There is no denying that rural life consisted of a lot of hard work in the past but there were times for relaxation and creativity. The grocer’s daughter found time to be an accomplished photographer; the farmer’s son, a naturalist and painter whilst one of the daughters was a nationally important sculptress. The working man not only drank in the local pub for his relaxation but sung and danced whilst his wife would also sing and step dance at community events.

These are some of the characters that will feature in an exhibition with this creative past as its central theme to be held in Blaxhall Village Hall, on 20th and 21st September 2008 between 11am and 5pm both days.

We also need your help – there will be a display of cottages and landscapes either drawn or painted by George Thomas Rope between 1870 and 1930 BUT we do not know where he painted them! So can you help and tell us where you think some of these cottages that George painted were - or still are today?

Photographic database

Old photographs recording past events and village life have become an important visual record of our social history. And finding and recording them has been one of the objectives of the Group. There are now over 2000 images in the database – come and search through what we already have and if you have any photographs please bring them along for us to copy.

A small selection of some of the Blaxhall photographs can be found in the History section.

Yep, it's that time of year again. Blaxhall's much loved Fete is coming up, and this year the attraction list has got even better; amongst the popular regulars there will also be such treats as a demonstration by the fire brigade and a visit from some Alpacas. All that remains is to pray for good weather!