Harpenden Local History Day

With kind permission of the Eric Morecambe Centre, Harpenden, our society, the Harpenden & District Local History Society, a charity, utilised the entire EMC for the day as Harpenden Local History Day, on Saturday 20 April, 11am-3pm, marking both the Society’s 50th anniversary and the official opening of our new Museum.

The event was presided by Annie Brewster, High Sheriff of Hertfordshire 2024-25.  This was her first public appointment following her declaration in St Albans Abbey on taking office on 17 April.  Highlights included exhibitions on the history of Harpenden and district, other local society exhibitions, a special children’s competition, and history talks throughout the day.

Over 1,200 were at the Local History Day; the contributors, exhibitors, marshals, etc. were joined by over 1,100 members of the public at the Eric Morecambe Centre, making the event a great day for Harpenden and district.  The venue was buzzing!  

We heartily thank the High Sheriff, the Mayor and all contributors, including those from other organisations, and the children who entered our competition, plus all marshals and other volunteers, together with the staff of EMC, who shared in the excitement, all of whom made a vital contribution to the overwhelming success of the day.  Not only was the total number, 1,200, pleasingly surprising, but the vitality of those attending throughout the four hours was tremendous.  And thank you to all those who came; your interest and excitement was itself a tremendous for the team.

We put on this event to relaunch the Society (now we have our museum), to educate the public on our local history and to make a contribution to the cultural life of Harpenden. The reaction of those who attended and informal feedback suggest that we succeed!  We also aimed to significantly increase membership, which was fulfilled – on Saturday alone our membership increased by 50%.  That’s potentially £1,100 of additional membership income per year.

We are debating how best to enable those who were not able to study y the maps and photos at length because of the crowd and those who were unable to get in to hear the talks to experience what they missed.

Why not participate in our activities and volunteer for the museum rota or other vacant roles in running the Society.  The Local History Day was a beginning, as a platform for the future, not an end in itself.