Capturing the 'here and now' in Maltby...
WHEN Maltby Local History Society members were looking after an exhibition of material we had put up in our parish church, I was reminded that photos don't have to be very old to be of historical interest.
Although our displays spanned several hundred years, what people really warmed to were pictures of the recent past.
This photograph – of Maltby Wesleyan Methodist Church and Hall – is a case in point.
It was taken in November 1995, by a GCSE student, for inclusion in a piece of religious studies coursework.
While it was never intended to form part of the historical record, by good fortune, it survived to be scanned.
Now it helps to document the final few years of the church, on Blyth Road, which was finally closed in 2000.
Although the buildings were first sold to a commercial concern for conversion into offices and laboratories, by 2004 they were back in community use.
During 2005 they were renovated by Maltby Community Development Trust, prior to re-opening as the much-loved and well-used Wesley Centre.
Very many historical features were retained, but the building and the hall next door now look somewhat different.
The two have been sympathetically linked by a beautiful modern atrium and smartened by improved access which is paved with attractive, locally produced, blocks.
The picture demonstrates the value of photographing the 'here and now'.
You never know what will change next and, quite often, it is the most ordinary subject which proves to be of the greatest lasting interest.
by Alice Rodgers, for Maltby Local History Society
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Weather for Dinnington
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
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