Current Projects

20th Century History Of The Gransdens

An informal meeting was held at the Reading Room, Great Gransden on Saturday 6th September to kick off the Society's 20th Century History Of The Gransdens project. This project will document life in the villages from the point where the Edmunds history ended at the end of the 19th Century up to the current date. We need people to participate in the research for this, so if you are interested and/or have something to contribute please contact Val Davison via e-mail at elizvdavison@btinternet.com

World War 1 Centenary - this project is temporarily suspended for personal reasons.

World War 1 Centenary - Update 4

John and Val Davison are continuing to gather information about the men of The Gransdens who served in WW1. Several new documents have come to light which are helping in the research efforts. Details will be presented at the Society's monthly meeting on 15th April.

World War 1 Centenary - Update 3

Steve and Liz Fuller, and Catherine White have now joined our team. They will be helping to obtain information about the men of the Gransdens who served in the war, by researching local newspaper reports of the time.

World War 1 Centenary - Update 2

Some of the material resulting from research into the men of The Gransdens who served in WW1 will be exhibited on the Society's stand at the 2013 Gransden Show on September 28th.

Val and John Davison have now met with Liz Davies of St Neots Museum to discuss the project and her plans for an exhibition for the Centenary at the Museum in 2014. Hopefully, some of our material will be displayed in that exhibition.

The response to our requests for local people to come forward with information about their families' involvement in WW1 has been very disappointing so far. We were hoping to have some personal stories about the men who served in that conflict to include in the Book of Remembrance, but currently very little information of that nature has come to light. At this point we have only a couple of leads to follow up, but will continue the search in the hope we'll find more.

World War 1 Centenary - Update 1

This project is now under way, led by Val and John Davison. The aim is to research the men from Great and Little Gransden who served in that war, with the aim of producing a Book of Remembrance in their honour, and material to display at St. Neots Museum's centenary exhibition next year. This can be a costly exercise, as for example, you have to pay to access many of the various databases where the information is stored. Thanks to the generosity of Don and Doris Airey we now have funding to help with this.

We would welcome any information you may have about the men and their families, where they lived and in the case of the men who returned to the villages, what happened to them afterwards. Of particular interest would be photographs, letters and memorabilia that we could copy for inclusion in the book. If you have anything that could help please e-mail us at elizvdavison@btinternet.com .

Joint Project with Barnabas Oley School

Several members of the Society have recently been involved in a joint project with Barnabas Oley School in Great Gransden. The children have recently been studying two periods from history, namely the Victorian era and the Second World War. The society's involvement was to talk to them about life in the Gransdens at those times and to show them artefacts from the Doreen Blott Memorial Archive related to those periods.

On Monday 10th June Val and John Davison, and Jenny Capps visited the school. They presented material showing life in the Gransdens during the Second World War to three separate classes. On Wednesday 12th June Val and John Davison talked to two classes about the villages in Victorian times. The children seemed to enjoy the talks and showed a keen interest in both topics, and the items on display prompted them to ask lots of questions.

Overall the project seemed to go very well, providing the children with additional useful information about their immediate locality during two important periods in history. It also helped forge a closer link between the Gransdens Society and Barnabas Oley School.

World War 1 Centenary

As you are all aware, 2014 is the centenary of the start of WW1. We have various War Memorials in both villages and have quite a few details of the people involved. The Gransdens Society are trying to find out some more personal information about all of these men. Information about the families, where they lived and in the case of the men who returned to the villages, what happened to them afterwards. Photographs, letters and memorabilia that we might be allowed to copy would be a great addition to our information.

We understand that St Neots Museum is hoping to put on an exhibition of relevant information from all the local villages, so any material we can gather could become part of that.

The Gransdens Time Travellers

To mark the 2012 Jubilee Year The Roundabout Revellers, in collaboration with The Gransdens Society, mounted a production called "The Gransdens Time Travellers". This took place during the weekend of Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th July.

A series of scenes was performed in different locations around Great Gransden and Little Gransden. The scenes depicted the past and imagined the future of life in The Gransdens. The Gransdens Society advised The Revellers on historical details of life in the villages. In addition, the Society mounted an exhibition of village archive material in the Reading Room. Both the production and the exhibition were very successful, so the Revellers and the Society are considering putting on similar events in 2014, using a new set of stories from the two villages. More details will be published here when available.

See Useful Links page to visit the Revellers' website, where you can find out more about them and their activities.

Great Gransden Village Sign