Thatcham Historical Society

A large audience gathered for tonight’s meeting (23rd February 2009) to listen to a talk given by Ted Fox on the ”Art of the Wheelwright”

Mr Fox described himself as “A country peasant that makes tea for his wife”. The talk he presented showed that his skills and knowledge far exceed this description. Mr Fox taught agriculture at Berkshire College of Agriculture and set-up as a Wheelwright after being made redundant at 50 from the college.

A packed room greeted Graeme Stewart on Monday evening (24th November). Mr Stewart is a member of the Thatcham and District Philatelic Society and has been their secretary for the last 25 years.

Mr Stewart talked about and exhibited postcards and ephemera on Thatcham. Mr Stewart started with a brief historical background to Thatcham and noted that Queen Victoria had medals made for the Scholars of Thatcham. Also noted was a Navy ship, HMS Thatcham, which was an inshore mine sweeper with the number M2790.

Ken Wells from Thames Valley Police Museum gave a talk on “Scenes of Crime” on Monday 20th October. Mr Wells noted that the Thames Valley Police (TVP) force actually consists of 5 separate forces. Ken found his niche as a police officer in recording scenes of crime.

Elizabeth Proudman gave a talk on “Jane Austen and her Hampshire family” on Monday 29th September. Liz started by giving a brief background to Jane Austen noting that Jane was born in 1775 in Steventon and died in 1817 having never travelled abroad. Jane had therefore lived through various wars including the Napoleonic. Jane was the seventh of eight children. The house Jane was born in no longer exists, however, a water pump does still survive. As a child, Jane loved playing word games. The children also read to each other and wrote poems and rhymes.

Colonel John Cameron-Hayes gave a talk on the history of the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery on Monday 30th June.   This is part of four main regiments, the other three being the 1st Tidworth, 3rd Germany and the 7t Para.  These three have all seen active service.