NOTES FROM THE CHAIR – MARCH 2020
Cancellation of the Meeting on 26 March
In view of the continuing spread of the Coronavirus and the fact that the majority of the Society’s members are elderly, the Committee has decided to cancel the meeting on 26 March. The talk on “Revising the Dorset Pevsner”, which was to be given by the distinguished archaeologist and historian Michael Hill, will be postponed to a later date, probably some time next year.
Future meetings and the outing to Larmer Tree Gardens
No final decision has yet been made about the meeting scheduled for 23 April, although it is highly likely that the meeting will be cancelled. Our decision will depend on the progress of the pandemic over the next few weeks. Regarding our plans for a coach outing to the Larmer Tree Gardens, we are suspending those plans for the moment. The trip was to take place on 13 May but we now hope to re-arrange it for later in the summer when, hopefully, the coronavirus has disappeared.
The National Trust’s celebrations of the centenary of their ownership of the Giant
The tests to be carried out by the National Trust to try to discover the age of the Giant are going ahead this week. The results are likely to be announced on 16 July as part of the Trust’s centenary celebrations. More details will be available in due course.
The Trust would like to receive any old photos of the Giant or press cuttings, stories or reminiscences about him that members of the Society may have. If you have any or know others who do, please let me know.
Research regarding the site of the Abbey
Our first task is to gather as much documentary evidence as we can about the Abbey prior to, at the time of and in the decades following the Dissolution in 1539. Fortunately we can do much of that online, e.g. through the National Archives. We will let you know as soon as we discover anything new that is of interest. Please look online yourselves if you have time and let us know about anything of interest you find.
I do hope you will all keep well and virus free and I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting, which I hope will be in the not too distant future.
Gordon Bishop, Chair CHS
You can get in touch with Gordon via the Contact Us form on this site.
Previously…
NOTES FROM THE CHAIR – February 2020
“The Railway which nearly came to Cerne”
The first talk of the year, in the Village Hall at 7.30 pm on Thursday 27 February, is by one of our members, Gordon Bartlet,. It is a fascinating story that he will illustrate with many plans and photos. Prior to the talk extracts from the film of the Re-enactment of the 1919 Sale will be shown.
DVDs of the 1919 Sale Celebrations
We had hoped to make available for sale at a reasonable cost a DVD of the films that were made of the Opening, Re-enactment and Village Concert. Unfortunately, in respect of the film of the Concert we have met with insurmountable problems relating to copyright and data protection rights that mean we will not be able to produce a DVD of it. Producing a DVD of the Opening and the Re-enactment by themselves is not viable, so what we are planning to do is show all the films at future meetings of the Society and put a copy of extracts of the Re-enactment, lasting 14 minutes, onto our website.
The Poster Book
It was apparent from a show of hands at the AGM that an A4 (approx. 8”x12”) hard cover book of the posters that formed the major part of the Exhibition would be very popular, providing it cost around £12. We are therefore going ahead with its production. John Fieldhouse, our graphic artist, is preparing the artwork and members of the Committee are preparing the text. We hope to get it printed within the next few months. I will be able to give you a more definite date for publication next month.
Outing to Larmer Tree Gardens
This coach outing for members and their guests, which Mike Clark is kindly arranging, will take place on Wednesday 13 May, leaving Cerne Abbas at 9.30 am and arriving back here at about 3.45 pm. Further details of the arrangements and the cost together with a booking form will be sent to all members shortly.
The National Trust’s celebrations of the centenary of their ownership of the Giant
The NT have told us that they are arranging for tests to be carried out in March to try to discover the age of the Giant. Similar tests were used to date the Uffington White Horse in 1990. The results will be announced on the weekend of 18/19 July which the NT have chosen for the celebrations. The plans for those celebrations by both the NT and the Village are still being prepared; we should know more by the end of next month
The Giant Puppet
As part of this year’s Giant Festival and the NT’s July events Sasha Constable is organising a Giant Puppet project. She is looking for people to come to the church on 6 and 7 March and help with the project. Details are on the attached leaflet.
Gordon Bishop, Chair CHS
You can get in touch with Gordon via the Contact Us form on this site.
You can get in touch with Mike via the Contact Us form on this site.