On Monday 15th July some SLHS members paid a visit to HALS, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Services and were given a tour of the premises. We saw some very old documents, one even dating from before the Norman Conquest! We were shown how documents and artefacts are kept under strict climate control. The humidity indicator shot up with all of us in one of those rooms! For our group though the high point was when we were shown some specially requested items of interest to us from Sawbridgeworth and the surrounding area. We looked at Fire Brigade records and Bomb damage reports from the Second World War. We looked at the Fawbert and Barnard school log books from the first decennium of the 20th century. We saw the Licensed Victuallers register aka a register of pubs from 1817. Finally we looked through old copies of the Herts and Essex Newspaper on microfiche.
As people may know, the motto of our society is to research collect, record and preserve. The services provided at HALS are essential to this. Check for yourself by having a look at their website. Please click here.
Thanks go to Marion Hill and her colleagues who did a tremendous job and made us very welcome.