Art & Literature
2024 Fete- Hadstock Society Exhibition in St Botolph’s Church
Photos by Catherine Condie
Children’s Writing Competition
‘Landscape history of Hadstock Parish 1777-2020, Part 3: The 1801 Hadstock Inclosure Act’, by Richard Dolby and Rick Albrow
Part 3 of our Landscape History series illustrates and explains the Hadstock Inclosure Act of 1801. This transformed the landscape by affecting 70% of the Parish land area and eliminating open fields, shots and strips. New privately owned fields were created with the aim of improving productivity.
The Beekeeper’s Tale – by Tony Handley
Tony Handley explains the beekeeper’s art. “The Beekeeper’s Tale produced by Saul Woods and Licenced under CC-BY-NC: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ “
‘ Landscape history of Hadstock Parish 1777-2020, Part 5: Notable Buildings’, by Richard Dolby and Pat Croxton-Smith
This is a further addition to the series of illustrated online publications dealing with the landscape history of Hadstock Parish. Part 5 presents images and explanatory text on notable buildings, including St Botolph’s church, the former village school, listed houses, shops, large barns, pubs, mills and WW2 airfield structures.
‘ Landscape history of Hadstock Parish 1777-2020, Part 4: Houses and the Built Environment’, by Richard Dolby and Pat Croxton-Smith
This is a new addition to the series of illustrated online publications on the history of Hadstock Parish. Part 4 focuses on the built environment, and beginning with buildings seen in the Chapman and André map of 1777, housing development in Hadstock and Bowsers over the last 240 years is presented and explained. The information was derived from seven published maps. ‘Lost ‘ buildings are highlighted and population changes explained.
‘ Landscape history of Hadstock Parish 1777-2020, Part 2: Field Systems. Fields and Ownership’ by Richard Dolby and Rick Albrow (pdf)
This is Part 2 of a series of illustrations and notes which looks at the landscape history of Hadstock Parish over the last 250 years. It examines the major changes in field systems, fields and ownership caused by the Hadstock Inclosure Act of 1801, the arrival of the railway in 1865 and the USAAF airfield in 1942. It concludes with the 2020 field landscape and field ownership.
50 years of the Hadstock Society
In December 2022, the Hadstock Society held its 50th AGM. In this article, Richard Dolby looks back at the formation of the Society in 1972 and reviews its main achievements and activities over 5 decades.
Environment in Danger – a 1981 video portrait of Hadstock
In 1979, a BAA proposal to build a new terminal at Stansted Airport and expand passenger numbers to 15 million a year saw concerted action throughout Essex to oppose the planning application. A film, directed by Donald Stewart, was produced by the Hadstock Society which set out to show how the character and social life of those villages under the proposed flight path and stacking areas was potentially threatened.
The Society ran several events to finance the production, and various aerial shots were taken using a helicopter, courtesy of the Vesty family. The film was accepted and presented as evidence in the Public Inquiry which was held in Quendon in June 1982. The Inspector, Graham Eyre, commended the film and later it won the Essex Chronicle Award of the Essex Amenity Societies.
However, the Inquiry approved the BAA planning application in 1983 accepting a big increase in passenger numbers but turned down the need for a second runway. The new terminal was opened in 1991. Although the planning result was not the outcome wanted or expected in Hadstock, the film captures village life here 40 years ago in a charming and delightful way.
Revd Paula Griffiths publishes a collection of her poems
LOCAL POET PRODUCES COLLECTION
“This is the Only Moment” by Rev’d Paula Griffiths
A collection of poems, ‘This is the Only Moment: Poems from a Journey’, was published on 15th July 2022 by local resident The Rev’d Paula Griffiths.
The book of 29 wide-ranging poems includes an appendix giving a very interesting and helpful context in which each of the poems was written.
Paula moved to the Saffron Walden area in 1999 with her husband Roger after years in London, where they were both born, and quickly felt delight in the new space and beauty around them. Many of the poems are rooted in the natural world around Saffron Walden: others reflect events which affected all our lives, beginning with 9/11 and the Iraq War of 2003 and the beginnings of greater awareness of climate change; yet others reflect events in her previous career dealing with cathedral and church buildings – including the commuting experience! All are part of a personal journey, which led to ordination and 12 years of service with the Saffron Walden and Villages Team Ministry. She was Priest at St Botolph’s, Hadstock from 2014-2021, and retired in June 2021 and is now a member of the retired clergy team supporting the churches.
Paula says: “After I retired last summer, I felt I wanted to share this collection of poems with others. Coming to live in a rural setting near Saffron Walden, experiencing the strong sense of community here, and seeing how the countryside changes day by day really helped root me in the wonders of creation as we made new friends here. I hope you too may enjoy them.”
The Rev’d Jeremy Trew, Team Rector, said, “It is a pleasure to work and walk alongside Paula, who has a gift of reflecting on the ordinary as well as the extraordinary, and turning this reflection into verse; sometimes gentle, often poignant.”
All proceeds from the sale of the book will support the churches of the Saffron Walden and Villages Team Ministry. It is printed by E & E Plumridge Ltd, Linton.
Copies of This is the Only Moment: Poems from a Journey, which costs £5, can be obtained from Harts Bookshop, the Tourist Information Office, by prior arrangement from St Mary’s Parish Office (email office@stmaryssaffronwalden.org and phone number 01799 506024), or direct from paula.greatford@btinternet.com.
‘The Story of Hadstock’s Assandun Millennium Banners’ by Rick Albrow
Read the historical background to the Battle of Assandun in 1016AD and the early years of King Cnut’s reign as King of England. Rick Albrow discusses the people, events and objects which inspired the designs and the making of the four Hadstock Millennium banners in 2016. The story is also available as a booklet.
Prize winning entries from the Millennium Poetry Writing Competition, 2020
As part of the Millennium celebrations for St Botolph’s Church, a Poetry Writing Competition was launched, organised by Maggie Hartley. This was open to all ages and the theme was linked to the church’s ancient door, which is believed to be the oldest working door in the country.
Doors can often be seen as an opening into a different world, a move from one era to another, passing from the present to the future or the present to the past. They can be a symbol of a barrier that may need to be overcome- ‘one door closes another opens’.
Four villagers kindly volunteered to be on the judging panel and they received anonymised copies of the poems that were submitted. It was a close call but the overall winner was Doors written by James A Mufty. Three other poems were highly commended and all four of these entrants received a prize.
The poems are now published and we hope you enjoy reading them.
Millennium Poetry – the podcast poems in writing
Thirty three classic poems and play extracts were selected by Maggie Hartley for a special reading weekend at St Botolph’s Church during Millennium year. Because of Covid restrictions, the readings had to be cancelled but instead many were recorded in a sound podcast by Parish residents. This post presents the 17 recorded poems in their written form. The companion podcast can be found on the St Botolph’s Millennium website page.
Produced by Maggie Hartley and licenced under CC-BY-NC: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ “
‘The Landscape History of Hadstock Parish 1777-2020, Part 2: Field Systems, Fields and Ownership’, by Richard Dolby and Rick Albrow (Flipbook)
This is Part 2 of a series of illustrations and notes which looks at the landscape history of Hadstock Parish over the last 250 years. It examines the major changes in field systems, fields and ownership caused by the Hadstock Inclosure Act of 1801, the arrival of the railway in 1865 and the USAAF airfield in 1942. It concludes with the 2020 field landscape and field ownership.
‘The Landscape History of Hadstock Parish, 1777-2020, Part 1: Boundaries, Roads, Woods, and Paths’ by Richard Dolby
Explore the changes in Parish landscape over the last 250 years. This is Part 1 of a series of illustrations and accompanying notes about Hadstock landscape history, and highlights the impact of the railways arriving in 1865 and the siting of the WW2 USAAF airfield in 1942.
“Hadstock through the Centuries” – a review of Parish history by Patricia Croxton-Smith
An engaging and extensive review of Parish history by local historian Patricia Croxton Smith, known to everyone as Crocky. This is a 2018 edited compilation of a series of Hadstock magazine articles published by Crocky between 2009 and 2013.
Paintings from 30 local artists to celebrate the 1020-2020AD Millennium
A series of paintings was produced to celebrate the consecration of St Botolph’s Church in 1020AD.
The paintings reflect the history of Hadstock Parish and were created by 29 local people under the supervision of local artist, Sonia Villiers, who contributed two paintings of her own.
The Making of the 1016AD Millennium Banners
This series of pictures shows the four Millennium banners and the team of Hadstock villagers, led by Sonia Villiers, involved in their creation.
Millennium Poetry – a podcast of 17 poems read by local people
This is the sound podcast of the reading of 17 poems by village residents to celebrate 1000 years in the life of a village. Selected by Maggie Hartley, they were recorded by Saul Woods in June 2021. A companion post on the St Botolph’s Millennium web page presents the 17 poems in their written form and lists all the 27 poems originally selected by Maggie for a special weekend of readings in St Botolph’s Church. The readings had to cancelled due to Covid restrictions.
Prize winning entries from the Millennium Poetry Writing Competition, 2020
As part of the Millennium celebrations for St Botolph’s Church, a Poetry Writing Competition was launched, organised by Maggie Hartley. This was open to all ages and the theme was linked to the church’s ancient door, which is believed to be the oldest working door in the country.
Doors can often be seen as an opening into a different world, a move from one era to another, passing from the present to the future or the present to the past. They can be a symbol of a barrier that may need to be overcome- ‘one door closes another opens’.
Four villagers kindly volunteered to be on the judging panel and they received anonymised copies of the poems that were submitted. It was a close call but the overall winner was Doors written by James A Mufty. Three other poems were highly commended and all four of these entrants received a prize.
The poems are now published and we hope you enjoy reading them.
‘The Yanks are coming!’ Memories of Susan Mackay and Roy Swann
Extracted from Susan Mackay and Roy Swann’s book “To stand and stare” which describes life in Hadstock in the middle twentieth century, this article is a lovely insight into Hadstock life during the building and operation of United States Army Airforce (USAAF) Station 165 between 1942 and 1946.
Four banners created by Hadstock villagers to commemorate the Battle of Assandun in 1016AD
Four banners created by Hadstock villagers to commemorate the Battle of Assandun in 1016AD
Hadstock fete by Sonia Villiers
