Missionary work

The New Year has started on a positive note. I will soon be working with St Peter’s school on their local history project, where I hope to impart a sense of history and belonging. The children will be interviewing their parents and other family members about their stories and memories. We hope to be able to capture interesting memories from non-native as well as native Sopwellians.

I have now uploaded over 60 posts on to our website which is looking really good. We are hoping to beta test it in a few weeks’ time. There are lots of lovely oral history recordings posted as well as many old photographs collected from interviewees and from my Facebook friends – if they have given me permission of course. I am still learning a lot about the Sopwell area and the intention of the website is share these memories with others, not only from St Albans but also everywhere else.

Interestingly, I spoke to a guy today - he was trying to convince me to buy an ISA (!) – who had never heard of Sopwell, so I had to tell him where it was and about its history and what a lovely place it is to live. Cheekily, I told him he could find out all about it by popping along to Waterstone’s to buy the book! Well, you never know. I think I am becoming an ambassador for Sopwell as I sing its praises wherever I go.

More positive news: our famous cedar tree in St Stephen’s field is being assessed on Thursday this week to see if it as old as we think (hope) it is. Pity old Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn didn’t carve their initials in it when they were courting. I will keep you all posted.

--
Sandy Norman

Nice to see you ...

Last Saturday, 7th December, we had our display in the wooden chalet at the Christmas Market in St Albans. It was a real success and great fun. The weather was kind and we didn't get too cold.

Our aims were to showcase the More Memories Project and make people aware of Sopwell and its history and environment and we certainly achieved these aims.

Loads of people stopped to say hello and have a look at our banners, maps and photos. We met some really interesting people as well as old friends and we sold 16 copies of our book, Sopwell: a history and collection of memories! 

A big thank you to all who took part!

We have acquired a digital copy of a wonderful estate plan of Sopwell dated 1666. The original - which is massive - is in Hertfordshire Archives and Library Studies (HALS). I have had it printed and laminated and it was on display at the Christmas Market. I expect we will take it to other events next year, if you want to see it.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

--
Sandy Norman

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

The Sopwell Residents Association has been given a free four hour slot at the first ever Christmas Market in St Albans.

It will be a German style Christmas Market and we will have our own little festive chalet where we can display our wares.

Our slot is from 10am until 2pm on Saturday 7th December and we will be just outside the Vintry Gardens near the Cathedral. It should be fun!

Obviously, we will be showcasing the Sopwell Memories project and hoping to recruit some more interviewees and hearing their stories.

The book Sopwell: a history and collection of memories will be on sale as well.

It is a lovely book which traces the story of Sopwell and its people, from the rural landscape of medieval times to the development of the pre- and post-war estates of today. It contains the memories of many people who live or have lived in Sopwell and there are lots of images, from photographs and paintings to family snapshots.

And, from now until Christmas, we have decided to sell it at the specially reduced rate of just £10 ! (the normal price is £15)

That's a massive 33% discount!!!!

But it’s just for the Christmas period; the offer ends on Friday, 20th December.

Now that is a bargain. How can you resist? Makes an ideal Christmas present!

The books will only be available direct from the Sopwell Residents Association at this price until the end of the promotion, so if you want one, send us an email to arrange to collect one or turn up at our stall at the Christmas Market on Saturday, 7th December between 10am and 2pm.

Alternatively, you can buy the book on-line, for delivery anywhere in the UK. For delivery outside the UK, contact us with your full postal address, so we can determine the correct postage and packing.

But if you can, please do come along to the stall and say hello.

I can’t promise any Gluhwein but there will be plenty of cheer!

--
Sandy Norman

Help, I need lessons in classification and indexing again!

Good news, I have now started posting on the new website. 

I have had some instruction from Christoph, our web designer, and it seems fairly straightforward. People post all the time don’t they? However, I want this website to look well-structured and with some standards – I was a librarian after all – so I have to decide on main subject headings (parent categories), subordinate headings (sub-categories), and indexing entries (tags). We will be including text, images and audio files of extracts from our oral history recordings, so all these need to be incorporated into the structure. 

My original list of main subject headings was far too long, so between us we cut it down to a manageable six and it seemed to work until I listened again to one of the recorded extracts, the topics of which could have been put under several main entry points! I was getting frustrated at this point but fortunately my team and Sarah and Julie, the ladies from the University of Hertfordshire, came to the rescue.

Sarah and Julie held another workshop for us at UH. I had sent Sarah my headings and given her the link to the website to have a look. The group discussed these and now we have come up with a definitive set: Places (buildings streets etc.), Spaces (green areas including the river, plus leisure pursuits), Industry (including rural industries and occupations), People and Timeline (medieval through the centuries, pre-war, post-war etc.). We also have a general oral history heading (can’t think of a better name) which is intended to cover the transcriptions in more detail. More in depth indexing is required here. I had better do a list of tags, so that I don’t put up too many variations, and make a decision on where to use upper and lower case.

Workshop at UH on Tuesday, 15th October 2013

Good entry points and indexing should mean that information will accessible and so benefit researchers as well as those with a general interest in the Sopwell area. I am encountering many dilemmas which remind me of cataloguing and classification training at library school! IT for Nurses springs to mind! IT or Nursing, Nursing or IT? So, where do I put the main entry for Sopwell Mill farm - under Industry, Places or Spaces? Where should footpaths go, Places or Spaces? I think I should have paid more attention.

You will have to wait a bit before the website goes live I am afraid, but I am sure it will be worth the wait.

--

Sandy Norman