READING ROOMS' HISTORICAL EVENT IN BILLERICAY

It was great to meet up with Trustees of the Reading Rooms in Billericay over the weekend and our friends at the Heritage Lottery Fund.  Excellent shindig celebrating 150 years' existence of a place where people have enjoyed the more literary side of Victorian life.  Now, of course, the Reading Rooms can be hired for all types of meetings and events.

Wish I had dug out my crinoline for the occasion as the schoolchildren and the trustees all looked superb dressed up in Victorian garb.  Chairman of the Friends of the Reading Rooms, Keith Wood and our Member of Parliament, John Baron kicked off the morning's activities with words of appreciation and thanks to all concerned, and then it was time to savour some typical food of the period (with recipes thrown in). Lovely!

 The Trustees had invited local schools to take up the challenge of exploring aspects of the Victorian era. Buttsbury Junior School, St John’s School, St Peter’s Catholic Primary School and Quilters Junior School responded and all took part with some rather clever wall-hangings, displays, drawings and editions of a typical newspaper of the time.   Our own Chris Brewster, Curator at our Cater Museum and the Braintree Victorian Museum helped with the pupils' research. An all round success!

 

Richard, Sheila and Steven helped to set the Victorian atmosphere