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Chairman’s Notes
We look forward to meeting you at our venue in Altrincham Methodist Church, Woodlands Road. We have a varied programme of talks and meetings are Tuesdays at 7:30pm. Visitors are always welcome. See Events.

Projects
Don Bayliss is investgating Grey/Stamford holdings in Lancashire, Staffordshire & Leicestershire.
Don Bayliss is writing & editing a book on Dunham Massey.
David Eastwood is investigating The Civil War in Cheshire.
David Eastwood is researching the 10th Earl of Stamford.
David Eastwood is researching the history of the Bridgewater Canal Colin Graham is investigating early Labour Party history in the Altrincham district.
Chris Hill is writing a paper on the Housing Crisis in Altrincham in the 19th century.
Chris Hill is involved in writing a book on Warburton.
David Miller has restored lost Occasional Papers.
David Miller is researching Dunham Massey POW camp.
David Miller is researching Bradbury Central School history.
Sue Nichols is writing The History of St. Anne’s Home.
Hazel Pryor is investigating market gardeners and nurserymen in Timperley & Baguley, and private gardeners around the Altrincham area.
Hazel Pryor is photographing some of the properties to be demolished the Altrincham area.

Publications
Members are invited to submit articles of about 1000-2000 words (two to four typed pages) for the next ournal. Longer papers are also invited for publication and addition to the society’s archive. Hazel Pryor has published her book Altrincham Gardeners Society and David Eastwood has published his book The Booths of Dunham Massey. Jill Groves has published Hale Wills and Dunham Wills which will also be available on CD-ROM later. Doug Rendell has published his book Photographers in the Altrincham area. Don Bayliss has published A Town in Crisis - Altrincham in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Sue Nichols has been researching the history of St. Anne’s Home and will publish a book on her findings. Stephen Birchall has published his book Dissent in Altrincham. Journal 29 edited by Jill Groves is available, £1 to members, £1.50 to others, together with Occasional Papers 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 & 15.

Charity Status
The society has successfully applied to register as a Charitable Trust to take financial advantage of reclaiming Income Tax from members’ subscriptions and bidding for Lottery funding.

Visits for 2009/10
20 members visited Manchester Cathedral and Chethams Library on the 10th February 2009. 10 members had a very interesting visit to Cuckoo Land at Tabley on 17 February 2010 to see the 600 antique clocks in the museum. There will be a visit to Castlefield in Manchester on 28 April 2010 led by Terry Wyke: see Events.

The Town Hall
The Friends of Altrincham Town Hall led by David Eastwood have helped to save its demolition and the destruction of its historical Council Chamber, panelling and leaded lights. Three small public meeting rooms holding about 25 people people have been built on the ground floor as part of the refurbishment, together with exhibition space. Renovations started in May 2005 and the Town Hall reopened in September 2006. The rest of the site has being developed for offices and apartments, which funded the Town Hall work.

Dunham Massey Farmsteads
The Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit (GMAU) run by our President Dr Mike Nevell won the contract to carry out an archaeological study of eight farmsteads in Dunham Massey owned by the National Trust. AHS was invited to join the project to research the history of the farmsteads to back up the archaeological work. The project was initiated on 31 October 2007 and completed in December 2008.

History Society Website
We have had 25,000 visitors to the website since it was set up in October 2002. Access it via www.altynet.com . Ideas for improving the site include adding a section with old photographs of the area, and putting articles from the journal on-line. Other suggestions welcomed. Our email address is althistsoc@btinternet.com .

Committee
The committee for 2009/10 consists of Dr. Mike Nevell (President), Ron Higginbottam (Vice-President), Dr. Don Bayliss (Chairman), Colin Graham (Acting Secretary), Roy Griffiths (Treasurer), Hilda Bayliss, Jill Groves, Chris Hill and Hazel Pryor.

Membership of the Society
Membership for 2009/10 is £8 per person, £15 per couple, covering eight talks on varied subjects. We always welcome visitors (£2 per lecture) and new members. If you are interested in attending lectures or being more active in the society please contact the secretary via email or phone, or see the website.

Move to the Town Hall
The venue for members' meetings from September 2010 will be the council chamber of the Town Hall on Market Street, Altrincham.

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