Books

When The Lights Go On Again

BY MICHAEL BURT

(Matador, £12.99; troubadour.co.uk/matador)

Contact Michael to purchase a book by email:

michael.burt1911@btinternet.com

Here is a review of the book by Kate Schuler that was published in Sussex Life:

Based on the recollections of 11 Cowfold residents who were children during the 1940s, this book details a community keeping calm and carrying on against a backdrop of war, blackouts, food shortages and rationing. It includes some lovely details – a comical Home Guard training exercise, a child who picked out his returning father on the station platform, despite never having met him – but what comes through is that, for children, the war brought some longed-for excitement. Posing for photographs beside bomb craters, attending variety shows put on by billeted Canadian soldiers, and even dog fights overhead were thought thrilling. While the details may be specific to Cowfold, this book will certainly resonate more widely.

Cowfold, The History of a Sussex Village

BY MICHAEL BURT

This book is no longer available to purchase. You can, however, purchase and download a digital (e-book) version. Click on the following link to view an extract:

Cowfold, The History of a Sussex Village – Extract

The size of the complete e-book is 34 MB and the cost is £7.00. To purchase a copy and get instructions on how to download the file, please send an email to:

info@cowfoldhistorysociety.org.uk

Magazine Articles

August 2017

Click here to read the article on the History Society published in the August 2017 edition of the All About Horsham magazine.

The article covers all aspects of the Society’s activities and includes interviews with a number of committee members.

 

Click here to read the article on the Godman Book published in the August 2017 edition of the Thirteen8 magazine.

The article follows a fascinating presentation on the Godman Book by Jan Case at the Society’s Spring meeting and describes one of the village’s most important and valuable historical assets.

 

 

 September 2017

Click here to read the article on the new Society website published in the September issue of the Thirteen8 magazine.

The website was launched in April 2017 and provises one of the Society’s key channels of communication with its members and the wider community.

The article includes a number of screen shots of pages on the website.

 

 

Click here to read the article on the Godman Book published in the Autumn 2017 edition of the Cowfold Parish Newsletter.

The article provides a short introduction to the book written by C B Godman and presented to the Vicar and Churchwardens of St Peter’s Church in 1930. The book contains a wealth of information about the history and buildings of Cowfold as well as a rare insight into life in the village community through the ages up to its publication.

 

Society Talks

Most of the speakers at our meetings are understandably reluctant to allow their material to be published by third parties, as it has been produced as a result of considerable personal painstaking research.

Below are links to presentations that were either produced by members of the Society or that we have the speaker’s permission to publish.

“The Godman Book”, presented by Jan Case on Friday 7 April 2017

Jan has transcribed the complete book, written by C B Godman and presented to the Vicar and Church Wardens of St Peter’s Church in 1930. Her talk focused on a small amount of the material contained within it that describes the Church and other important buildings within the Village. Read the article here.

 

 

“For Love and Courage – the Letters of Lieutenant Colonel E W Herman from the Western Front 1914-1917”, presented by Anne Nason on Friday 4 May 2012

 The presentation describes the life of her grandparents and the book “For Love and Courage”. Read the article here.

 

 

“Recording of Prominent Residents in 1976”, led by Bob Farren in May 2009

This was a members-only meeting which included the recollections of several prominent members of the village in 1976. A summary can be found here.