• a map of Britain with GIS data on the left hand side
    Workshops

    March 16: Online maps and other resources – a practical workshop

    January 29, 2024 - By 

    Until recently, local historians faced many barriers to accessing historical maps and other landscape resources. During the last ten years, many powerful landscape tools have become freely available online. This workshop will give an overview of the many invaluable websites for local historians and how to access and use them. The first session in March will focus not only on how online sources can be used for historical research, but how local historians can produce their own maps, publications and displays.

    A second session in April will give participants a chance to look at practical issues and support. It will be based on feedback and requests from the first session.

    The workshop will be run by Mike Smith of Wheathampstead Local History Society, who has used these mapping tools for many years. Welwyn Garden City library , Saturday 16 March and Saturday 13 April. Doors open 10:00 for a 10:30 start and finish at 1pm. £10 per session including coffee/tea.

    To RSVP, contact Helen Hofton, Chair of the Hertfordshire Association for Local History, at helen_hofton@hotmail.com

  • A page from an old book: The Remonstrance of St Albans, 1648
    Lectures

    April 8: Successes and dead ends – researching the military history of the Civil Wars in western Hertfordshire

    January 28, 2024 - By 

    In 2021, John Morewood started researching the events of the 1640s in St Albans and Western Hertfordshire as they applied to the struggle between King and Parliament. Looking at archives and publications of the period, he uncovered how important the area was to Parliament, so much so that Parliament sent the leading Dutch engineer to fortify St Albans.

    This has led to a project to find the lost fortifications, as well as seeking to explain why the preliminary steps which would lead to the execution of King Charles I began in St Albans. John will talk about his journey, discoveries and frustrations along the way, and next steps.

    Dr John Morewood is President of St Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society. He specialises in the 18th and early 19th centuries but has a strong interest in the Civil Wars – his ancestors fought for Parliament and sat on the governing committee for Derbyshire. He is co-authoring a book on St Albans and the 17th century Civil Wars.

    All welcome. Please book your place (it’s free!) via Eventbrite.