FROME Library will be the place to be this month for anyone interested in Frome’s past.
As part of Frome’s first Local History Festival, a Local History Day is to be held at the library on Justice Lane, on Saturday 20th May between 10am and 3pm.
The event will see attendance of many individuals and organisations involved in the town’s heritage, so visitors can learn more about what they do and ask any history-related questions.
For those who wish to delve into their own family’s history, Frome Family History Group will be on hand to show you how to use the online genealogical resource Ancestry.
Meanwhile, if you prefer someone else to do the research, then a conversation with Shersca Genealogy will provide you with information about the genealogical services they offer.
Those involved with publishing local history will also be in present in the form of Hobnob Press who has published Frome authors Liz Hutchinson, Annette Burdett and the late, Crysse Morrison.
Both Keyford and Witham Friary will be represented by their respective history groups, along with other groups such as Frome Writers’ Collective and organisations like South-West Heritage Trust.
Local history stalwarts, Frome Society for Local Study and Frome Museum will also be there, the latter providing the ‘Story of Frome’ exhibition throughout the festival at their North Parade location.
Alongside the stalls, there will be a series of taster talks, upstairs in the meeting room. These will last 20 minutes each and cover a variety of relevant topics. Speakers and timings will be displayed on the day.
There will also be a stand entitled Heritage for Health, which will include how to become a Heritage Connector – the new Historic England-funded project that utilises heritage for wellbeing.
Other stands will include Frome Fables, Home in Frome, Julian Hight and Frome Heritage CIC, the latter being the not-for-profit organisation behind the Local History Festival and Local History Day.
Historical advisor to the local history festival, Carolyn Griffiths – who is also author of acclaimed book Woad to This about Frome’s Cloth Trade – will be giving demonstrations on a loom.
Entry to the event is free, and the first 50 people through the door wearing at least one item of blue clothing will receive a local history book. This is to promote Frome Blue Day, where organisers want people to wear something blue to represent the colour of cloth the town became famous for during its cloth trade heyday.
If you haven’t had enough of heritage by the end of the event, there will then be the opportunity to participate in a Heritage Tree walk led by Julian Hight.
Details about the day and all other festival activities are on Frome Local History Festival Facebook page or at Discover Frome, https://www.discoverfrome.co.uk/frome-local-history-festival-2023/
Pictured: Julian Hight will be one of the speakers at the Local History Day and will then later lead a Heritage Tree walk.
