The story of the Sanderstead Local History Group 1998 – 2025, by Joyce Hoad

In the future there may be people who wonder when and why the SLHG was formed, here is the story.

In the 1990’s a group of people led by Joy Gadsby, researched the history of Sanderstead and the gravestones.  This resulted in the publication of the "Village History of Sanderstead" by the Bourne Society in 1998. In 2010, Joy produced another book in collaboration with the Bourne Society, entitled “If Stones Could Speak - History from Sanderstead churchyard”, which gave biographies of many of the persons buried there. 

This group of c20 then formed a local history group lead by Joy, meeting at All Saints’ Hall Sanderstead.  Each month c10 members (this is a general term for attendees, there is no “membership” as such) attended the meeting, paying a fee of £2 (placed in a saucer) which covered a talk, refreshments, hire of the garden room and use of kitchen. As there was no signing-in process, the names of many members are now forgotten. 

The small garden room, behind the stage of the large hall, was an odd jumble of comfy and not so comfy chairs with a central table and little space, with a window overlooking a small, untidy garden. The heating was erratic, and the room was often cold in the first years, but a better system was eventually installed.  

In September, Joy would decide on a theme and ask for members to choose a title and month, if there were not enough offers Joy would fill the gaps.  Some talks were better researched than others.  Occasionally there were slide presentations whilst other volunteer speakers would pass numerous illustrations around the table, which could be distracting as you had to judge whether to listen or read!  Space was limited, which made it difficult when a newer member, Joyce Hoad, with the assistance of Peter Crawley brought a large projector borrowed from North West Kent Family History Society. However, it did enable members to concentrate on the talk. This ‘way of life’ continued until finally a larger hall became free and the group was allowed to meet there at no extra cost. This was far better with more space and tables, and use of a large screen, though it must be said that the chairs were a little less comfortable.

In January 2008 Joy Gadsby celebrated her 90th birthday.  SLHG gathered for a social event at her flat. Joy mentioned she was thinking of resigning in May and asked for volunteers to continue her work. Silence . . .    

Joyce Hoad and Chris Harman had each considered it but were unsure and therefore didn’t speak up.  Then, sadly, Joy was taken ill and died, so Joyce and Chris decided to share the management of the group.

From 2018-2025 this arrangement continued.  Joyce chaired the monthly meetings, booking mostly in-house speakers, or occasionally others who came via members’ recommendations. Several of the original members of this group still attend (2025) and now give PowerPoint slide presentations. Joyce has also attended as a rep at the Bourne Society Council bi-monthly Council meetings. SLHG began advertising both in Sanderstead and Selsdon Residents’ Association publications and websites. SLHG is also mentioned on the Bourne Society website and their Local History records magazine. The size of the group grew.

Some emails to the website asked for local history information, assuming that the title meant that members were researching Sanderstead. Joyce answered these but felt it would clarify the status if the name was changed so the name “History Interest Group (Sanderstead)” was suggested.  Although this was put forward to the Bourne Society Council meeting no action has been taken for the time being.

Chris Harman was an original member who gave at least one talk a year on a variety of subjects.  He also organized the popular ‘Xmas Quiz’ at the November meeting several times with Joyce as ‘scorer’. Chris took over finance, organising refreshments, tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits - he even provided tea towels.  There were always helpers to make the drinks and wash up.   But Chris’s most important task was overseeing the IT. As PowerPoint presentations became the norm, he was willing to assist any member who was uncertain how to produce them. Chris purchased a small projector and other electrical equipment for his own use, and this was used for SLHG plus the hall’s screen.  He would often ferry Joyce to the SLHG and Bourne Society monthly meetings where he acted as their IT man. By the time Covid caused societies to close he had created a website and an email contact list. He would send out reminders via email one week before the talk. During the Covid lockdown he set up Zoom talks which continued until the group could meet again. This had an upside as members who lived at a distance could give talks. It was a steep learning curve.

Recently Phil Swallow (attendee and occasional speaker) helped Chris with the IT, and they purchased a top-quality loudspeaker and accessories from the cash reserve – this addition went down well with attendees. There has never been an annual fee, just a payment of £2 at each meeting.  The numbers swell when the topic is local, the average being around 33 attendees, the highest number around 60.

It was a devastating blow when Chris, a quiet, helpful and unassuming man, died unexpectedly in May 2025.  He was sorely missed for all the jobs he did, and sadly the knock-on effect was to lock-up both the finances and the SLHG web site. 

It took three months to create a new web site. Phil took charge of IT, housing the SLHG loudspeakers etc., and fortunately he also owned IT equipment.  After Phil got access to the finances, the Bourne Society became involved.   Joyce who had taken them and the refreshment on as a temporary measure became less involved and was pleased to accept Brenda Hawkins’ offer to organise this. Joan Price and later Frank Mercer manned the signing-in table where some email addresses and or phone numbers were collected.

It was decided that Joyce needed backup for the remaining jobs, having had a health scare in October 2024 and so Lizzie Mould’s offer to assist was gratefully accepted.  This means that when the time comes for Joyce to retire there will be a smooth changeover.

These changes mean that SLHG can continue to meet in the future despite escalating hall costs, as since 2018 the growth in attendees has kept the group solvent. The fee still stands at the original £2 although an increase may soon need to be considered.