Alne Annals - Information and Updates

History Item : Alne Annals

David Newton’s The Alne Annals was first published in 2002 and was the first time that anyone had put together in one volume the various papers that had been published over the years in local and national papers, parish magazines, learned tomes, countless directories, and just as importantly, in private musings and recollections. 

With the kind permission of the Newton family and the financial support of Alne Parish Council, a new edition was published in 2018. This new edition keeps to the same principle as the original but has added a lot more information from many different sources, being more than 60% larger than the original; it includes stories about life in Alne in the 1940s and 1950s, the old shops and post offices, the 1944 bomber crash, Alne station and the railway, the vicars of Alne, Alne Cricket Club, the schools and Village Hall, the War Weapons Committee and the Coronation Committee. It also features many old photos.

The book is not a history, it is not a chronology but it is a collection of tales from many authors and publications from many sources. It thus forms a fascinating insight into the village and parish of Alne over the years. 

The 2018 edition is now sold out. A new edition is planned for 2024 so please send a message through the Contact page if you would like to reserve a copy in advance.

As new information comes to light, this page will be used for any updates. Specific articles are also to be found on the History page:

23-Mar-2022: Your editor has been keeping a diary of the Coronavirus plague in Alne and how it compares to earlier such events. This will doubtless form the basis for an article in a future edition of Alne Annals.The 7th (and hopefully final) chapter of the Diary of the Coronavirus Plague in Alne, and all earlier chapters, can now be read by clicking the chapter. Chapter 7 includes a one-page timeline summary.
Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3.  Chapter 4.  Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7.

20-Oct-2021: Chris Bond's personal story of his channel swim can be found by clicking here.

18-Jun-2020: Erratum. p122. Hallgarth was built in the mid-1990s rather than the early 1980s. I am just about to move there!

31-Dec-2019: Two important contributors to Alne Annals died in 2019. David Whiteley, Home Farm, on 15-May-2019, aged 83, and Rhoda Dawson, daughter of the Ryders (postmasters 1943-1968) on 16-June-2019, aged 93.

04-Nov-2019: A descendant of the Strangewayes family has pointed out that his grandfather was called Darcy, not Digby as mentioned in the article by Rev William Norman (p33 refers). I have been in touch with Bill Norman (93, alive and well and living in South London) and he confirms that this is indeed an error.

28-Oct-2019: The story of the restoration of the ancient village verges (p172) is now complete and can be accessed here.

08-Oct-2018 : Re the Home Guard photo caption on p115, the person identified as David Almgill (back row, far left) is actually Alf Tenniswood (from Tollerton). 3rd from the left in the middle row is his brother Arthur Tenniswood.