Bonsall is a village of 1000 inhabitants in the Derbyshire Dales on the edge of the Peak District. It is five miles from Matlock and 18 miles from Derby.
Bonsall has a long history of lead mining, possibly going back to Roman times, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Bonsall inhabitants have been involved in the textile industry, pre- and post-Arkwright. In early modern times it was on an important salters' route, and was a staging post on the road between Derby and Manchester. Bonsall is still a working village, involved in agriculture, heavy goods transport and home to approximately 70 small businesses of different types.
The Map Project
The Map Project began early in 1996. A core group of around 30 villagers were involved in raising funds for printing, researching and putting together information. The map was completed in 1997, but much more information was collected than could ever fit on the map - so this was the start of an ongoing project.
The History Project
This ambitious project began in July 2002 with 26 members whose aim was to produce a written comprehensive history of the village.
A wide range of topics was covered:
Archaeology & geology - Domesday to 1660 - Censusses 1841to1901- Industries - Farming - Roads and transport - Religion - Schooling and Education- Buildings
An expanded second edition of this book was published in 2013 which has been revised and reprinted in 2018.
The 'Within Living Memory' Project
The research during TheHistory Project highlighted a considerable amount of unpublished information, held in the memories of people who grew up in the village and in their family photographs and heirlooms. It was therefore decided to gather and document these memories by a series of interviews, held over several years, with 42 older residents. Members of the History Group then transcribed the interviews and grouped the information into a series of topics that form the seven chapters of this book. Bonsall Within Living Memory is a record of the memories of people who grew up in Bonsall from the 1920s, when the oldest contributors remembered their childhoods, over 50 years to the 1970s. Topics covered are: How we lived; School; Leisure and entertainment; Church and chapels; Earning a living; Accidents and court cases; and World War II. With nearly 150 photographs and 180 pages, the book is a detailed and compelling record for anyone interested in the daily lives and concerns of the people in this small village during the middle of the 20th Century.
The 'Potter Diary' Project
This book 'A Farm in Wartime' is based on one of the diaries of Marjorie Potter, written over twelve months during 1940. It describes one family's daily activity in a village that is superficially and physically similar to the one you see today, but socially and economically it was a very different place. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the diary is how little impact the war had on life in Bonsall. Such impact as there was, for example Marjorie's brother, Arthur, joining the Home Guard, or Government instructions about how the family should use their land, were all taken in their stride. It is this continuation of ordinary life against the background of a national emergency that highlights the significance of these diary records. Marjorie was fully involved in village life but, as residents do today, this was within her own circle. St James' church choir and management committees, supervising Brownies and Girl Guides, and the Girls Friendly Society (G.F.S.) were all important to her, but other areas of Bonsall life, such as the village pubs, are not mentioned. She had several very close friends, including Mary and Winnie, as well as numerous extended family members living in the village. Meeting up with them was an almost daily occurrence. She and her friends and family made regular visits to Matlock or Matlock Bath for shopping or entertainment at the cinema, often walking each way or using the hourly bus services. Her father regularly visited Bakewell market where he bought and sold livestock and the family made occasional visits to Derby or Chesterfield for special purchases. But this was the extent of their travels away from the village. Her diary entries record wartime shortages becoming more frequent throughout the year, including feed for the family's poultry and cattle, electricity failures and sugar and milk rationing.
Marjorie tragically died in 1945, aged 32, after contracting meningitis, which at that time had no treatment or cure.
