British Association for Local History National Conference. Suffolk. 8-10 April 2016

Tim Lomas, BALH Chairman writes:

The British Association for Local History in association with University Campus Suffolk invite you to the BALH National Conference Friday 8^th April to Sunday 10^th April. 

Come and join us, either for the weekend (Friday 5.30pm to Sunday 1pm) or for the Saturday programme. 

Whole conference - Friday 5.30 to Sunday 1 pm, including Friday dinner - £60

Whole conference - Friday 5.30 to Sunday 1 pm, excluding Friday dinner - £40

Saturday only (including coffee, tea and buffet lunch) - £30 

BALH’s national conference, is a great opportunity to meet and talk with other local historians, hear about how local history is being practised by a range of people in a variety of contexts, and get to know new places - this year UCS’s smart, 21^st century building in the historic waterfront and town of Ipswich, in Suffolk, one of the most active of local history counties.

The 2016 national conference recognises the uniquely valuable work and fresh ideas that volunteers are bringing to local history. Based throughout on actual projects, the conference will explore varied examples from the rich array of current and recent work in Suffolk – the topics, the activities, the findings and how they are achieved. Using these and other contributions it will consider more generally how grass-roots historians, working with a variety of partners and supporters, can contribute to taking local history forward at a time of change in some familiar formats and resources. 

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Friday 8 April

5.30 pm Registration for conference attendees

6.00 pm Welcome and Opening Lecture - Open to all Professor Chris Scull: Saxon Rendlesham Re-visited

7.45 pm approx. Optional dinner for conference attendees 

Saturday 9 April Suffolk’s Local History: past and present

9.30 am David Dymond, Suffolk’s Local History: achievements and prospects

10.15 am Matthew Champion, Medieval Graffiti: the lost voices of England’s churches.

11.00 am Coffee

11.30 am Tony Bone, Barber’s Point: how a small local history society funded and ran four community digs.

12.15 pm Kate Chantry, Some keys to Suffolk’s medieval past

1.00 pm Lunch

2.00 pm Kate Tiller, Memorials and memories: 20th-century Suffolk histories and voices

2.45 pm Nick Patrick and David Cain, Eighth in the East: new histories, new historians

3.30 pm Tea

4.00 pm Gauri Desai and Lucy Walker, Selie Suffolk: making films about local migration past and present

4.45pm Finish for the day

During the day there will be stalls and displays from a range of organisations, and individuals and groups from Suffolk and elsewhere will be invited to display posters of their work. There will also be an early evening showing of short local history films. 

Sunday 10 April

9.30 -11.30 am Open Forum : Growing Local History – making the case and spreading the word. Introduced by Dan Miles (Historic England), Alan Crosby (BALH), Jane Golding (BALH/Historic England). BALH is supporting a new project commissioned by Historic England to assess the extent of archaeology, historic building and local history research carried out by voluntary groups across England. The results of this project, and the Suffolk projects and experiences presented earlier in the conference, should initiate a lively debate!

Followed by guided walking tours of the historic waterfront and town, finishing 1 pm approx. 

Held at UNIVERSITY CAMPUS SUFFOLK, UCS, Waterfront Building, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ 

BOOKING METHODS

·  Online at http://www.balh.org.uk/events (preferred)

·  By post to BALH, Chester House, 68 Chestergate, Macclesfield, SK11 6DY. Please send the form below with your cheque, payable to ‘BALH’, or make BACS direct payment to: Bank: CAFBANK, Sort Code: 40-52-40,   

   Account No. 00009383, Reference: name of person booking.

·  Enquiries: admin@balh.org.uk or 01625 664524            

Accommodation: Overnight accommodation is available at a choice of hotels and prices for those attending to book for themselves. Premier Inn, Travel Lodge, Salthouse Harbour Hotel and Novotel are nearby. See http://www.allaboutipswich.com/ and web searches - hotels Ipswich. 

Closing date for bookings - Friday 1 April 2016

British Association for Local History (BALH)

Chester House, 68 Chestergate

Macclesfield, SK11 6DY

Tel: 01625 664524

Fax: 01625 664510

Email: admin@balh.org.uk

Website: www.balh.org.uk

Registered Office: Chester House, 68 Chestergate, Macclesfield, SK11 6DY.  Registered Charity: 285467