Welcome to Sandy Historical Research Group Blog

Here we will be posting news and updates about our activities, including Exhibitions, Open Meetings, Publications and of course the Museum project. Over time, we hope to keep our members and visitors to the site fully informed about the progress of our group.

You are most welcome to register and submit posts or comment on posts that have already been published. Feedback is highly valued and we want to maintain the support of our members and visitors to the site in all the projects we undertake.

Note that registration is required in order to post items or comment – this is a necessary step in the battle to keep the spammers at bay. New users are manually approved and it might therefore involve a short delay in completion of your registration. In addition to registering, all posts and comments will be moderated initially, so that nothing inappropriate turns up on the site.

See also, our Rules, which are simple and few but must be adhered to please.

Thanks for visiting us and happy blogging!

SHRG Blog Admin

Following the tremendous success of the most recent Open evening, when Steve Harris presented a lively and informative illustrated talk on ‘Wartime Tempsford Airfield’ (for which we thank Steve very much for his excellent presentation), we now enter our 2012 exhibition season.

The first of these is being held at Sandy Baptist Hall in Bedford Road, on Saturday, 26th May 11-4.

As this is a standalone event, mounted by SHRG, entrance is £1 (Members free). Join on the day and we will refund your entry fee and you will not only get your money back but you will also be entitled to a free copy of our latest edition of ‘SHRUB’ our members twice annual Newsletter – full of articles about the group and Sandy’s historical past.

Refreshments will also be on sale through the day.

Come along and view a selection of  old photos, maps and other artefacts from our ever growing archive of historical material.

All proceeds from SHRG events go towards the running of the group and to assist in our mission to achieve a museum for the town, where we can put our archive of permanent display for all to see.

Thanks in anticipation for your support.

Press Officer

Our next Open event will be an illustrated talk by Steve Harris, entitled, ‘Wartime Tempsford Airfield’.

Steve will be giving his illustrated presentation at Quince Court, off Engayne Avenue in Sandy, on Tuesday 8th May 2012, commencing at 7.30pm. Entry to non-members £2. (Members Free). Refreshments will be served during the evening.

Steve has very kindly given a description of his subject, which we know will be a fascinating insight into the secret wartime activities that went on there:

‘Although hard to believe when you drive past it today, Tempsford airfield, a couple of miles north of Sandy, was the wartime home of two RAF Special Duties Squadrons, nos. 138 and 161. Their specialised task was to drop both supplies and agents into enemy occupied Europe and, in some cases to both land and pick up important personnel. This work was carried out around the time of the full moon. Separating the true facts from some of myths that have grown up about RAF Tempsford, Steve Harris focuses on the RAF side of the operations and the bravery of the RAF crews who undertook such ‘high-risk’ missions, often at very low level (drops were made from between 700′ & 800′ and often prior to the drop, the aircraft would have flown below 100′!), over enemy territory, at night.

The depth of the secrecy surrounding this work meant that even wives and parents were not told details of their operations. This, in itself, put an added strain on the crews. Steve’s talks are given freely with the intention of helping the old to remember and the young to understand, and although the talks do cover the role of the SOE and the agents (referred to as “Joes” whether male or female), these talks primarily cover the aircraft and the historically overlooked aircrew, based at Tempsford, who often were called upon to pay highest price, to set Europe free.’

Following our very successful open evening back in March, when we heard from Stephen Nakonezcny about ‘The Railways of Sandy & district Then and Now’ , which was given to a sellout audience, we are expecting a similar turnout for this latest event. So, if you live in reasonable travelling distance of Sandy and have a spare couple of hours on Tuesday 8th May, please do come along and there will be a warm welcome!

Press Officer

Please note that due to logistical issues, we are unable to exhibit at the Sandy Carnival Day this year. We were due to attend at Sunderland Road Recreation Ground on Saturday 16th June but now that won’t happen. We apologise for any disappointment caused but we are pleased to announce that all other scheduled events will be taking place, as specified in the Diary page of the main website.

NB: There are a couple of date and venue updates that you need to be aware of:

1. Change of date for the Beeston Flower Festival exhibition: now being held on Saturday 30th June, 11-4

2. The exhibition being held on Saturday 1st of September will now be held at St Neots Road Methodist Church, 10.30-4

Finally, we have added an exhibition event, which will take place on Saturday 26th May in the Baptist Church Hall in Bedford Road, 11-4

Entrance to our standalone exhibitions is £1 (except Beeston – which due to restricted exhibition space is 40p). Members of Sandy Historical Research Group – free entry to all our standalone events. (Entrance fees are applicable to all visitors to the Sandy Show in August but the SHRG exhibition is inclusive of this fee).

Our publications will be on sale at all events and refreshments will be available during these events (except Beeston and the Sandy Show in August- where the main event organizers will have their own facilities).

Committee members will be on hand at these events to assist in answering your queries and accepting loans & donations to the group’s historical archive.

We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these forthcoming events.

Press Officer

For our first Open meeting of 2012, we  invited Stephen Nakonezcy to come and give us an illustrated talk on, ‘The railways of Sandy & district, Then and Now’. There was an excellent turnout and Stephen gave a most interesting and informative illustrated presentation. Afterwards, many of the assembled audience stayed on to view the statics displays provided by Stephen and his colleagues and also to ask questions. All in all, the event was enjoyed by everyone who came.

Thanks once more to Stephen for coming to speak to us.

SHRG Press Officer

We have made a change to where this blog is being hosted and this has necessitated  a short period of downtime between yesterday evening and this morning. However, I am pleased to report that the change was made successfully with the minimum of issues and all existing posts, comments and users have been retained.

The move follows a similar exercise with the main SHRG site, which has also been completed overnight.

As ever, if you notice any configuration issues, please advise and we will take a look,

Blog Admin

Dear Member/Supporter,

As a first step towards improving Sandy Historical Research Group’s offering to members, we will shortly be introducing an online renewal service for our members by way of allowing members to set up a Standing Order from their bank accounts. No personal banking information will be held by us – you just set up your standing order from your own account, using the Sort Code and Account No. that we will provide.

There are several benefits for both the member and the group:

1. It will save time, postage and therefore money for the group.

2. Your payment will be processed immediately.

3. If you set up your standing order for annual payments, then you will not need to remember having to send a payment each year.

Safeguards:

Because it is the member setting up the Standing Order from his/her bank account, the member has total control over the first and future payments. Sandy Historical Research Group will only be a recipient of any funds – no personal banking information will be held by the group.

A standing order can only be amended or cancelled by the member who has originated it – the group has no ability other than to receive the funds that the member sends us.

Alternatively, members can renew on a ‘one off’ basis by Bank Transfer, simply by using the bank account details provided by the group. This method can be used by members with online banking or in branch in person. Paying by Bank Transfer (BACS) will also be accepted for the purchase of ad hoc items, such as Postcard Packs, Pictorial Memories books, or back copies of SHRUB, the group’s twice annual Newsletter.

As soon as the details become available, they will be posted here and on the main site.

SHRG Webmaster

Steve will be giving a illustrated presentation at Quince Court, off Engayne Avenue in Sandy, on Tuesday 8th May 2012, commencing at 7.30pm. Entry to members is free, non-members £2. NB: groups of 10 or more from other recognised community organisations or history societies will be most welcome at a reduced entry fee of 25% offper head. Space will be limited for this event, so please book early. Contact us at: programme@sandy-history.org.uk

Steve has very kindly given a description of his subject, which we know will be a fascinating insight into the secret wartime activities that went one there:

‘Although hard to believe when you drive past it today, Tempsford airfield, a couple of miles north of Sandy, was the wartime home of two RAF Special Duties Squadrons, nos. 138 and 161. Their specialised task was to drop both supplies and agents into enemy occupied Europe and, in some cases to both land and pick up important personnel. This work was carried out around the time of the full moon. Separating the true facts from some of myths that have grown up about RAF Tempsford, Steve Harris focuses on the RAF side of the operations and the bravery of the RAF crews who undertook such ‘high-risk’ missions, often at very low level (drops were made from between 700′ & 800′ and often prior to the drop, the aircraft would have flown below 100′!), over enemy territory, at night.

The depth of the secrecy surrounding this work meant that even wives and parents were not told details of their operations. This, in itself, put an added strain on the crews. Steve’s talks are given freely with the intention of helping the old to remember and the young to understand, and although the talks do cover the role of the SOE and the agents (referred to as “Joes” whether male or female), these talks primarily cover the aircraft and the historically overlooked aircrew, based at Tempsford, who often were called upon to pay highest price, to set Europe free.’

This promises to be an event not to miss!

Webmaster

We have updated the site with some photographs of Sandy, which are from postcard views published by Frith’s. As such, they are copyrighted by them but if you click on the images, you will be taken to the Frith Collection, where you can buy copies for your own collection. Every image purchased from Frith will earn Sandy Historical Research Group a small fee, which will go to funding SHRG events and activities. So, please click away and thanks in anticipation for your support.

Webmaster

Sandy Historical Research Group

If you have any queries withregard to this website, please email the Webmaster

After last week’s AGM, we are delighted to welcome two new members to our committee, namely Richard Barlow, as Secretary and Sonia Bonfield as Treasurer. We also welcome Jim Chapman as an ad hoc member, who will be assisting us in mounting and manning the several exhibitions we run during the year.

2011 has been a year of change and slow progress towards our goal of achieving  a museum for the town but our membership has increased by 25% (more always welcome!) and the group’s profile is quite high out there in the public domain. 2012 promises to be equally challenging, particularly as the government led cuts kick in at both national and local levels, meaning that disposable income and funds will be even harder to come by. We remain confident however, that the work the group is carrying out will continue to maintain the interest of our membership and the wider public.

pp Mick Reynolds

Chairman

Hello from your webmaster. We have been updating parts of the website and it now includes this Blog and a Forum, where you can help add to the historical data being amassed by the group.

The purpose of this blog is to keep you all up to date with the group’s progress on the numerous projects we have on the go – the most significant of which is our mission to achieve a museum for the town.

Over time, we hope to add more information about SHRG activities and although this does not replace our SHRUB Newsletter, the blog will be of more immediacy in respect of things that are being reported.

You are most welcome to register and post comments or new posts of your own that are relevant to Sandy and its history.

Webmaster