End of EPE Herefordshire
It has been an exciting summer in Herefordshire, with the launch of the first EPE volume, Ledbury a market town and its Tudor heritage, on 29th July followed swiftly by the completion of the second volume, Ledbury people and parish until the Reformation. The latter is now in the safe hands of Jessica Davies and Sarah Byrne in central office and should be with Phillimore any day now, with publication planned for early next year. This signifies the end of the EPE project in Herefordshire (official end 30 September). As well as producing two volumes on the history of Ledbury the enterprise led to a successful school project on Tudor Ledbury. The material for this will soon be on the EPE Learning Zone website and it is also being taken up by Herefordshire Heritage Services Education Team as one of the days they offer to schools. The first school has already booked for after half term. One of the main successes of EPE Herefordshire has been the enthusiastic involvement of over fifty local people during the four years of the project. They expressed their gratitude to Team Leader Sylvia Pinches and Volunteer Group Leader Janet Cooper at a tea party on 24 September. Sylvia was presented with a beautifully framed aerial photograph of Ledbury and Janet with a painting of the Old Grammar school, which was the base for the project.
The end of EPE does not mean the end of the VCH in Herefordshire. Although major funding has not been forthcoming to employ a permanent member of staff, the VCH Herefordshire Trustees are determined to pursue the goal of VCH-style local history in the county. Sylvia Pinches will be employed on a part-time, free-lance basis to direct the 20 or so volunteers who want to carry on in researching the history of the neighbouring parish of Eastnor. She will also be exploring avenues for funding and grants – all suggestions gratefully received!
To contact VCH Herefordshire in the future, please cotact: [email protected]
