Editorial October 2021
Love or loathe Facebook, the global app does have a number of good qualities. One of my favourites is Facebook Memories – where it shows you photos you have shared in the past on the app. Always nice to get a visual reminder of a child’s birthday or a social event, or just something a bit more mundane.
However, Facebook was only really available from about 2006, so what about memories before then?
The Kibworth Chronicle (as it was known then) launched in April 1978, and it’s been capturing local memories ever since. Over the years, its coverage has extended to include more villages locally and a name change.
Digitising the Chronicle
A project is underway to digitalise all of the back editions of the Chronicle, and make them available online. That’s over 400 editions, over 40+ years.
The longer-term plan is to be able to publish articles and posts, where we look at our history for a particular month and compare it 5, 10 and 30 years ago. But to also make that local history easily available to all.
Even now, if you look at the published stories for the early 80s there are the same themes today, as there were then: amenities in the village, house building, traffic.
But then there are so many things that were popular back then, that perhaps we’ve lost.
Progress is about looking forward, but not forgetting your past, by learning from it.
So, our project to digitalise our back catalogue, is just that. A reminder of our shared past. A look back at characters we may fondly (or not) remember, a contribution to our shared social history.
Hopefully in the future, we will be able to bring the whole back catalogue onto our own website (www.kibworthchronicle.com), but for now, you can read the back issues we have loaded online, at: www.issuu.com/Kibworth_Chronicle.
Our history is the combined contribution of those in our community who submit articles and photographs to be published. You can add to that contribution by contacting the Editorial team, or maybe be a part of creating history by volunteering in the production of our local newspaper. Both are always welcomed.
As for me, I have nine more box files of back issues to scan, and publish – plus the advertising desk to look after. So best get on with it.
Mark Grech
Advertising Manager
Macmillan Cancer Support Infopoint
