UNEARTHING HISTORY FROM FORGOTTEN SCRAP BOOKS

More community
memories for Pat`s
garden village

Several family scrap books have been unearthed in forgotten drawers at home, and many hand-written histories re-discovered since Pat Hitchon set off  to write the story of the village of Botcherby, Carlisle.      

These journeys into the past have also yielded dozens of photos, notes, and archives. The number of people who have come forward with these half-forgotten items is now  well over 50.

Next week,  Pat will   be  making another monthly report on her progress  to members of the Botcherby Forever  community group who have helped her for almost a year with their memories.

The meeting will be held in a new venue, a venue which is itself very much part of the Botcherby story, St Andrew`s Church(pictured above) in Wood Street. The street is Georgian and is also listed.

The  church  itself  is not so old,  dating from 1880. Photos of  vacant ground being blessed before the church was built are among the Botcherby  historic items handed to Pat recently.

Today, St Andrews is facing  problems, similar to all churches, caused by falling attendances.

The Rev Steve Donald who has charge of the church, talked about these problems at the last meeting of Botcherby Forever.

He said it is now  planned to alter the inside of the church by removing the organ and using that space as a community meeting place.

Possibly, Botcherby Forever will use that space in future.  The group is badly in need of a permanent venue for its  meetings. In  not much more than a year, the group has been forced to meet in four different venues.

Pat`s book is to have the title”Botcherby—a Garden Village” and is due to be published next year. The Botcherby Forever community group is part of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents `Federation. Information about the Federation is contained in the first entry of this blog, dated March 25 2013.