Local History DVDs

Our new local history DVD Hoddesdon: In Living Memory is now on sale. This 90 minute feature length documentary covers events in Hoddesdon between the mid 1930s and late1970s and features a dozen more retired local residents sharing their memories of living and working in Hoddesdon, accompanied by a wealth of new film clips from the Hoddesdon Newsreel shot by amateur cameraman Tom Franklin in the 1950s and 60s. For the first time articles and photographs have been included from the Hoddesdon Journal, which was published between 1935 and 1967.

Last year’s enormously successful DVD Hoddesdon: History & Heritage is also available again. This 65 minute programme charts the 800 year history of our market town from its first mention in the Domesday Book of 1086 through to 2011. It covers the development of the town as a staging post for travellers on the Old North Road, through the town’s expansion during the 19th Century and shows the drastic changes which affected the local community in the second half of the 20th century. Alongside current material, this film features period black and white photographs, short extracts from Tom Franklin’s evocative Hoddesdon Newsreels, as well as interviews with a number of retired local residents.

You can order copies of either DVD to be sent by post anywhere in the UK for £16.99 each including postage and packing then please phone us during opening hours on 01992 442290. You buy both DVDs for £24.98 (saving £5.00) + £3.50 p&p.

THROUGH TIME BOOKS

Since 2010 we have brokered a unique series of collaborations with local museums and historians to get commissions from Amberley Publishing for three titles in their very successful series. Hoddesdon & Broxbourne Through Time was published in 2010, Hertford Through Time came out last Autumn and in September 2012 Ware Through Time was launched at Ware Priory.

All three titles contain 180 photos - half of which are period photos reproduced in rich sepia, set alongside contemporary colour shots of the same scenes today. The modern photos In all three volumes have been taken by Stephen Poulter, co-owner of books @ Hoddesdon. These books can either be purchased from the shop or sent by post to anywhere in the UK for an additional charge of £3.50 postage and packing if you phone 01992 442290 during opening hours.

HODDESDON HERITAGE DAYS

In 2010 we came up with the original idea of running a Hoddesdon Heritage Weekend, and formed a partnership with Broxbourne Arts Forum to organise a festival featuring ten events including a special Meet The Author session featuring Dr Nick Barrett from the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are. In 2011 it was agreed that the Heritage events should be combined with Broxbourne Council’s existing May Day celebrations to the benefit of both, and this will now continue into the future. Our contribution for 2011 was a talk by Margaret Ward about her new book Hertfordshire: Who Lies Beneath and in 2012 Jim Lewis entertained a sell out audience promoting his new book : London’s Lea Valley: A Century of Growing.

Picture Gallery