The history of Blockhouse Park in Stoke will be in focus again in May as part Local and Community History Month.
Over the past 18 months Stoke’s Village Hub near Blockhouse Park has been running a project called Blockhouse Folk: Past, Present & Future to uncover and celebrate social and natural heritage in the community – made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
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So far, local residents have been exploring the area through a series of history walks, community events, a monthly Local Histories & Mysteries group, a Photographic Census project, creating new flags and banners, and by doing activities that help look after the trees and plants in Blockhouse Park.
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The idea is to connect past, present and future actions of people in the area around Blockhouse Park – which includes the Stoke, Morice Town and Ford neighbourhoods.
There will be a series of events in May starting with a Local Histories & Mysteries Group meeting on May 1 between 1pm and 3pm in the Village Hub. This will be followed on May 17 when a community history display will be staged at Stoke Youth & Community Centre from 2pm to 4pm.
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Local History Talks ‘Screening & Soup’ events will be taking place on May 15, 22 and 29 from 12.30pm to 1.30pm in the Village Hub. These will feature special video talks by local historian Richard Fisher – along with some freshly made soup.
Richard said:
“Stoke is steeped in history and can trace its rich history from the Celtic times to the present. Over that time, many people have settled here, while others have worked or just passed through this area. The ‘Blockhouse’ has a lovely park that reminds us of the rich open farmland that was once here, not so long ago.”
Rachel Dobbs, from The Village Hub said
“Richard’s local history walks have taught us so many new things about the area! We’ve been finding out about how Stoke Village grew from ancient times until now – about natural springs and rivers, stone quarries, farms and manor houses that have all since disappeared, and about why people have wanted to live here for so many centuries. I’m so glad that we’ve been able to record the information from the walks in these new videos, so that more people can enjoy these details too.”
Each week’s screening will have a different theme – and anyone who is not able to attend at The Village Hub, all of the videos are available to watch now via the Hub’s YouTube channel by going to https://tinyurl.com/TVH-videos
For more information visit the Blockhouse Folk website www.blockhousefolk.thevillagehub.org.uk
