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ALHA is the umbrella group for local history and archaeology societies in Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

We help member societies by compiling an annual list of recommended speakers, and by publicising societies’ activities through our newsletter and website. We organise a local history study day each year, and our AGM is accompanied by a lecture with a distinguished speaker.

Each year we publish 3-4 compact but authoritative books on aspects of Avon local history, and each summer we organise a series of walks.

We have strong links with the Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England, and with the libraries, archives, museums and other organisations in our area.

We offer both Society and individual membership, and further details can be found here..

Click on About Us for how to contact ALHA

Click on Publications for information about our publishing programme, and how you can contribute to the written history of our area.

Click on Events for details of the meetings, walks and other activities organised by our member societies.

Click on Groups for links to our member societies, and details of what they do and how you can contact them.

Click on Archive for back copies of ALHA publications “Quest” and “Avon Past”.

News and Forthcoming Events

Latest Newsletter and Update

Newsletter 154, covering the period April to July, is now available for download here.

Previous Newsletters, and monthly updates, are all available for download in the Archive section of the website.

Diary of Events

The ALHA Diary of Events now appears in a different format. The three website pages showing the diary by date, society and speaker have been replaced by three downloadable pdf files. The files can be easily downloaded and printed, but unfortunately no longer include a clickable hyperlink to the website of the organising society. The three new files are:

Events arranged by date

Events arranged by name of society

Events arranged by name of speaker

Click on the file you want.

If your group is a member of ALHA and you would like to see events listed, please send them to the webmaster.

Richard Smith: Bristol Surgeon
and Medical Collector 1772-1843

Richard Smith was a contemporary and colleague of the great Thomas Beddoes. Robert Southey was his neighbour, and Humphry Davy and Samuel Coleridge lectured in his time. Smith himself was a very successful practising surgeon, a lecturer, a notable collector of medical records and statistics, a figure in civic affairs, a voice in the City Council and the press, a poet even. Here Michal Whitfield (author of Dr Goodeve, of The Bristol Microscopists and Homoeopathy in Bristol) tells the story of a lively, extrovert, but representative figure.

This new ALHA publication was launched at the Local History Day April 21 2018 and costs £3.50 plus postage. To order your copy of this, and other titles in the ALHA series, please click for an order form. Full details of all titles are in Publications.

Alternatively, you can order online and pay by card through GENfair.

ALHA Summer Walks 2018

Mike Hooper has again a series of walks to take advantage of those fine summer days, while offering an insight into the history of a specific area. The dates are:

Monday 14 May - evening walk at Keynsham

Monday 11 June - evening walk at St Werburghs

Sunday 8 July - afternoon visit to the Underfall Yard, Bristol Docks

Sunday 12 August - walk at Langford (details to be finalised)

Full details can be downloaded here.

Leaving home to fight

At their meeting on 27 April, Stoke Bishop History Group will be launching Leaving home to fight; stories of the men behind the names on Stoke Bishop’s First World War memorials. Copies cost £10, and there will be a short talk and book signing by the authors. The meeting is at Stoke Bishop Village Hall at 7.30.

Trinity - Heart & Soul

Holy Trinity church in St Philips closed in 1977 after 150 years and has since been recreated as a multi-purpose venue now used for a variety of arts and community events. A celebratory programme of events is being organised for 2018, and details can be found here. In particular, a series of walks revealing the history of Trinity and Old Market and led by historian and writer Edson Burton will take place on 24 May and 12 June from 6 to 8, on 31 July from 2 to 4 and on 16 September from 12 to 2.

Radical History Fair - 6 May 2018

Bristol Radical History Group (BRHG) are holding their second Radical History Festival in Bristol on Sunday 6 May, 2018. The all-day event (10.30am-4.30pm) will include history walks, talks, performance, bookstalls and displays and is taking place on several floors and galleries in the M Shed Museum.

This year’s festival follows the successful event run at the M Shed in September 2017 and has two themes. We are working closely with the Bread, Print and Roses Collective to mark the 50th anniversary of May 1968, a month that saw worldwide demonstrations against capitalism, authoritarianism and war. We look at the legacy of May ’68 in Bristol, scene of significant student occupations, and beyond. The Remembering the Real WWI Group will also be putting on a programme of events to reflect on the impact and aftermath of the First World War, as we approach the centenary of the 1918 armistice.

Further details on the BRHG website.

Coach trips organised by Bristol & Avon Family History Society

BAFHS have organised the following coach trips, or have secured places on trips by Chauffeurhire. All are open to the general public. Click on each for details.

Thursday 31 May - Victoria & Albert Museum and/or National Army Museum

Tuesday 26 June - National Memorial Arboretum

Saturday 11 August - Bletchley Park

Winterbourne Medieval Barn Trust

A project to help secure the future of Winterbourne’s Medieval Barn has taken a major step forward thanks to a £936,600 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), made possible by money raised by National Lottery players.

South Gloucestershire Council has been working with the Winterbourne Medieval Barn Trust (WMBT) to develop a £1.76 million project that will conserve and refurbish the historic barn and its adjacent buildings.

Once the total is reached, the funding will be used to restore, refurbish and find new uses for the 14th Century Court Farm Barn and associated outbuildings, ensuring its long-term sustainability in the heart of the local community. A heritage education centre will also be created to demonstrate the history of the barn and its architecture as well as information about the local area. Overall, the complex would provide flexible spaces for a variety of community, educational and commercial uses.

The restoration and refurbishment will enable the Trust to offer many more events and activities throughout the year, including heritage and craft-themed events, craft workshops, guided tours, more musical and theatrical performances, and a brand new schools’ programme. There will be new rentable workshops for creating traditional crafts and more space will be available for public and commercial hire, income from which will enable the Barn to operate on a sustainable basis.

Further details on the Winterbourne Medieval Barn website.

Keynsham Great Flood of 1968

Yhe year 2018 sees the fiftieth anniversary of the Great Flood of 1968. This event is etched indelibly on the memories of everyone who lived in the Chew Valley and much of the Bristol area at the time. It brought tragedy and misery, but also many examples of heroism and selflessness. Much has been written about the Flood and at previous anniversaries exhibitions and dramatic productions have been staged to commemorate it.

Yet, apart from one flood level marker, Keynsham has no physical reminder of that night, and no memorial to those who died when their car was swept off the Chew Bridge in the town centre.

Keynsham and Saltford Local History Society hopes to re-erect the County Stone which once stood on the bridge. Click here to read about their plans, and learn how you can help.

Grants

ALHA offers grants to assist local history research, publications, events, conservation and other projects which accord with its charitable objectives. The Committee has wide discretion over the kind of work to be assisted and the terms of the assistance. Recent grants include one to support the publication of volumes of the Victoria County History to cover parts of Gloucestershire.

Details of the conditions and how to apply can be had from the Treasurer.

UWE Regional History Centre - Programme of Seminars at M Shed

The programme for 2017-8 is now available and can be found here. Seminars are held on Thursday evenings at M Shed, Princes Road, Wapping Wharf, Bristol, BS1 4RN. Admission is free. The range of subjects is wide, and this series includes women’s lives in Tudor England, Brunel’s first steamship and popular music in nineteenth century Bristol.

Know Your Place - West of England - Now Complete

The final phase of the expansion of Know Your Place has now been completed and coverage has been extended to the whole of the historic County of Somerset. Historic maps of Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Bath & North-east Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Council areas are all now available online, together with illustrations and much other local history information. The website is at www.kypwest.org.uk.

Mick Aston Photographic Competition 2018

The late Mick Aston was a skilled photographer and a talented draughtsman. Mick’s camera was never from his side and he took every opportunity to record archaeological sites whenever the opportunity arose. Over a career spanning more than 40 years he built up a unique collection of images which charted the development of medieval archaeology throughout Britain. In honour of his contribution to the discipline and his role in public engagement, the Society for Medieval Archaeology announces an annual photographic competition for Society members in Mick’s honour. This year’s theme is The past meets the future and full details of the competition are available on the Society’s website.

Bristol Archives

This is the new name for Bristol Record Office, and it now has a new logo. Click the logo for the Bristol Archives website.

What’s On at Bristol Museums & Archives

Click for details of the exhibitions, tours, walks and other activities taking place in Bristol in future weeks and months.

Heritage events in Bath

Click for details of the exhibitions, tours, and talks taking place in Bath.

Crossing the river at Pensford. The ALHA Summer Walk, July 4 2016

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Photos

The photo of Chipping Sodbury market was found on the Facebook page entitled Chipping Sodbury Photographs. The photo of Stanton Drew Stone Circle is by Michael Day and is taken from flickr. The photo of the Netham Lock in Bristol was taken by the webmaster. Click on each photo to see a full-screen image.

The photo of Pensford is by the webmaster.

Avon Local History and Archaeology is a Registered Charity. No. 270930

This website was last updated on Sunday, April 22, 2018. If you spot any errors or omissions, please advise the webmaster.