The Local History Group meets every two months on the last Tuesday evening of the month at 7.30pm in the Institute.We are always pleased to hear from people who have links with Long Marton, & to receive items such as photos or films of past events & people who were part of village life. We occasionally have outside speakers & publicise these locally & in the Cumberland Westmorland Herald. We welcome new members.

Anyone doing research on family history?

The Group had a mention on the Radio Cumbria afternoon show on Thursday, February 26th 2010 when Keith Spence, the Secretary of the Group, was interviewed by Kevin Fernihough. He spoke about how the Group started, & some of the interesting discoveries, like letters from members of the Simpson family of Red House in the 1830’s sent from America & Canada when they emigrated.

The Group is always interested to hear from people with Long Marton connections.

The Long Marton Local History Group started in 2005 with a small group of residents - some new to the area & others brought up here - who were interested in the past life of the village.

Our Local History Group focussed on collecting items of recent history, including oral recordings of village people who had spent much of their lives here, & who have a fund of stories concerning farming, mining, & the railway which arrived in the 1870s & was an important influence on the village until the station closed in 1968. A regular bi-monthly meeting in the Parish Institute was established with items being shared by the members. Old photographs, newspaper cuttings, talks on the school,the railway station, & a chance to hear some of the recordings.

Meetings are a lively exchange of memories, funny & sad, about the people who have lived & worked here. New members joined from Knock and Appleby, & through the Long Marton website emails started arriving from as far away as Australia asking about former family members who had lived in the village or the area. We have had a regular dip into the records of the Parish Institute, which tells the story of the people who ran it from 1893 to the present.

We have now joined the Cumbria Local History Federation. They can be found at www.cumbrialocalhistory.org.uk The organization links the many local history societies around Cumbria with a regular newsletter & annual Conference at the University of Cumbria. Last year (2009) they agreed to support the Victoria County History of Cumbria project, & have helped set up a new Trust body, the Cumbria County History Trust (CCHT) which will raise the funds to restart & complete the massive project. The Project Leader is Dr.Angus Winchester of Lancaster University.

New material is constantly coming to light, like some beautiful old photographs of Appleby, Dufton & Warcop from the early 1900s. We are always pleased to be handed photographs, newspaper cuttings, or other items telling the history of this area.

The Secretary is Keith Spence. Contact him on 017683 62642 or email at : kspence@phonecoop.coop.

The Gelders Reunion - Marianne Henderson & Ian Gelder - related but unaware of each other’s existence & connection.

Marianne writes, “I was very pleased to be put in touch with Ian Gelder. Richard Gelder, my grandfather, and Jonathan, one of his younger brothers, are both buried in Long Marton Churchyard. I knew there was a descendant of one of Jonathan's sons out there somewhere - but where? Now I know! Jonathan's other son, Thomas, who was killed in October 1918 is the Gelder on the War Memorial in the Churchyard.”

We put them in touch with each other following their individual interest in the Long Marton web site & tracing family history.

If you are, or were, a Gelder, drop us a line & we can put you in touch with these two!