Rarely, something happens that fires people's imagination. Many visited the Parish Council Centenary Exhibition. They wanted more time to study the exhibits, and to explore the history of our area and of people who have lived here. Such a big effort went into that exhibition that it seemed a pity to let it all slip out of our memories. So Parish News editor Geoff Russell Grant and Eric Hall got together to put out a quarterly supplement to Parish News, on a trial basis, the first being published in November 1995. The articles have been very well received and sparked so much interest in our local history as to merit them being afforded a wider audience through the Internet.
One of the contributors to the exhibition had written about Birch Airfield and he said that he had been met with replies to the effect that "Nothing ever happened there" when making enquiries about it. This is often the way when we accept what happens around us as part of a normal way of life.
We live close by one of the oldest towns in the country the history of which is the subject of articles in the local press. Some of the articles have touched on "our" area and tales of the Great Earthquake, the two World Wars, murders and the lock out of farm workers have been written up. Much more exists, we are sure.
Centenary Chronicles were published from 1995 to 2013 as a quarterly supplement to Birch Parish News. They were compiled by Geoff Russell Grant and Eric Hall and also published on the BretonHeath website.
