Bernard Colbron Remembered

The next meeting of the West Bergholt Local History Group sees the inaugural “Bernard Colbron Memorial Lecture”.  Marking Bernard’s contribution to the village over many years as:

• History Group chairman,
• Parish Councillor and, of course,
• Editor of the Village Bulletin.

… this last meeting of 2017 will take place on on Wednesday November 8th in the Orpen Hall starting at 7.30pm.   It follows a  very successful October meeting when Dr Casales reviewed the history of the Essex County Hospital in Colchester.

In this inaugural lecture Peter Jones, one of Bernard’s close friends, will deliver an illustrated lecture entitled “The Life and Times of the Eastern Counties Railway”.  This will tell the story of how the railway first came to Colchester in Victorian times.

Non-members are also welcome to attend this meeting, entry is £2 for members and £4 for visitors.

Essex County Hospital

At last month’s talk, Dr Casale explained that care for the poor who were sick in Colchester was minimal until early in the nineteenth century.  Fundraising by a group of local gentlemen secured the purchase of land for the hospital; it had originally been a Roman cemetery. Dr Casale told us about the history of the Essex County Hospital, he also showed us pictures of the site as it developed through the years to those on the site today. These additions were also funded by private donations until the hospital was taken over when the NHS was set up in 1948.