Brentford Local History Day 2013
What a lot was Made In Brentford
The Heritage Guides in partnership with Hounslow Library Service and the Local Studies Team organised a Brentford Local History and Family History Day held in the Hounslow Afro-Caribbean Centre Room, upstairs at Brentford Library between 11am and 4.30pm on Saturday 15th June.
Peter King brought along his collection of ephemera and locally produced artefacts, including an ex-display Firestone tyre, cut in half and mounted; and a Pyrene hand-held fire extinguisher. Celia Cotton once again came down from Northamptonshire/S. Leicestershire with material from her widely followed web site on the People of Brentford High Street over the last three-hundred years – the ‘bhs project’; and James took along his Brompton folding bicycle, purchased through the John Laing cycle scheme last January, which he displayed along with promotional material provided by the Brompton cycle works in Lionel Road, Brentford. Members of the the Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society and the West Middlesex Family History Society brought along bookstalls and enjoyed networking and recruiting amongst the visitors.
This is an annual event that has been running with various modifications and in different local venues for almost a decade now. Brentford Library’s former upstairs Reference and Reading Room – now the office of the Hounslow Afro-Caribbean Association – seems to be the most popular, convenient and accessible venue for this event and we are grateful for the use of it for these occasions.
Janet McNamara, Heritage Guide and Local Studies Volunteer, says: "The reaction to the day seemed good and provoked a lot of interest. Thank you very much to Vanda and James for the talks and Peter and David for the furniture shifting and plumbing work."
"There were 93 people on the clicker by the end of the afternoon but it got that I wasn't watching all the time so I'd think it must have been at least 100. There were audiences of 55+ for both the talks...Made in Brentford (Vanda Foster) and; Made on the Great West Road (James)".
James says: Thanks to Brenda Baptiste of HACA for the loan of her, beautifully cleared, upstairs office at Brentford Library for the day.
June 28, 2013