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sewing the map

The map under construction at an Archive group meeting in the Sloper Room.

Hazel and Cathy sewing

Hazel and Kathy at the sewing machine

Roger carving

Roger carving the map frame

Side panels

Group members making the side panels

poster

The poster that launched the project

meeting

An Archive group meeting in action

Hazel

Hazel searching the archive

 

 

It All Started with the Map

The Ludham Archive Group started in 2002. A group of villagers got together to create a Textile project as part of the Millennium celebrations. The result was a textile map of the village.

 

The Map
The Map and side panels on display in St Catherine's Church

 

With the map under construction and the frame being carved, the Archive Group then turned its attention to the next part of the project - the creation of a lasting archive of Ludham Village. The decision was taken early on that this would be a computer based project and the Archive Group would not collect any physical things. So computers, cameras, scanners and printers were purchased and the work of creating an archive began.

It costs money to get an archive group going, and the Ludham Community Archive was really helped by a series of grants. These came from Awards for All Lottery funds, Broads and Rivers Leader Plus Community Chest and North Norfolk District Council. Local businesses also made contributions to the funds needed to get the project going.
Initially, photographs were collected in a database and the Group produced its first CD . However, the archive began to grow very rapidly and it became clear that it was going to take more than one CD to hold it all. The group abandoned this approach in favour of a more user friendly internet styled system and we produced a CD with almost 2000 images and a comprehensive history of the village. This CD was very popular and over 100 were sold, but this technology is now outdated and has largely been replaced by our very comprehensive website as you can see. As we are computer based, it is important to keep up with the latest technology.
Collecting  memories on video is a very important part of the Group's work and we now have over 250 Videos stored safely and with more being recorded. Our first DVD, Village Chatter 1 contained lots of memories from Ludham people and over 100 copies were sold . We now put our video memories on You Tube and you can find them all on our Memories Page.

Of course, it is nice to get out and about in Ludham to see the historical places for yourself. The Archive Group organised a few historical walks, and these proved so popular that they developed into our Winter Walks. More details on our Meetings page.


A winter walk
Archive Group members on a winter walk somewhere in Ludham


It's always nice to have a book and there is a very good one about Ludham in the 19th century by Joan Snelling. To complement this, the Archive Group has written a history of Ludham in the 20th Century. Writing a book takes time and it took over 10 years to be completed. It is now completed and you can read the book for free on this website. We printed 150 copies of the book, but these are now all sold. Just click on the 20th Century Ludham button to find the on-line version. We also have a series of booklets available about different aspects of Ludham in the past. You can download these for free from our Downloads Page.

 

Some of our current activities :

These are some of the projects the archive group are currently involved in. If you have an interest in Ludham history, you are welcome to join in.

  • Collecting historical information about Ludham and the surrounding area
  • Textile projects
  • Recording memories on video (and some audio recordings too)
  • Collecting photographs of the village
  • Guided winter walks on Ludham footpaths.
  • Maintaining The Website and Facebook Page
  • Helping people with family tree research
  • Scanning and collecting documents
  • Supporting village groups and events with displays and presentations.

 

 

 Open day 2010
Visitors study books at an Archive Group Open Day

logo

If you take a walk round Ludham village, it is easy to see that the place has got a lot of history. Ancient thatched cottages and a 14th century church catch the eye. There are rivers, shops, mills, farms and much more, but how did all this come about?
There was a time when people did not move about as much as they do today, and you could always find someone to ask about the village history, but this is all changing now. There was a real danger that memories of the older Ludham would be lost.
The Ludham Archive Group is there to stop the history from being lost. We collect together memories and photographs so that future generations will be able to understand where Ludham came from and what shaped the village we see today.

Collecting history is not enough :

There is no point in creating an archive if no one can see it. One of the things we try to do is to make the archive available to as many people as possible. We do this in various ways:

  • Exhibitions
  • Slide shows
  • Video shows
  • Guest speakers
  • This website
  • Social Media
  • Group meetings
  • Sharing on hard drives

 

Our sponsors include:


defra logo

leader plus logo

lottery logo

NNDC logo
Many local businesses sponsored the Ludham Archive Group. Including:

Womack Trust   
Wayfarers Restaurant
A. J. Gower and Son
Emily Rose Wild Life Trips
Environair Systems   
Flowers by Kim
Ludham Bridge Services Ltd.   
Ludham Marine (John Brinded)
Ludham Garage Ltd.   
Neil Smalley
The Bridge Stores
Throwers of Ludham
Swallowtail Boatyard (Colin and Wendy Buttifant and Son)
East Coast Leisure Ltd, High House Farm
 
© Ludham Community Archive