On 11th September 2013 we welcomed the author David Raw who gave a presentation on the career of the Rev T B Hardy, one of the most decorated non combatants of the First World War. A short film was followed by a lively discussion before David answered questions. We were privileged to have such a knowledgeable guest and hope David will return in the future.

On The Halifax Trail 
Posted 28 August 2013

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In July a group of us set off around Halifax to get a preview of some of the locations we are interpreting for our Halifax Great War Trail . This one is at Spring Hall  and was the location of one of the several  Auxiliary Hospitals that came into play particularly from 1916 onwards. Originally it was owned by the Holdsworth family but has since passed through other hands and more recently been acquired by Calderdale Council and is the home of Calderdale Register Office. 

Pictured left to right are : John Sunderland, Rob Hamilton, Alan Rhodes, Graham Bradshaw, Carla Spendlove, Richard Spendlove, Anne Wilkinson, Elaine Beach

Organisation of the British Army 1914
Second Presentation Meeting
Posted 18 July

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Again pitched at the relative newcomer, Rob Hamilton gave a a splendid presentation on that most confusing of organisations, the British Army. In a clear and easy style that is Rob's hallmark we were taken round the complexities of regular, reservist, special reservist and territorial  before looking at how the units were structured . 

The presentation meetings now take a break for the summer and the next one is on September 11 at the Old Mill when David Raw will give a talk on the Revd T B Hardy VC DSO MC

The Great War : An Overview Year by Year. 
First presentation in our series for 2013.
Posted 2 July 2013

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Following a number of workshops and presentations which have been staged since November 2012 we have now put in place a series of meetings for the rest of 2013.  The first one on 20 June attracted a good attendance and  included several 'new faces'.

There was also plenty of time for socialising and the evening was rounded off with a lively discussion session.

The next presentation is on Thursday 11 July at the Old Mill, Boothtown. This will be given by Rob Hamilton on 'The Organisation of the British Army in the Great War.



Piece Hall : Neighbour's Day
Posted 10 June 2013

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Organised by Alan Rhodes this was our second public event. It was also the first outing for our 'corporate' sweat shirts bearing our new Logo. This helped raise our profile and boosted our membership. 
Left to right :
Alan Rhodes
David Millichope
Rosemary Jones

The Great War Gallery Seminar at Bankfield Museum 10 May 
Posted 12 May 2013

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Franne Wills of Bankfield Museum introduces their HLF funded Centenary Great War Gallery  Project to an invited audience.

Richard MacFarlane delivered a keynote address on what the proposed Gallery would be offering. 

Halifax Great War Trail Association presented their aims and progress. We were also able to discuss what we would like from the project and how we would be able to work with the proposed galleries.

New Flagship Workstations and Key Word Training
Posted 26 April 2013

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At the end of March we installed our two flagship workstations purchased using grant money provided by Calderdale Council Small Grants Scheme .

There are now six people who have been trained up and are  getting up to speed with the key wording down at the Estaminet.

(Above )From top to bottom : Trich Morley, Rob Hamilton, John Sunderland.
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Flagship Workstations with HD 23" wide screens

NewsCat Keywording now open for business !
Posted 15 March 2013 

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Thanks to the completion of the refurbishment of our Estaminet we are now able to make a start on the NewsCat  database and clear the backlog of photographed items from the Halifax Courier Weekly.
Our IT Database coordinator, Rob Hamilton, has been  busy setting up some of our workstations and implementing a work flow to upload and keyword our data. The first training sessions are starting on Monday 18  March.

Anyone wishing to help with the keywording and  receive training should contact Rob on robhamilton@live.co.uk.

One Year On
Posted 8 March 2013

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Above : Our first AGM completed and HGWTA ready for another year. 

Below : Thanks to the frantic efforts of Alan, John, Rob and Graham the Estaminet was also open and ready to view on the night.

The Estaminet 
Posted 12 February 2013

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We were made an offer we couldn't refuse.!

Alan Rhodes, one of HGWTA's newer members, has offered us the use of a large vacant  room on the ground floor of a converted mill building.  Measuring 27' x 11' and originally built as a games room, Alan now intends to convert it into a pastiche of a French /Belgian Estaminet to also house our  NewsCat workstations .  Historically these buildings were converted by entrepeneurs into social gathering places where you could buy beer, tobacco and food . There is no direct equivalent of the Estaminet, but it best resembles a  tavern which also sold farm produce.  When soldiers were away from front line duties estaminets were great favourites with them for spending their hard earned rest times.  


Support from the highest levels
Posted 2 February 2013

We were very excited to receive the following support from two prominent historians involved in the preparations for the Centenary. 

Professor Hew Strachan - Military Historian and member of the Government’s First World War Centenary Advisory Board.

   ‘This is very impressive, and shows just how much can be achieved at local  level’.


Professor Richard Grayson - Head of History and Professor of Twentieth Century History at Goldsmiths, University of London and Chair of IWM’s Digital Centenary Programme.

  ‘Many thanks for this.  What a great project!  Can we talk more when the full

    details of the IWM digital projects are publicised?  I'm sure that there will be

    many ways in which we can connect’.

Happy New Year everyone
Posted 4 January 2013

 And what a significant year it promises to be. Only 18 months to the Centenary so HGWTA’s contribution will probably be largely defined this year.

NewsCat  restarted on 3 January and the first workshop meeting is scheduled for Monday 7 January  at 10.30 am in Brighouse Library. This will be looking at our first steps towards creating the walking trails.

This month should also see the installation of the long awaited workstations for Lightroom and the first input of key worded data from the Halifax Courier of 1914-18.  

Calderdale Small Grants Application Successful !
Posted 27 November 2012

I'm delighted to announce that Calderdale Small Grants have awarded us our full budget towards IT equipment needed for creating the HGWTA Newspaper database (NewsCat). In conjunction with the help and support we have been receiving from Calderdale Library and Information Services, Calderdale Museum Service, Voluntary Action Calderdale and  Pennine Horizons, HGWTA is now very well placed to move forward and achieve its ambitions. There is still a lot of hard work to do but there is now every reason to be looking forward optimistically. 
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The funding will allow us to set up at least two terminals to run the powerful  Lightroom 4 image database software and with adequate backup facilities.  There is a very real chance we can increase this to at least another two more terminals thanks to the loan arrangement with Pennine Horizons.  The computer workstations is where the newspaper items will be key worded and therefore searcheable. These items already number about 2000. They have been catalogued from the Halifax Courier Weekly by all the  members who have been beavering away in the Central Library over the last few months. 

Many thanks to everyone who has worked towards this.

Second Workshop Meeting, 15 November 2012.
Posted 17 November 2012

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First of all we are due a huge thank you to HGWTA member, Alan Rhodes, for making his extraordinary house the venue for our second Workshop Meeting. With so many members opting to attend this evening meeting there was more than one voice who queried if there would be enough space. No problems. Even with twelve of us we could still stroll around as if promenading the decks of an ocean liner ! 
The meeting opened with a fascinating glimpse into Alan's incomparable collection of china memorabilia. Our primary interest was the patriotic items from the Great War but his staggering collection left us willing to believe we had somehow managed to wander into the Victoria  and Albert Museum in London.

This was followed by a practical demonstration of how the digitised information from the  Halifax Courier  Weekly pages of 1914-18  was being entered into the Lightroom 4 image database. With about 40,000 newspaper clippings ahead of us it was imperative we had a powerful search facility to access and cross reference the information. Lightroom 4 did not disappoint and a lively discussion followed on the ins and outs of its features.  
 

 Workshop Meetings Begin 
Posted on 7 November

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The first in a planned series of Workshop meetings took place at Brighouse Library on Friday 2 November.
  




The first half  consisted of two informal presentations based on some of the stories that are beginning to unfold from the pages of the Halifax Courier Weekly.

Elaine Beach told us how food supplies and local trade were disrupted by the outbreak of war and how knitwear for the troops  at the front (particularly socks) became a virtual local industry.
David Millichope described the progress of a convoy of illuminated trams that toured the Calder valley whipping up support for recruitment to Kitchener's New Armies.

The second part reviewed the progress of the pilot NewsCat project which is cataloguing the Halifax Courier Weekly in the first three months of the year.

Our second meeting is scheduled for 15 November and is an evening meeting. This will be on 'Patriotic China of the Great War' and Alan Rhodes will be displaying items from his impressive collection.
 The second part will be looking at a demonstration of how our digitised newspaper items are uploaded into the Lightroom database and how they are  key worded.   

Details in the website diary on the 'Contact Us' page.
 

Great News ! IT Equipment for Newspaper Cataloguing Database.
Posted on 9 October 2012

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Frank Woolrych (right) of Pennine Horizons, Birchcliffe Centre, hands over some  IT equipment on loan to  HGWTA, represented here by David Millichope (left). This is an important step for HGWTA who are now able to start setting up work stations for uploading and key wording a backlog of catalogued and scanned newspaper items. These are  from the Halifax Courier Weekly 1914-18 and will be uploaded into the Lightroom image database.    

Work begins on Graphic Design of Mobile Exhibition 
Posted 21 September 2012

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Left John Sunderland, Centre Rosemary Jones, Right Elaine Beach

Grant Funding    Posted 20 September 2012

We are pleased to announce that we have been successful with our bid for funding from Calderdale Small Grants Scheme for our advertising budget. This will allow us to purchase items such as professional display stands, a secure display case and printed literature which will raise awareness of the activities of our association and attract more members to help with our projects. We are now seeking financial support for IT equipment which is essential for our Newspaper Cataloguing Database and are hopeful of a solution to this in the near future.   

New Consitution and Grant Application    Posted 14 August 2012

A EGM was held on Friday 10 August at Bankfied Museum which approved a new constitution for HGWTA. We are grateful to the staff of Voluntary Action Calderdale who advised us on this to support our application  for  grant funding from Calderdale Small Grants.
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Newspaper Cataloguing Pilot Launched   Posted 10 August 2012

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An important milestone was reached on 19 July when HGWTA launched its pilot scheme to catalogue the content of local newspapers. The target is to complete the cataloguing of the first three months of the war (up to 31 October 1914) by 11 November 2012. The system itself is still ‘work in progress’ so there has been no general appeal for extra volunteers. Once this pilot has refined the cataloguing system then it will become necessary to call on volunteers and to start planning for the massive task of cataloguing the whole war period.

A New Website and lots of Committee activity.       Posted 22 June 2012

Welcome to our new website hosted by iPage. Much of it is still a case of work in progress but you should be able to see some activity on most pages.
 Generally, there’s lots to report on including :-
·        Submission of our pre-application for Heritage    Lottery Funding.
·        Preparations for an Official Launch Campaign to culminate in an exhibition on Saturday 10 November 2012.
·        Advanced development of our Newspaper Cataloguing System  
·        PR activity to raise awareness of our association.
  Some more details on these to follow in later news posts.


Our Thanks to the Staff of the Calderdale Libraries and Information Services and Calderdale Museums Service        Posted 8 May 2012 
There is now a lot of work now going on in the background to establish a firm base for the future of HGWTA. The HGWTA committee would like to gratefully acknowledge the help and support it is receiving from the staff of the Calderdale Libraries and Information Service and Calderdale Museums Service.  

One of the difficulties with an association like ours is the question of identity. We have no obvious base which can act as a focus for our activities. It has therefore been particularly helpful that Calderdale Museums Service has offered its support from the very beginning and, amongst other things, generously allowed us the use of meeting room facilities at Bankfield Museum. We look forward to our continued collaboration as we both move forward to the Great War Centenary.  

We recently held two very successful 'Training' meetings at the Central Library on 18 April and 2 May. These were  important for establishing a process that allowed HGWTA to access the hard copies of the local newspapers. The value of these fragile resources for our research cannot be underestimated. None of this would have been possible without the support and enthusiasm of the Calderdale Libraries and Information Services staff. We were particularly impressed by the obvious thought that had gone into making sure that every help was provided for us to succeed in our aims.

Research Training
Posted March 2012 
Following a meeting with Pauline Lancaster (Team Leader for Calderdale Libraries & Information Services) two meetings have been set up. These are to raise awareness of the resources in Calderdale Central Library and explore how to effectively research information from the hard copies of the Halifax newspapers which are held there.
Dates are : 
Wed 18 April 2.00pm - Familiarisation Meeting
Wed 2 May 2.00pm - Training Meeting 

HGWTA members should meet at the library side entrance (down the steps by the Northgate House entrance and bear right – before the archway through to the car park) at 2.00 pm.

 HGWT is now Constituted
 Posted 1 March 2012
We are now up and running as the Halifax Great War Trail Association. On 22 February our committee was elected as follows:-
Chairperson : David Millichope 
Secretary : Elaine Beach
Treasurer : John Sunderland
Minute Secretary : Rosemary Jones
Committee Member(s) : Ann Wilkinson
We now have an official identity which should allow us to negotiate with other organisation (such as HLF) more easily.

 Important Meeting
Posted February 2012 
22 February 2012, Wednesday 10.00 am : Education Room Bankfield Museum. 
As discussed at our last meeting on 23 January 2012, the next important step for the HGWT is to become ‘constituted’. Basically this involves setting up a committee with a minimum of Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, and two other committee members. This will take place at the time and venue above.Everyone welcome.