“If we want to fully appreciate where we live, we must know about its local history.”
So said Dr Jonathan Oates, the borough’s archivist, who works for Ealing Council’s library service and is embarking on a tour of local libraries.
Over the course of the next 7 months, Dr Oates will run a session in 7 locations – one per month, in each of the borough’s 7 towns – aiming to increase residents’ awareness of their area’s local history.
It all begins at Southall Dominion Centre on Tuesday 29 September. It will run between 3pm and 5pm.
As well as giving a presentation and talk about the area’s past, Dr Oates will then share useful ways other people can find out information for themselves and investigate local history further.
His decades of experience of researching and writing history, and working in the local history centre of the council’s library service, gives Dr Oates a unique ability to share his go-to sources and to help others find out more about where they live.
The fabric of each town is made up of its past as much as its present.
He said local history, at its heart is about stories: “It’s about the true stories of people, places, events and objects that have happened in the past in a particular locality. It could be the history of a family, a street, a building, or an event.”
The full list of sessions is as follows:
- Southall Dominion Centre, Tuesday 29 September, 3-5pm
- Northolt Library, Tuesday 20 October, 2-4pm
- Acton Library in November – details to be announced
- Ealing Central Library, Tuesday 8 December, 10am-12noon
- Greenford Library, Saturday 16 January (times to be confirmed)
- Perivale: St Mary’s old church 12 February (times to be confirmed)
They are free to attend. Keep an eye on the libraries what’s on webpages for details.
Interested in history?
Don’t forget to check out the local history section of Around Ealing website, which is packed with stories of the borough’s past, many of them contributed by Dr Oates.
