When the Sawbridgeworth Local History Society was set up in 2016 there was no doubt who should be our president: Wally Wright. For many years he was the ‘eminence grise’ of East Herts Local History, a prolific contributor to and recorder of the history of both Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford. Sadly, he died shortly before he was able to be recognised as the first Honorary Freeman of our town.

Prior to this a number of people had been involved in a World War One Commemoration Group hosted by the Town Council. Encouraged and helped by the Herts at War Organisation and by Sawbridgeworth Town Council, that group organised a number of events, most noteworthy being a World War One exhibition, held in the autumn of 2015.

This inspired a number of us to branch out, initially via a Sawbridgeworth U3A local history group, into an independent society, whose aim is to research, collect, record and preserve the heritage of our town and the surrounding area.

We usually organise a talk on the last Thursday of each month, either at the Hailey Centre or Memorial Hall. Apart from August and December. Details
are on our Programme