THE past met the present to lay a time capsule legacy for the future in Studley last Friday – and it’s all thanks to a chance encounter.
The day marked the culmination of the village’s part in the nationwide ‘Welcome Back’ initiative and, thanks to bumping into Andy Feeney, site manager at the new McCarthy & Stone development in Studley, it turned into something really special.
The week-long half-term Welcome Back programme had seen Studley youngsters delve into its past with a particular focus on its needle making history.
The McCarthy & Stone building is on the site of the old needle making factory in the village, which burned down in 1977.
Jen Stone of the village’s theatre company Aunty Jen’s Productions, which co-ordinated the initiative, takes up the tale: “Andy spotted us taking photos around the area and asked what we were doing.
“As the development is on the site of the old needle factory we asked him if the children could interview him for a documentary they were making. He then came up with the idea of burying a time capsule in the wall of the development, which was simply brilliant.”
Andy, who also got the children to write messages on another wall before it’s concreted over, added: “I love history and I loved the idea of the children learning about their past and where they come from.
“I see these children as the young saplings and in 30 years’ time or whenever, when they come to knock down this building to build the next one they’ll be able to say to their children, ‘I wrote my name on this wall’ and hey presto there it is, and they can tell them about the time capsule.”
The time capsule, which benefited from some last-minute additions following an appeal on social media, contains artefacts from the original needle factory, a needle magnifying glass, a list of the current parish councillors, needles, of course, and some gold-tipped weavers needles, plus much more.
The Welcome Back initiative comes from money from the European Regional Development Fund and Glyn Slade, of Shakespeare’s England, who is co-ordinating it for Stratford District Council, said: “It’s been a fantastic week.
“I honestly thought the organisers had bitten off more than they could chew, but everything they have done, like meeting Andy, has come out of working around the village.
“I haven’t stopped smiling.”
