Twenty years of 'The Barwicker'
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Twenty years of 'The Barwicker'
from The Barwicker No. 80
This is Edition No. 80 of 'The Barwicker',
the journal of Barwick-in-Elmet Historical
Society. It has been published each quarter since
March 1986, making it twenty years old. I well
remember being appointed editor and holding our
first editorial meeting with the other members,
Bart Hammond and Hugh Hawkins. Little did we
think that we were starting something that would
continue for so long. I am very proud and
honoured to have edited every one of the editions
published so far.
We were fortunate in the old days to be
able to draw on Bart's superb artistic skill to
produce some unique illustrated articles. Hugh
typed out the first editions and has taken a
personal responsibility ever since to ensure that
the appearance of our publications has been of a
high standard. We decided that the price per
edition should be 50p, at which it has remained
ever since.
After Bart's death in January 1989, Tony
Cox and Harold Smith were appointed to the
editorial committee, and Martin Tarpey in more
recent years. Each has contributed significantly
to the success of the journal. In particular,
Tony has written several articles on Scholes,
Harold on the parish records and Martin has begun
a series on 'Local Stalwarts'.
We have had the help of no fewer than 70
people who have contributed articles, etc., to
make the journal so varied in it scope. These
include local people and those living elsewhere
but with an interest in Barwick and its history.
We thank them all for their contributions. With
80 editions published so far we have been able to
record the history of the district from the
pre-Christian Iron Age, with its impressive
earthworks, to recent times. A huge amount of
material has been included. In addition to the
society's and individual collections, all the
editions have been forwarded to the British
Library where they will be held in perpetuity.
There can be few parishes that have such an
extensive knowledge of their history as we have
of ours.
Two significant changes have occurred in
recent years. Harold Smith has introduced our
web-site enabling thousands of people throughout
the globe to read extracts from our publications
and news of the Historical Society. In this way
we have made many useful contacts. The other
change is the opening of our resource centre
where an increasing amount of written and
illustrated material is being indexed and stored.
This is making an increasing contribution to our
publishing. We thank Cathryn Howard and her
helpers for this invaluable work.
We see no reason why 'The Barwicker', with
the help of all its friends, should not continue
for many years in the future.
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