The Great British Story

 

People arriving at Hall Place	The BBC entrance arch

The Great British Story is a BBC TV series presented by Michael Wood, broadcast on BBC2 from Friday 25th May (four weeks initially followed by a further four later in the year).

The Society took part in the largest of the BBC Roadshows that link in with the series, held on Saturday 23 June at Hall Place.

Here's some of what was on offer:

• A programme of talks ran throughout the day in a marquee erected in the grounds. These included a talk given by historian, broadcaster and writer Michael Wood who discussed the TV series.
• Help and advice from family history experts.
• Finding out the meaning of surnames.
• Dating old photos.
• House history from local archive sources.
• Exploring the history of Bexley through local heroes, landmarks, working lives and industrial heritage.

The Society had a major presence in the Long Gallery and Great Chamber on the first floor, fielding 28 volunteers. They were busy all day helping visitors with researching their ancestors. We had several internet-enabled PC's, and access to various commercial websites such as Ancestry and FindMyPast as well as many free websites.

Here are some more photos from the day:

 

Raymer Lofts (left) & Christina Barnett at the reception table	Volunteers helping visitors in The Long Gallery
David Turner using the internet to help a visitor	Maureen Wilkins with another visitor
NWK volunteer Peter Crawley with a visitor	Peter Crawley demonstrates a surname map
Society volunteers Stuart Valentine, Ann Fox & Caroline Blackett at their computers	The Long Gallery
Walter Eves (Society chairman, right) chatting to David Cufley	Society volunteers Janet Rose (left) & Mari Alderman
Janet Rose (left) & Barbara Phillips (right) helping visitors	NWK volunteer Stuart Valentine with a visitor
Dr Allan Stapleton uses the internet to help visitors	David Cufley helping a visitor

There were other organisations present - the Society of Genealogists, Bexley Archaeological Group, Bexley Heritage Trust, Bexley Historical Society, Bexley Local Studies & Archives Centre, Crayford Manor House Historical Society, Crossness Engines Trust, Friends of Red House, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lamorbey & Sidcup Local History Society, Museum of London, The National Archives, and the West Kent Detector Club.

The event was a great success and an estimated 1,700 people attended. Society Chairman Walter Eves has made the following statement:

"On behalf of the Society I would like to thank all of our 28 volunteers, especially Barbara Phillips, Barbara Attwaters, Janet Rose and Mike Weeks, members of the sub-committee who arranged the day. As the other member of the sub-committee I personally saw the expertise and knowledge they brought to the task and the amount of work they put in. I would also like to thank FindMyPast and Ancestry.com for providing free access to their websites on the day, as well as the Federation of Family History Societies for leaflets and guides, the BBC for providing the computers and magazines, and Steve Archer for allowing us to use his Surname Atlas CD-Rom."

 

Photos: David Turner, Pauline Heathcote, Steve Archer