‘Chronicles’ The Magazine of the Friends of the Museum
The first copy of ‘Chronicles’ appeared in the autumn of 1994. It was then an eight-page booklet with the pages loose inside a green cover and illustrated by black and white line drawings. Over the years, however, it has taken on a more professional aspect and now appears as a 28-40 page magazine, stapled inside a high quality cover bearing a design by an artist trained at Holborn’s School of Graphic Art.
The magazine, which is free to all members of the Friends, comes out to alternate with the Newsletter, ie. one issue one year in June and two issues the following year. Inside it, you will find a great variety of subjects, some directly concerned with Braintree’s Museum, others about history and crafts, as well as the personal reminiscences of local residents growing up in or around the Braintree district in years gone by. Many of these are illustrated by colour photographs. There is also a photo-quiz and photographs of school groups from the past. In ‘Chronicles’, during a normal year when the Museum is open to the public, you will also find programmes of events, both at the Museum and at the Warner Archive, and of talks and visits organised by the Friends.
After 29 years of editing and producing Chronicles, Chris Thompson has handed over the baton to his son Russell. Chris has persuaded contributors to take part and researched and written articles himself, and we are most grateful to him for his work, and all he has done over these past years.
As you can imagine, ‘Chronicles’ relies heavily on contributions by local people who are able to supply long-forgotten documents and personal memorabilia. We cannot thank these contributors too highly, for they are the life-blood of our magazine, and we would ask anyone who feels they have such treasures tucked away to search diligently for them and send them to the Editor, Russell Thompson, at ‘Flanders House’, 222 Panfield Lane, Braintree, CM7 5RJ, or to email them to him on zznsh@yahoo.co.uk. Those who feel that they lack some literary skills need not worry, as contributions can easily be ‘tidied up’. Our message is to ‘keep them rolling in’.
The spring 2025 issue of the magazine is now out and contains, amongst other things, articles on the history of musical boxes, the Feering & Kelvedon Museum, Bocking in the early 19th century, and the folk-tales of the Essex Calf.
‘Newsletter’ An update of people and events
The Newsletter, which reports on past events, contains news on the Museum and Warner Textile Archive and gives details of forthcoming activities, talks and events.
Next Issue: June 2025