Yate Heritage Centre summer events

Yate Heritage Centre is running a wide range of events aimed at young people during the school holidays:

• 7th August -Traditional Wash Day 10.30am—4pm
  Free drop in sessions. Children to be accompanied.
  Free Children’s Holiday Workshops 10.30am or 1.30pm
  Booking essential. Children to be accompanied.
   
• 8th August - Civil War Doctor & Craft
   
• 14th August - Heraldry Workshop
   
• 15th August - Roman Clay Workshops

Heritage Open Days 2017

It's nearly time for the Heritage Open Days, which give everyone a chance to find out about our local history.

Unsurprisingly given the importance of the industry locally, there will be several events where you can find out about our mining history. These include Brandy Bottom Colliery (Friday 8 September: 1000 - 1600, Saturday 9 September: 1000 - 1600, Sunday 10 September: 1000 - 1600), Ram Hill Colliery (Sunday 10 September: 1000-1630) and Oldwood Pits Coal Mine (Saturday 9 September: 1400-1700 and Sunday 10 September: 1100-1530, tours every half hour).

You will also be able to visit Winterbourne Medieval Barn (Saturday 9 September: 1400-1700 and Sunday 10 September: 1400-1700) and St Saviour's Church (Friday 8 September: 1100-1300, Saturday 9 September: 1100-1500 and Sunday 10 September: 1100-1100; Service 1000). For more details of these and other local events, go to the Heritage Open Days website.

Our local heritage - can you help?

On Wednesday, Focus Team Cllr Claire Young (also our Parliamentary Candidate) attended a heritage briefing in Yate. There were presentations from a whole host of local heritage projects of all sizes, including the £90 million Aerospace Bristol and ones even closer to home like Winterbourne Medieval Barn, Yate Heritage Centre and the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group. They are always keen to have new people involved so if you have an interest in local history, do get in touch with them.

The Know Your Place mapping project is currently asking for your help in two ways. Firstly, they’d like you to visit their site and give them feedback by answering their survey. Secondly, they are challenging all researchers, volunteers, museums and heritage organisations across the area to add 10 records on to Know Your Place in 10 days to help them build a rich, shared map of our local heritage.

Claire was also told about a project bringing QR codes to War Memorials.  A QR (or Quick Response) code is like a 2 dimensional bar code that you can scan with your phone or tablet. The idea is to place QR codes next to each war memorial, which you can scan with your phone or tablet to take you straight to a website where they are gradually placing as much family and military history as possible about each person named. The research is being undertaken by volunteers from the various South Gloucestershire museums, heritage centres and local history groups. Anyone interested in helping should contact their local group or email museums@southglos.gov.uk

Would you like to see our posts on Facebook? Join the Facebook Group Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

Hands-on dementia reminiscence session 28 April

The Dementia Café at Yate Library from 2.30 to 3.30 pm on April 28th will be a real "hands on" session featuring items from Yate Heritage Centre's handling collection.

David Hardill (Community Heritage Officer) and Cherry will lead this session, which should bring back memories for many people.

St George's Day celebrations at Yate Heritage Centre

The Yate St George's Day Celebrations will take place tomorrow, 23rd April, at Yate & District Heritage Centre, Church Road, Yate, from 10.30 a.m. till 4.30 p.m.

There will be folk music, morris dancing, brass and wind bands and some of the best youth performers around. Visitors will be able to sample numerous activities and demonstrations of medieval life from St George, medieval archers, a monk, an armourer plus St George craft activities.

There will be a variety of other stalls, and wonderful refreshments from the Friends of Yate Heritage Centre as well as elsewhere in the church and White Lion. Please come and join in this free fun event!

Celebrate St George's Day in style at Yate tomorrow

This year's Yate St George Celebrations at the Heritage Centre and St Mary's Green will be the biggest St George event in the area, with a full day of entertainment and activities for the whole community. There will be mumming, morris dancing, brass band, Punch and Judy, archery, history activities and even St George himself will be in attendance.

For more details and the timetable please check out the Yate and District Heritage Centre website

Explore historic collieries - just two of 200 activities for Discover Week!

This year's Discover Festival features more than 200 events, of which over 150 are free. Full information is available from the South Glos website, or the Festival leaflet is available from libraries or Chipping Sodbury Tourist Information Centre.

This year offers not one, but TWO collieries to explore and find out about out industrial heritage. It will be possible to visit both Ram Hill and Oldwood this weekend.

On Sunday 14 September you have a chance to go on a guided tour of the remains of Ram Hill Colliery near Coalpit Heath (10.00am - 4.30 pm) - you can find more details about Ram Hill here

Oldwood Pit between Yate and Rangeworth will be open Saturday 13 September 2.00pm - 5.00pm and Sunday 14 Sept 10.00 - 4.30 . More information, directions etc can be found on the South Glos Mines Research Group website.

Ram Hill Colliery - dates for your diary

The Friends of Ram Hill Colliery will once again be holding an open day as part of the South Glos Heritage Weekend. It will run from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sunday 9th September and light refreshments will be available.

If you fancy getting more involved, why not join them for a work day, 10am-4pm on Wednesdays and the second Sunday of the month from April to October. Or attend their next committee meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 3rd September 2012 in the Miners Institute Coalpit Heath.

Could you help the Friends of Ram Hill Colliery?

The Friends of Ram Hill Colliery are still looking for a new Chair and also volunteers for gardening at the site on a Wednesday or the 2nd or 4th Sunday of the month. If you can help please contact David Godden at da.godden@btinternet.com .

If you'd like to find out more about the site, why not go along to the Heritage Open Day between 10am and 4.30pm on Sunday 11th September. Or if you'd like to raise money to help the work of the Friends, get a quiz team together for Thursday 22nd September in the Miners Institute. To book a table call Steve and Liz Hillyard on 0117 923 6595.

Interested in archaeology?

Are you interested in forming an archaeology group and undertaking research into your local historic environment?

South Glos Council has recently launched SCARP (South Gloucestershire Community Archaeology Research Project) to encourage local communities to get involved in archaeology. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project will provide training to local archaeology groups in non-intrusive archaeological techniques and provide the opportunity for people to become Heritage Wardens, undertaking conservation of threatened archaeology in South Gloucestershire.

If you are interested in forming a group, are part of an existing history society who would like to start doing archaeology, or are an already existing archaeology society, contact Paul Driscoll on 01454 862175 or email paul.driscoll@southglos.gov.uk .

Help out at Ram Hill

If you fancy helping to preserve our mining heritage, why not join the Friends of Ram Hill Colliery for a work party on Sunday 18th October at the Ram Hill site? It will begin around 10am and end by 3pm and you can join them for whatever period suits you. Work ranges from cutting back bushes to moving stones. For more information, ring the Chair, Steve Hillyard, on 0117 923 6595.

Heritage Open Days this weekend

This year's Heritage Open Days run until Sunday 13th September. They include a chance to go on a guided tour of the remains of Ram Hill Colliery near Coalpit Heath on the Sunday. The information leaflet is available to download from the South Glos website.

Coal mining buffs might also like to attend the free Open Day at Oldwood Pit between Yate and Rangeworth. There will be guided tours approximately every half an hour 2-6pm on Saturday and 11-5pm on Sunday, so it will be possible to visit both Ram Hill and Oldwood this weekend. More information can be found on the South Glos Mines Research Group website.

Cars before heritage?

We notice that the Conservative Club in Hatters Lane now has a newly surfaced car park.

Pity they haven't attended to Tudor House itself - this Chipping Sodbury landmark has rotting windows bereft of paint and cracks in the masonry.

Let's hope that's their next priority.