About Us

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The Littleport Society is a non-political, non sectarian organisation, that was founded on 20th March 1987, for members of the community of the fenland village of Littleport in Cambridgeshire, England, or anyone interested in Littleport’s local and family history.

We are based on the First Floor of The Barn, located just off the Main Street in Littleport, in a building which we share with the Littleport Town Council.

We welcome you to contact us or visit us at:

The Littleport Society
The Barn
Main Street
Littleport
Cambridgeshire 
CB6 1PH

Tel: 01353 861547

Our archive is open to visitors every Tuesday from 1pm until 4pm for free, and no appointment is necessary. Find out more about our archivists and the items we hold in our Archive collection.

We also arrange a programme of monthly events consisting of a mixture of talks and exhibitions that are usually free to attend (although donations are welcome). These are usually held at the nearby Littleport Village Hall, but you can find a calendar and full event details at our Events page.

Our Aims

The Littleport Society has three aims;

  • To stimulate and encourage a public interest in the history and heritage of Littleport.
  • To research and record the local history and traditions of Littleport.
  • To create and preserve a local archive for the present and future generations of Littleport.

Governance

The Society is governed by a Committee of unpaid volunteers, who are elected into post by our members each February during in-person attendance at our Annual General Meeting (AGM). Our Committee holds an in-person Committee Meeting once a month at The Barn to plan and discuss our work towards achieving our aims.

Our President is Chris Jakes, and our 2024 elected Committee are;

  • Chairman: Roger Rudderham
  • Vice-Chairman & Membership Secretary: Ray Youngs
  • Hon. Secretary: John Goodge
  • Hon. Treasurer: Bruce Frost
  • Archivist: Maureen Scott
  • Bookstall Manager: Fiona Gilbert
  • Digital Projects Manager: Andrew Martin
  • Publicity Officer: Roland Perry
  • Librarian: Peter Harley
  • John Bidwell
  • Wendy Thompson

We are hugely grateful to the work of our two Ambassadors outside of the UK who assist with the smooth operation of Society business on behalf of the Littleport diaspora. They are;

  • Ambassador to Australia: Kim Oates
  • Ambassador to USA: Dr. Clive Taylor

We are grateful to Valerie Kennett who independently examined our 2023 accounts after the sudden death of David Clarke MICB.

We are also grateful to volunteers Urn Clift, Cathy Gibb-de Swarte, Christine Bartram and Shirley Rigby for their recent work in scanning, cataloguing, and event planning.

Volunteer Vacancies

Our current Constitution allows us to co-opt further Committee members, and we therefore welcome volunteers to work with us on a range of exciting projects. We are currently seeking;

  • Clothing Cataloguer – to help catalogue our large collection of textiles, including our large collection of Hope Brothers and Burberry clothing and accessories.

If you are interested in these volunteer positions, or would like to explore other ways you can help us in our work, then please contact us.

Collaboration

We have worked with many other groups within our local community, including The Adams Heritage CentreThe Field Theatre GroupLittleport Life MagazineSt. George’s Church, The Women’s Institute, and countless other groups and expert speakers to deliver a programme of events and publications, or to provide archival materials and historical expertise, that enable us to mutually meet our aims.