Published in Windlesora 15 (1997)
© WLHG
Windsor Local History Publications Group was formed early in 1976 from students and lecturers at a WEA local history course which started in September 1975. Most of the people who attended the first proper meeting at which we worked out the constitution are still members, although the total has never exceeded 18 at one time. Meetings are normally held on the first Friday morning of each month at members’ homes, but occasionally in the committee room at Ellison House, the library of Princess Margaret Royal Free School or the Royal Borough Collection’s Museum Store.
Our first book was The Changing Face of Windsor – the Beginnings, and our second The Streets of Windsor and Eton. This is by far our best seller. The first edition was reprinted several times and the second edition has been reprinted once and is still selling well.
It became apparent that members had been giving lectures of which there was no physical record and researching books for commercial publishers who cut out some of the material. It was felt that this material should not be lost and therefore Windlesora was born in 1982. Over the years there have been 46 contributors to our journal and copies have been posted to Australia, New Zealand, The United States of America, and Canada. The price was originally 75p but inflation has resulted in this being gradually increased to £2.75. We reprinted A T Barber’s Windsor in the Last Century – Six Views of the Town which was originally published in 1897 and following the disaster of 1992, Fires of Windsor Castle was written and published under our imprint. We are indebted to Her Majesty the Queen and the trustees of the Royal Albert Institute for generous grants and loans which enabled us to publish our early books and we are now self-supporting.
However, we are not just concerned with our own publications. Members have called upon the group to help with research for books which they have written for local organisations and commercial publishers. We have given many lectures and conducted walks in Windsor. Members have been interviewed on the radio and given readings from their books. Our President has appeared on television especially at the time of the fire when pictures went around the world. We have contributed to Windsor’s Talking Newspaper for the Blind and have recorded part of a Talking Windlesora. Two members are busy photographing Windsor as it is now, so that there will be evidence for future generations. The Group takes an active interest in the Berkshire Local History Association and the Friends of the Royal Borough Museum Collection.
We recently applied for a slice of the “BAA Heathrow Jumbo Give-away”, when Windsor Slough and Eton Express distributed grants totalling £10,000 to local organisations to celebrate the 50th birthday of Heathrow Airport. We were awarded £500 to buy some exhibition boards.
A new logo has been designed and this should appear on all our publications. It consists of a drawing of the Guildhall taken from Norden’s map of 1607, surrounded by the word WINDLESORA and our initials WLHPG
So what of the future? A special edition of our first book – The Beginnings – is planned, annotated for the National Curriculum History Syllabus and there are already promises of articles for Windlesora 16. Talking Windlesora needs to be completed. We plan an exhibition at the former cemetery chapel in Old Windsor at the beginning of March 1997 and we will support and act as stewards at the A Y Nutt exhibition at Windsor Guildhall at the end of March and beginning of April 1997.
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Windsor Local History Group 