As we say farewell to 2016 and hello to 2017 the BOSBHS have earned a great big pat on the back. 2016 was a memorable year, for many reasons. Tom’s untimely passing early on cast a dark shadow not only over our society but others too, but as reality sunk in, the society rallied round and with support and advice from friends, family, and members we managed to overcome the all the problems we faced.
It was a busy year for us, in between attending the shows and fayres, walks and talks, we organised a fantastic fundraiser ceildh, a popular village summer fete, and of course the 950th Anniversary Battle Weekend, which was a huge success. The BOSBHS Tapestry group re-organised and motivated themselves and have produced some wonderful embroidery, even Charles and Camilla were impressed by the standard of skill. Hopefully, 2017 should see an almost complete 12m tapestry by the end of the year.
We also spread ourselves far and wide, with invites from both Hastings and Waltham Abbey to attend their anniversary events. Yes, it’s been a sad, mad, happy and fulfilling 2016! Well done, and thank you to all those who supported and helped us achieve it.
So what’s in store for 2017? Well, there’s still lots to do….
We need now to consolidate what we have achieved over the last 5 years. We have proved our capabilities when we put our minds to it, and our long term goal of a 1066 Museum/visitor/resource centre in Stamford Bridge is still our central aim, but we need to look in depth at funding options for all our future projects, as it all takes money as well as passion!
The 1066-2016 new stained glass window design for the church is still ongoing, having been initialised in 2016 as a permanent reminder of our efforts in the anniversary year. With new housing in Stamford Bridge coming on line in 2017 we also need to invest in new members for the society, both to keep the momentum going and have fresh ideas and skills from new faces. There’s new archeological projects in the pipeline too which will hopefully answer some of the questions about the battle and the village which we need to know.
Anybody wishing to join or attend please come to one of our meetings, the next one is January 11th 7.30pm at the Cricket Club. Jim Ainsworth is our guest speaker and he will be delivering a talk about the ‘Two airfields of Pocklington’, something I will be particularly interested in hearing about. Non-members are welcome to attend too. Happy New Year from all at BOSBHS.
For more details contact Chris Rock, email chairmanBOSBHS@mail.com
