The Cambridge Road bomb – 10th October 1940
By Theo van de Bilt
October 10th marks the 80th anniversary of the bomb that caused damage and death on Cambridge Road
Author Archives: Theo van de Bilt
Articles from SBW Parish News
The London Road Fire – 1st February 1905
Our latest article is about the fire on the corner of London Road and Hoestock Road in 1905. It was reported nationally in the Daily Mirror.
Camp High Wych – a home for the homeless on the old airfield
People were living in the old airfield buildings until the late 1950s. This is their story.
Sawbridgeworth cinema – now the Roman Catholic church
Many people will remember this building before it closed in 1953.
John Wright’s Railway Memories
John Wright and his Sawbridgeworth Fire Brigade website.
More articles to read
The motto of our society is to research collect record and preserve. In the course of doing this we publish articles. These articles can be read on the articles as PDF page on this website.
Sawbridgeworth and its Church
An article by this name was written by Herbert C Andrews in 1929. It was found a few years ago in a cabinet at Sawbridgeworth library. It gives some extremely interesting information about the early history of Great St. Mary’s Church Sawbridgeworth. Apparently unpublished until now ( so we are told ) we are happy… Read More »
The Cosy Cafe and other places for eating and drinking
The above picture shows London Road in 1951 with on the right a sign advertising the Cosy Cafe, also known as the Cosy Rosy. To read the full article go to our articles as PDF page and find your way to the Pubs and restaurants subsection or click on the following link COSY ROSY … Read More »
Here come the Mosquitos – 2nd Walter Lawrence article published
Here come the Mosquitos – 2nd Walter Lawrence article published
A new SLHS publication
The first Sawbridgeworth Local History Group short booklet: Sawbridgeworth Town Mill: A Millennium of Milling and Malting by Elizabeth Waugh, edited by David Royle, focuses on a brief but comprehensive history of the Mill area, now known as Burton’s Mill after the name of its last owner. An industrial site continuously developed since the earliest period… Read More »
Two more articles
We have been quite busy recently writing and posting new articles. The two newest additions are: An article about the celebration of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee in Sawbrigeorth. You can access that one by clicking on the following link 1887 victoria 50 – SBW The second article is an edited version of a piece from… Read More »
A visit to HALS in Hertford
On Monday 15th July some SLHS members paid a visit to HALS, Hertfordshire Archives and Local Services and were given a tour of the premises. We saw some very old documents, one even dating from before the Norman Conquest! We were shown how documents and artefacts are kept under strict climate control. The humidity indicator… Read More »
Another Open Evening
THURSDAY 30 MAY 2019 HAILEY CENTRE 1900-2100 MARION HILLS (HALS): ‘REMARKABLE WOMEN IN HERTFORDSHIRE’S HISTORY’ Members £2; non-members £5. Membership on the night £10 including entry! For further information please contact Theo van de Bilt theo@vandebilt.co.uk or David Royle david.royle1@gmail.com
Walter Lawrence – a history – 1
The name of Walter Lawrence brings back many memories to people in East Hertfordshire. Indeed from 1907 to 1982 a factory with that name stood at the Stort riverside and on the borders of Sawbridgeworth and Sheering. However, the company was started much earlier. It’s founder, let’s call him Walter 1st, was born 22 February… Read More »
Local Books for Local People
The Sawbridgeworth Local History Society has produced one book, re-reprinted an important classic and was also involved in the reprint of another important local publication. Find out about these below. Or you could go to the link on the right our opening page and perhaps carry on to our book order form. These are the… Read More »
Buy our book – Come to the launch event
Open evening coming up: Thursday 20 September
The Great War
In October the SLHS will publish High Wych, Sawbridgeworth and the Great War.
As the title indicates the book discusses the ways in which that tragic conflict affected our communities.
Brian Rochester
Just now we posted our 21st article on this site, a little piece honouring the memory of Brian Rochester, a Sawbridgeworth man through and through and devoted to the countryside. Read the full article here.
His Majesty”s Motor Launch 146 and The History of the Congregational Church
Recently two new articles were posted on this site. One of these concerns His Majesty’s Motor Launch 146 which was financed through contributions from the Sawbridgeworth population in the first years of the Second World War. Download the article from our articles as pdf page. Or click here Likewise there is an article about the… Read More »
Ken Griffin’s talk on “Crime and Punishment in Hertfordshire” and Sawbridgeworth almshouses.
Our talk on 31st May by Ken Griffin on “Crime and Punishment in Hertfordshire” was attended by only 21 people but it caused a very lively discussion. Ken mainly give details of his vast archive of convicts sent abroad, not only to Australia but also to the USA and Gibraltar. The next general meeting will… Read More »
Annie Clements and her children
There is a new article concerning the Clements family and how two young boys travelled from the Bishop’s Stortford Poorhouse all the way to Canada where they built up a new life. It is reprinted there by kind permission of the Hertfordshire Family History Society and the editor of “Hertfordshire People” their quarterly journal. Those… Read More »
The SLHS at the May Fayre
On Sunday 6 May at the Sawbridgeworth May Fayre we had lots of interest in our stand. People came and looked at our old maps of the town. Who would not be interested to to see what was there before their homes were built and if they live in an old property to try and… Read More »