The village of Stoke Goldington,
near the northern borders of Buckinghamshire, is one
of the 17 villages protected from the urban sprawl of
Milton Keynes and comprises approximately 200
dwellings with 600 or so inhabitants. Not only does
it have Milton Keynes within its sights but the M1 is
not far away either. So, how can it survive and
retain its old-world charm against this modern
invasion, after all the Danes stopped short of the
village therefore surely future generations must be
allowed to enjoy a village steeped in history.
In 1986 one man, Derek George,
had a vision – why not record everything about
the village, past and present, for the future. As the
guest speaker at the May meeting, Mr. George held
everyone spellbound with his account of just how much
has been achieved in a relatively few years. Some 60
villagers attended that first meeting and ideas began
to take shape. Someone volunteered to copy out the
whole of the 1841 census – longhand – and
this has since been extended to include all the
subsequent ones too Some people were wary of lending
their precious old photographs or personal records so
a Domesday project was instigated.
Every building in the village
was photographed be it cottage, house, barn, school,
pub, church – if it was there, then it was
photographed and notes were made. From those few
pictures 15 years ago, the photographic archive now
contains 40,000 images of every conceivable happening.
For example, the day the Council descended to
resurface the road, out came the cameras –
pictures of the huge machines, the road partly dug
up, the steam rollers and finally the man putting in
the cat’s eyes on the last day. All has been
faithfully recorded, so when granny tells the tale in
50 years hence, photos will show the children just
how roads were re-laid at the end of the 20th century!
That funny red object was called a telephone box
whereby you could shut yourself in and make a
telephone call to anywhere in the world by feeding
money into a slot – even in 2001 that can sound
strange with the advent of the mobile phone!!
Soon the archive material
flooded in – even the school logbooks and
registers from 1864 to date were handed over and they
show in every minute detail just what schooldays were
like in Victorian times compared to now. Between 1864
and 1899 the number of pupils grew from 32 to 205;
just seeing the accounts of village life in their
simple handwriting is quite remarkable. Now, each
school child is photographed every 3 years and a
sample of their handwriting taken – likewise the
scouts and other groups. Every cottage/house that
comes on the market enables details of room size and
facilities to be added to its photographs.
A Village Chronicle has been
produced through the years with, for example, first
hand accounts of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot,
details of villagers brought before the Courts or
Assizes – and their punishments. At one point
the village was ‘given’ to Sir Francis
Drake by Elizabeth I, wild boar hunting was an
everyday pastime and so on. This reporting continues
now with the publication of the Village Diary.
Historical information
concerning Stoke Goldington and its inhabitants can
come from the most unlikely sources – such as
the night a stranger walked into the village hall
just before a meeting and ended up giving a talk to
those assembled about his wartime evacuation to the
village. He had returned on a nostalgic visit and not
only did he have many tales to tell but some of the
villagers could remember him as a small boy all years
ago.
Before it is too late, the older
villagers are encouraged to talk about ‘their
old days’ – tape recordings are an
important part of the Archive. Dad’s Army was
tame in comparison with the Stoke Goldington Battery
and their exploits! Living history which might have
been lost forever but for this Project –
everything is available for inspection and can be
loaned out for research. Enquiries come in from all
over the world as well as information! Truly a family
historian’s treasure trove – if only our
own ancestors came from this village!! Different
displays are shown at village garden parties or
Christmas gatherings. From such small beginnings 15
years ago, this Archive is now contained in almost
300 large arch-lever files carefully maintained and
continually being added to.
It has taken the dedication of
very hardworking volunteers to show just what can be
done to save and record a way of life that can so
easily be wiped out in this fast moving age. It is
part of our heritage to be cherished and we thank
Derek George, and those like him, with that special
vision to let us glimpse the past.
