Spring Newsletter 2020-1

Friends of Yate Heritage Centre
Spring is normally a busy time for the Friends group as they
prepare to welcome the throng to our St George event in April and
plan the Spring and Summer trips out.
As all the forthcoming events are in abeyance, it might be an
opportunity to look forward. Although like everyone else the Friends
are in an extended lay off we are planning for the future. Many of
the activities planned are postponed and as soon as it is safe to
return to the fray we will aim to be serving you all once again.
Nevertheless, our proposed trips to Kingswood Museum and a
pubs trip around Bath have been agreed and will occur as soon as
it is practical to do so.
Coronavirus Period
As this is such a historic period in our lives, it is also a great
opportunity to create a historic record. When the dust has settled
please do send me any images, materials, notes relating to this
period so that I can make a record of what happened in this period.
Going out in Yate Exhibition 2020
YHC is collecting oral history and images of people’s experiences
of going out at night in the area whether around Yate or into Bristol.
We can do this electronically and then take it from there. You can
contact me directly on dhardill@yatetowncouncil.gov.uk.
Spring 2020 Edition
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At the time of writing we are all mainly in the midst of the great lockdown
of 2020 and hopefully we will all survive physically and mentally
unscarred. Undoubtedly, there will be images and stories to tell of this
unusual event in the future.
But life does go on and the period also gives us an opportunity to reflect
on what has been going on and focus on what we have missed while all
eyes are on the pandemic.
Sarah Floate looks again at the Sodbury Victoria County History.
Regular readers of this newsletter will recall this project was very much
active between 2016 and 2018, with many volunteers providing
research and support in creating a new history of the area. The VCH
appeared to be then kicked into touch and forgotten. Although there
has not been the high profile opening and book, which was afforded the
Yate VCH project, there is now a Sodbury VCH online, which Sarah
and others will demonstrate why it is worth checking out.
History additionally, is prompted by the passing on of local historians.
With the passing of Chris Alcock, Pat Alcock’s archive has now been
made available to us at Yate Heritage Centre, which will be the source
of new research and a lot of work for our documenters no doubt.
Finally, it is with regret that the Sodbury Vale Family history group has
had to fold. Val Gearing charts the history of this stalwart group which
graced the local heritage scene for 25 years and covers the impact it
has had on the local community.
Rear of the Cozy Cinema, Sodbury, 1960
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1. Chipping Sodbury VCH by Sarah Floate
These days many of us have found ourselves with a little more free time on
our hands than usual, making now the ideal time to finish that DIY project
you started, catch up on that TV show you love, or, if you’re like me, devote
more of your time to reading. And although I love a good novel as much as
the next person, lockdown has also given me the perfect opportunity to learn
something new as well.
The Victoria County History Project has recently published draft chapters of
its history of Chipping Sodbury and surrounding parishes for free online.
Written by Beth Hartland and Alex Craven, these chapters include overviews
of Religion, Settlement and Local Government, as well as the social and
economic landscape of the parishes. Yate, by Rose Wallis was previously
published in 2015 as part of the VCH Shorts series, and work has continued
on ‘Gloucestershire Vol 14: Yate and the Sodburys’ during the intervening
years. The scale of this community project is such that they often enlist the
help of local editors and volunteer researchers, so there are plenty of
opportunities to get involved.
Of course, not everything covered in the chapters is going deadly earnest.
Some facts might just make you smile. Did you know that by the end of the
19 th Century, Chipping Sodbury had one of the highest ratios of public
houses to population in the county, with 1 pub for every 90 people? In 1891
there were no fewer than 12 licenced premises – more than any other parish
in the area. That’s one heck of a pub crawl!
2. The Religious History of Chipping Sodbury.
There are five chapters of the Sodbury VCH showering us with great
historic detail of the town. It is very much a traditional history full of fine
detail and obscure facts and indeed terminology but none the worse
for that.
The chapter on religious history is full of wonderful history bringing
different periods to life and is a wonderful resource for Tudor
historians especially. The mid-16 th century was a time of great
religious turmoil. At the same time the VCH reminds us of the practical
issues on the ground up and down the country.
With the rapid and radical changes taking place and the conversion
from a Catholic to Protestant country, there were problems recruiting
sufficient clergy of a requisite standard.
Sub-standard Clergy
Church court records of the time cite John Glover curate of Yate and
then Sodbury as being “unable to answer questions on the articles of
faith” the bedrock of religious knowledge. John Ball, vicar at Old
Sodbury, and Chipping Sodbury 1563-68 was accused of “not being a
decent reader of the word of God” and not having the catechism read
within his church (continued below left).
To read the Sodbury draft texts, or to find out how to get involved, visit
https://www.vchglosacademy.org/vol14.html
Spring 2020 Newsletter
Portcullis c1912
Spring 2020 Newsletter
St John’s c1916

Non-Conformist Sodbury
The VCH also serves to provide detailed information on historic periods
and enables us to compare times past with our own. Today, Chipping
Sodbury retains a thriving Baptist Church with a range of ages. In the
later 17 th century, Sodbury had emerged as a hotbed of non-conformity;
in the 1680s, more than 81 Sodbury people were charged of offences
against the Church of England; local people were charged in church
courts with non-attendance, not taking sacraments or paying church
rates. Four of these “miscreants” were in fact high ranking bailiffs of the
town. Another charged person was Philip Cambridge who ended up
fighting in Monmouth’s rebellion against the new Catholic King James II
in 1685.
The first objective was to explain how people could start their family
history research. In those days it meant going to record offices,
churches and most importantly, the Mormon church resources. At these
meetings we had speakers whose knowledge of researching family
history and social history was the main event. Anton Bantok, Colin
Chapman, Paul Starr were excellent in conveying the accessibility of
records.
Archive Visits
We made trips to Gloucester, Wiltshire and Bristol Record Offices and
the National Archives at Kew, where we could request to look at records
pertinent to our own personal family history. Gradually, the internet
became the source to go to, but our members still liked to come to hear
the talks.
SVFHG gradually built up a Microfiche, CD and book library. Our
membership grew and we had to hire the hall of the Shireway. At the
peak we had 80 people coming to our meetings.
SVFHS Productions
3. Sodbury Vale Family History Society
2020 saw the sad demise of a local institution, the Sodbury Vale Family
History Society. For 25 years the group has offered local people the
opportunity not only to unearth their own family history but also to
discover local history and meet like-minded people. Val Gearing takes
up the story.
Sodbury Vale Family History Group came about in 1994 after Ed Tily, a
local family historian put an advert in the local paper to call together
anyone, who was interested in doing their family history research. The
first meeting was held in a small room at Shireway Community Centre,
where about 20 people attended. A small committee was formed: - Ed
Tily, Roger Jaques and Val Gearing and we held our committee
meetings at Ed’s house (continued next page).
Spring 2020 Newsletter
We also took part in recording the Memorial Inscriptions of local
churches and helping to research and record the National Burial Index.
These books remain invaluable and are available to see at Yate
Heritage Centre and other venues.
Butcher Baker
A small group was also formed by Pat Alcock to research the buildings
of Chipping Sodbury on a 1795 map, which culminated in the book
“Butcher Baker Candle maker”. This remains the definitive book on the
history of Sodbury buildings and a wonderful reference tome for local
historians. Last but not least we also instituted the family history
Beginners Days, which proved very successful (continued below left).
Spring 2020 Newsletter

SVFHS Trips
At the same time we started to enjoy our Annual Dinner, Cream Teas
with a tour of an Historic Building and Christmas Buffets. The Historic
Buildings included Chavenage House, Frampton Court, Berkeley Castle
Tyntesfield, and Old Bowood House. Tyntesfield was memorable
because the driver of the coach was directed incorrectly down a block
end road and then had to reverse back up a narrow twisty road with a
shear drop on one side and cliffs on the other, very scary.
We had trips on the Balmoral ship going under the five bridges on the
River Severn from Bristol to Penarth and The Matthew where we had a
tour around Bristol Harbour. There were many more outings too
numerous to mention here.
Final Hoorah
Sadly, Sodbury Vale Family History Group, a subgroup of Bristol and
Avon Family History Society, should have had its last meeting in April
but due to the Coronavirus this was unable to take place. We ended 26
years without a real farewell. Hopefully when life is back to normal, we
will meet again for a lunch and a final hoorah.
Val Gearing
4. 25 th Anniversary of Yate & District Heritage Centre
Wait a minute, 25 th Anniversary? Surely some mistake. Many of you
may recall that the Yate Heritage Centre building opened back in 2000
as a Millennium project and even had a decorative piece of glass
window art referring to 2000. Yet, the first seeds of a blooming Yate
Heritage Centre service and new building were actually sown back in
the mid-1990s at Poole Court.
Between 1995 and 1998, a small heritage facility was set up at Poole
Court. The heritage centre project consisted of a small core of
volunteers led by Harry Lane and supported by Yate Town Council. The
grand opening took place in the Poole Court reception (see below).
For some time, there had been calls to promote Yate’s local heritage
and history and develop a form of museum/heritage centre. People from
both within Yate Town Council and within the community at large, feared
that much of our local heritage was being lost, forgotten, or was just
inaccessible.
As a result, Harry Lane, Pat Alcock, Barry Miller and other leading lights
developed a collection of social and local history artefacts, documents,
photographs and maps, which could be viewed and researched by local
people on Tuesday afternoons.
The artefact and archival collections were the source of regularly
changing exhibitions on key social and local history subjects ranging
from the Second World War, to schools, hospitals, industrial sites and
local institutions.
YHC Opening (Gladys Nelson 3 rd left)
SVFHS recent annual dinner at the Codrington Arms.
Spring 2020 Newsletter
Spring 2020 Newsletter