Census and other things

An interesting member seminar tonight for councillors to hear about the census, how the information is used and why it's important.  Actually for councils it's probably outgrown its usefulness - there are other ways of gathering the necessary information which are more immediate and more useful for planning housing, schools, etc than the census.  But for those of us interested in family history and the social history of the town it's sad to think this is the last time that people would be writing on forms the kind of personal information that's proved so fascinating when the 1911 census became available to us.  To see an ancestor's handwriting from 100 years ago, to realise just how close the family lived to each other and to wonder why one moved away to start a new life and new job in another town - that thrill will be lost to our descendents.  And that's why I'm making sure that not only is our census form completed by hand but it's photocopied and put into our family archive file before it's sent in.
The Friends of Preston Park held their first committee meeting under the new name tonight, putting in place all the arrangements for the AGM next month.  Some of the original committee are standing down though others are willing to be re-elected.  There's plenty of opportunity to be elected if you live in Eaglescliffe and are interested and a paid up member so get in touch with them.  This next year is going to be an interesting time as we try to make sure that the vision of the community is enshrined in the plans for the park - make sure your voice is heard.  If you don't get involved you can't complain that the Park isn't being developed in the way you'd like.