Hatfield Heath Synopsis 2022
Covid restrictions and uncertainties gradually eased to allow village activities to get back into normal meetings.
There was a Summer Fair again, this time spread over a cool Queens Platinum Jubilee weekend in June but later the bells of Holy Trinity were tolled muffled following Queen Elizabeth II’s death on 8 September.
Leisure Hour saw a change in leadership with Jean Wybrew stepping down after 34 years leadership, to be replaced by our former village magazine Editor Mary Stewart. Gardening Club continued its monthly meetings.
The Heath Players had their first production post covid in November with a local adaptation of The Women of Troy by Euripides, set within a women’s psychiatric hospital due for closure.
Both of our churches were back to attended services, with restrictions on masks and singing soon removed. The Church of England final adjustment of numbers of priests to parishes resulted in Rev Dawn Jewson taking on the additional Priest in Charge duties of both Little Hallingbury and Great Hallingbury in 2022, following the retirement of Canon Rev David Herrick. The Six Parishes thus have a Priest, Curate and a Local Licensed Minister as the ministerial team.
At the URC, the Friday Club for village children aged 8-13 years has yet to get a new leadership team to allow it to restart. However both churches support the Messy Church activities
PoW Camp 116 planning applications continued to be opposed by villagers and the History Society.
The hot summer temperatures affected trees and garden plants. At Holy Trinity they suffered the loss of three mature trees in the year. In Storm Eunice on 18 February a horse chestnut tree fell just short of the building on the south boundary. In April a sycamore on the east boundary was blown over in a strong gust to show a rotten core. In October the Cedar of Lebanon close to the east window was felled due to fungal attack following a tree surgeon’s inspection. These last two losses have opened up the view of the church from the village shops, not seen for a century.
For the History Society the year continued with face to face meetings. At the AGM in March saw the Subscriptions kept at last years rates to tempt people back to live meetings. Following the business, Mark Ratcliff chaired a chat by four villagers who grew up in the 1940’s and 50’s.
In April, Edna Halls from Hatfield Broad Oak gave an illustrated tour round the village, giving her memories of growing up in the late 30’s to 50’s in the process.
In May, Patrick Streeter talked about Daniel Quare and his descendants farming in Matching Green.
In June we had an outing to Bishops Stortford Museum, following on from last years talk by its Curator, Chris Lydamore.
In September we recommenced with a return of Patrick Roberts, to talk about Oliver Rackham and his book The History of Hatfield Forest.
In October ex policeman Martyn Lockwood gave a light hearted talk on the history of Essex Policing from 1840 to 1950.
In November Brian Wingate, a volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, gave a talk about the organisation’s genesis and current activities.
In December we were to enjoy a seasonal trip round Essex churches in ‘The Nativity in Stained Glass Windows’ given by Christopher Parkinson but his visit was postponed to January in light of the sub-zero temperatures that week. The new meeting date saw a brand new presentation on Stained Glass Collections in Essex.
All meetings were written up and published in the three local village magazines of Hatfield Heath, Hatfield Broad Oak and Little Hallingbury. Additional articles between meeting reports covered the William Le Quex’s 1910 Invasion book which features local scenes, a PoW Camp 116 perimeter walk with Mark Ratcliff and villagers memories, village pumps and borehole records.
Following the success of Mark Ratcliff’s exhibition at the Jubilee weekend, a new one day exhibition at Hatfield Broad Oak Village Hall was held in October and this was followed the following weekend with a walk around the village with Mark and Edna Halls, which was well supported.
Quentin Spear
Hatfield Heath Synopsis 2021
Covid restrictions and uncertainties caused disruption to many village activities. There was no Summer Fair again and both Leisure Hour and Gardening Club only commenced face to face meetings in September. Both of our churches were operating a mix of virtual Zoom services and attended services wearing masks with humming to hymns! The Church of England review of numbers of priests to parishes resulted in the Interregnum in Hatfield Broad Oak parishes of both St. Mary the Virgin and St John the Evangelist ending with the appointment of Rev Dawn Jewson being installed as Priest in Charge in 2020 in addition to her duties at Hatfield Heath and Sheering. In August 2021 a Curate, Rev Becs Challis was appointed to serve in the six parishes as well, living in the Hatfield Broad Oak vicarage. Following an application by the History Society, the URC Church Building was given Grade 2 Listing protection during the year, which complements that of Holy Trinity.
For the History Society the year continued with meetings being held on Zoom and resulted in no summer outing. However, Mark Ratcliff our Vice Chairman did organise a series of walks around the perimeter of the POW Camp 116 and these were well supported with a total of over 70 attending. It was gratifying that the camp has been placed on the Uttlesford Local Heritage List, another step to protect the site.
At the AGM in March saw the final report on the society’s activities being given by Ivan Cooper, who was standing down as Secretary after many years. Subscriptions were reduced to reflect no live meetings and following the business, Sandra Saban gave a talk on the local Royal British Legion branch history and welfare work.
In April Tony Tuckwell gave a talk about Tudor Education in Essex and in particular King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, of which he is a former Headmaster. Aspects of Tudor education lasted for 350 years!
In May, Patrick Roberts talked about his grandfather Ralph Dix, Headmaster of Hatfield Heath Primary Schools from 1932 to 1956. He influenced so many village children and village activities, as the post talk discussion indicated.
In September we recommenced with a talk by Chris Lydamore, the Curator of Bishops Stortford Museum, giving an update on the recent archaeological excavations in Thorley and how that is causing the early history of the town to be revised.
In October our Committee member Quentin Spear gave a talk on The Official War Artists Scheme and looked in particular at the work of Eric Ravillious, who was based at RAF Sawbridgeworth in the summer of 1942, before his fateful placement to Iceland.
In November we were able to have a face to face meeting when Dr Mark Carroll of Epping gave a talk about ‘Life and Death in the Workhouse’, based around his family history research.
In December we reverted to a Zoom meeting following revised Coved rules with a change to the programme (our speaker from CWGC was stuck in France with Covid), and enjoyed a trip round Essex churches in ‘A History of Stained Glass Windows’ given by Christopher Parkinson. Many of our local churches were featured and in some respects the clarity of the pictures benefitted from being on the small screen.
The History Society continued to support the Year 6 at the Primary School with a summer term project. This year the project was to investigate the subject of Thatching. Working from home to do research on history and materials and viewing houses in the village that are thatched, they came up with a variety of displays to showcase their findings – Power Point, 3D model, photography and gate fold leaflets were amongst the submissions. Alfie, Scarlett, Jack and Phoebe were the recipients of prizes and certificates.
In September two trees were planted in the Nature Reserve area of the Heath and a dedication plaque to Robin Gurnett was unveiled by William Gosling, the Lord of the Manor and History Society President. Robin was a long time Chairman of the Society and village historian who died in 2012.
Following much research and lobbying by Mark Ratcliff and Steve Foster, a memorial to the crash of the USAF Marauder ‘Miss Laid’ in the village was unveiled on 24 September 2021, the 77th anniversary to the day of the crash in / along the Chelmsford Road. A warm sunny afternoon saw the memorial plaque unveiled by Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Essex Mrs Rosemary Padfield with our MP, local dignitaries, USAF Major David Nan with Honor Guard, and over 70 villagers in attendance. Afterwards refreshments were served in the URC Church Hall where Mark had organised a detailed display of the crash itself and the lives of those lost.
Quentin Spear