Would it be a good idea to have a history society in Musbury? Many local villages have heritage/history organisations, but they vary in their make-up, presentation and purpose.

Examples are as follows: –

• A website only, sometimes referred to as a ‘Digital Museum’.
• A room or building dedicated to local history, perhaps doubling as a meeting/coffee room
• A full blown History Society with regular meetings, a committee, invited speakers, etc.
• A combined Heritage and Local Environment Society encompassing interests in history, nature, local geology, etc.

Currently Musbury has no building that could be dedicated to local heritage, but the Village Hall or The Hind could be hired for meetings. It may be wishful thinking to imagine somewhere becoming available from the sale of Baxter’s Farm by Devon County Council (DCC), but this may come under consideration if DCC put it up for sale.

A society requires a healthy membership paying a small subscription, plus additional funds being raised by events and the usual raffles, etc. A building housing local artefacts, pictures, maps, books etc. would require insurance and generate other expenses. There are still various funds available for community projects, but these require an organisation with a constitution and elected officers to be established, prior to any applications to the fund holders.

What do you think? Any opinion or suggestions will be very welcome…