The School Admission Record 1904 - 1941 - 22 August 2025

Some familiar names here!

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When Americans From The Croughton & Upper Heyford Air Bases Lived In The Village - 15 August 2015

The Reminiscences of Sue Lidgley.

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The Early Days Of The Recycling Nightmare- 08 August

.. more of the dreaded bins.

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A Militia Return - 01 August

Those qualified to serve as militia men in 1762.

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Reminiscences Of A Helmdon School Governor - 25th July 2025

and some of those of her pupils.

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In The Domesday Book The Village Was Called Elmedene - 18th July 2025

According to a dictionary of place names.

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When The Old Cross Was The Centre Of An Agricultural Business - 11 July 2025

Memories Of Occupants Tim & Dawn Law.

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101 Years Ago The Village Was Nearly Self Sufficient - 04 July 2025

It had a  provision dealer, saddler, blacksmith, tailor, coal merchant, boot polish manufacturer   .......

Listed Buildings in Helmdon, Astwell & Falcutt - 27 June 2025

Spotting them could make an interesting walk.

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Always Active In Village Life - 20 June 2025

The Reminiscences of Cec Harrold.

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A 1993 Furore Over The Possible Demolishing Of The Bridge Over The Brook - 13th June 2025

As a press cutting relates.

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Helmdon Station Once Boasted A Sundial

- 06 June 2025

.....as well as a bird bath, gold fish bowl and an ivy covered imitation well.

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A Slump In Trade For Blacksmith Will Gascoigne - 30th May 2025

He turned to farming Astwell fields in 1948.

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Helmdon Youth Club - 23 May 2025

Fondly remembered by villagers.

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A Caring Head Teacher - 16 May 2025

She is remembered for so much more than bringing her dogs to school.

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When Dancers Got The Strictly Bug - 09 May 2025

Raising over £7,000 for local charities.

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The Old Cross  - 02 May 2025

Semi-Derelict in 1970 but restored & remaining today as a proud village dwelling.

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He Pushed A Handcart Round The Village Selling Fresh Milk - 25 April 2025

A life remembered: John Jessett

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The Bus Conductor Took Lists To Northampton To Get Villagers Shopping - 25 April 2025

Something you could never, ever envisage today!

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The Website Is Launched - 18 April 2025

Can You Believe www.helmdon.com, later morphing into www.helmdonhistory.com, was

launched in 2000?  

It has had the same webmaster, Danny Moody, and web editor, Audrey Forgham, all these years. 

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The Inscriptions On Helmdon Gravestones Were Recorded At The End Of The '90s - 04 April 2025

The list is being kept up to date.

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A Thwarted Plan - 28 March 2025

When trains might once again have run along the Great Central.

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Cluniac Monks At Stutchbury - 21 March 2025

Read their Story.

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When There Was No Bridge For Villagers Over The Brook - 14 March 2025

.... and schoolchildren used a plank to get over it.

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The Gulliver Family - 28 February 2025

Still in the village after over 120 years.

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The 'Lunatic' Motor Cycling Vicar - 21 February 2025

When the Rev. Will Adams and the Astwell Motor Cycling Club raised £428 for a charity supporting adults and children with learning disabilities.

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Alice Ran A School In Helmdon For  Dressmaking Apprentices - 14 February 2025

The reminiscences of Alice Hearne.

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What The Young Husbands Got Up To - 31 January 2025

Revealed by Chris Gartside!

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Engines Could Run Once More - 24 January 2025

We could have had freight trains running on the Great Central line again.

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Did You Know Helmdon Had Quarries? - 17 January 2025

Several houses in the village give evidence to this day.

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Helmdon To Lose Its Baptist Chapel - 10 January 2025

Not good news for the generations who had worshipped there for 170 years.

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Uncle Tom Cobley And All? - 13 December 2024

In 1924, 100 years ago, the village had a parish constable, a boot polish manufacturer a tailor, a saddler ...

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Do You Remember The Wind Farm Furore?- 06 December 2024

It  would have greatly impacted the lives of residents.

Remembering The HYHO's - 29 November 2024

A staggering £77,000 raised for village organisations.

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Helmdon Had Two Lace Schools - 22 November 2024

One was held in the Fat Landlord (then called the Bell), and one on The Green.

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British Honour Victims Of Aircrash- 15th November 2024

By remembrance at Helmdon's war memorial.

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The Second World War - 10 November 2024

A compilation of Helmdon memories.

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Parachuting, Welly Wanging & Line Dancing - 08 November 2024

Those were the days!

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Poems & Prose About Helmdon - 01 November 2024

What villagers think about our village.

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Remember When There Was A Fire In The Centre Of The Village? - 25 October 2024

Eight Of Jeffs Coaches Were On Fire.

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The Helmdon Gardening Club - 18 October 2024

Julia McAuliffe's Reminiscences.

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A Successful School In The Mid-Eighties  - 11 October 2024

... and it is just as successful forty years on.

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A Force In The Village For Women For Over 100 years - 04 October 2024

The WI - Much much more than Jam and Jerusalem.

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A 2014 Traffic Nightmare Ahead - 27 September 2024

A prediction which has come true.

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A Craftsman's Notebook - 20th September 2024

Full of information about a Helmdon wheelwright's life at the end of the nineteenth century.

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The Bakehouse Was Trading Before 1780 - 13 September 2024

A newspaper cutting tell us so.

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Rene Soames, BBC Singer - 06 September 2024

who lived at Stone Gables.

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A "One-Off", Remarkable, Sometimes Seemingly Formidable Lady, She Spent Her Life Helping Others - 29 August 2024

Jean Spendlove ... a life remembered.

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Residents Joy At Village Of The Year Success - 23 August 2024

This was in 1999 - it was one of the village's glory days.

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The Welsh Lane - 16 August 2024

Originally a drover's road. Cattle were driven from Wales to the fat pastures of the Midlands.

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Standing The Test Of Time - 09 August 2024

... our church, which was firstly dedicated to St Nicholas.

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Listed Buildings in Helmdon, Astwell & Falcutt - 02 August 2024

Even trees are on the list.

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Creation Of A Long Running Village Organisation - 26 July 2024

Helmdon Forms Its Own Mums' Club.

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The Reminiscences Of Jean Spendlove - 19 July 2024

Who died recently. A unique village character.

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The Helmdon Mantle-Piece - 12 July 2024

A definitive account after a two hundred year long debate.

Tributes As Racing Legends Mourned - 05 July 2024

One of whom was one of the top racing car drivers in the 70s dies in crash.

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Documents Relating To Helmdon At Worcester College, Oxford - 28 June 2024

Worthy of more attention if you are researching early Helmdon history.

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Cowboys And Indians Spotted In Helmdon - 21 June 2024

It seems like another age!   

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Falcutt house - 14 June 2024

Some notes from Charlotte Sandilands.

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Anger In Helmdon Over Proposal For New Industrial Estate - 07 June 2024

Thank goodness it never came to fruition!

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Helmdon School Layout (1976) and School Maintenance Documents (1908/1909) - 30 May 2024

In 1909 the combined teachers' salaries amounted to £240.10s.3d.

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Military Funeral For A Member Of the Home Guard - 15  May 2024

Gunner Alfred Humphrey R.A.  died in a military hospital.

A Life Remembered - 10 May 2024

Tony Smith, farmer.

Blackpits Comes Into Being - 03 May 2024

The first organic waste facility in England opens.

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All Good Things Come To An End - 26 April 2024

The Closure of The Helmdon Fellowship Of Retired People.

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Website Wins Major Award  - 19 April 2024

Set up in 1999 it won several awards in those early years as www.helmdon.com, covering village events.

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Helmdon Stores - 12 April 2024

Run and stocked from Sulgrave 200 years ago.

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When The Prince Of Wales Came To Astwell - 05 April 2024

There is not much chance of that ever happening again!

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A Life  Remembered - 29 March 2024

Phil Watson, a truly "gentle man".

The Reading Room Is 135 Years Old - 21 March 2024

.. and still thriving, the centre of much village life.

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A Night To Remember - 14 March 2024

Denise Powell's Reminiscences of a Cross Lane Millennium Party  - and the Cross Lane Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

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A Life Remembered - 29 February 2024

Vera McHardy, a friend to so many over the years.

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When Developers Crossed Paths With Residents - 23 February 2024

No hands went up in favour of the proposed wind farm.

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The Residents Of South View, 71 Wappenham Road - 16 February 2024

A photograph sparked off a quest.

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A Public House & Museum In One - 09 February 2024

Here you could find a witch doctor's stick and other very interesting items..

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A Craftsman's Notebook - 02 February 2024

A precious little book now in the Northamptonshire Record Office.

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The History Of The Old Manor House, Cross Lane - 26 January 2024

Built from stone from the old Helmdon quarry.

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The Time When Helmdon Had Two Stations - 23 January 2024
The memories of Elizabeth Kirwan (nee Monck).

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Record Of Documents Held At Magdalen College, Oxford - 12 January 2024

For researchers of early Helmdon history.

Shortgrove Woods Between The Wars - 05 January 2024

Also called Parrott Wood.

Plucking Turkeys At Field View - 15 December 2022

Mary Turnham's reminiscences.

Carnival Day 1995 - 08 December 2023

When "Health & Safety" and insurance allowed the fun of the carnival floats.

Murders In The Bull Family - 01 December 2023

An intriguing tale from David Bennett  about two members of his family, two wives who poisoned their husbands shortly after marriage ....

Success For Helmdon - 24 November 2023

... in the village of the Year Competition.  Were you in the photograph?

Rapped On the Knuckles For Talking In Class - 17 November 2023

Minnie Watson, a Life Remembered

The First World War Project - 10 November 2023

This 2014 body of work commemorates the history behind the names of the servicemen on the Helmdon War Memorial.

When The Fifth Earl Ferrars Sought to Sell Astwell & Falcutt After The Fourth Earl Was Hanged At Tyburn For Murder - 26 October 2023

1774 - 1778 Complicated aristocratic financial matters.

Dancers Get Strictly Bug - 19 October 2023

Our local dancers raised an enormous sum for charity.

Extracts From Talkabouts, Helmdon's Newsletter - 13 September 2023

These from 1984 - 1986.

Eleven Years Ago It Was Mooted. Could HS2 Bring It To Fruition? - 06 October 2023

The cycle route from Brackley to Helmdon.

How did Lukes Close Get Its Name? - 29th September 2023

A possible explanation!

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The Day The Floods Came - 21st September 2023

It was 2007, and a great shock for some villagers.

When Helmdon Lost Its Chapel - 15 September 2023

For so many years a place of worship and centre of village activities.

Poems & Prose About Helmdon - 08 September 2023

An on-going collection.  Can you make an addition?

Morris Dancing At The Fete - 01 September 2023

We had morris dancing at the fete this year but Morris dancers possibly put on a show in Helmdon as early at the mid-1850s.

Those Were The Days - 25 August 2023

When Helmdon was the Best Kept Village In Northamptonshire

He Pushed A Handcart Around Helmdon Selling Fresh Milk - 18 August 2023

Remembering John James Jessett

The Second World War - 11 August 2023

A compilation of memories.

Crafts In Action - 04 August 2023

Photography, calligraphy, bread making, pottery, needlework ..... a news cutting of yesteryear describing the show in the church in aid of charity.

A Station With Many Flowerbeds, A Sundial, Bird-bath, Goldfish Pond And An Ivy-covered Imitation Well - 28 July 2023

Where else, but Helmdon?

New Great Central Railway Plan On The Cards - 21 July 2023

The threat that Central Railways posed with an opening up of the line from Lille to Liverpool via Brackley

Two Rectors Of Helmdon & Their Links With Wales - 07 July 2023
Historian Edward Parry is intrigued by this Connection.

Campaigner's Delight - 31 June 2023
The Wind Farm Victory was 8 years ago.

Some Names Are Of Families Still In The Village Today - 09 June 2023
A name index taken from the Helmdon Council School Admission Record from March 9th 1904 to 1941.

The Baptist Chapel Closes Its Doors - 02 June 2023
Press cutting documenting its closure nearly ten years ago.

Why Is Hintons Close So Called? - 17 May 2023
Read why it got its name.

He Worked On The Great Central Railway - 12 May 2023
Jim Tugwood was as a porter and later a signalman for the company.

"Helmdon For Sulgrave" - 05 May 2023
Memories of the Great Central Railway.

As The Prince Of Wales Passed Through Helmdon The School Flag Was Hoisted - 28 April 2023
Geoff Ipgrave's wonderful resume of old school logbooks has a wealth of fascinating facts.

Christmas Gifts To The Poor - 20 April 2023
... from a nonagenarian, a real friend of Helmdon.

My Early Years In Helmdon - 14th April 2023
Reminiscences from Ann Smith, part of the Lowdown, Lockdown Project.

The Origins Of The Reading Room - 07 April 2023
Did you know it was opened in 1888? 

The Shape, A Ghost Story - 30 March 2023
From  the reminiscences of Kay Bristow, nee Pettifer, who lived at a small cottage now incorporated into Butts Cottage, Wappenham Road.

Dancers Get The Strictly Bug - 23 March 2023
in 2010, and raise over £7,000 for local charities.

The Blacksmith Was Also The Dentist - 17 March 2023
Not a great thought!

Those Were The Days - 09 March 2023
The year is 2005, when the Carnival raised a magnificent sum - £7,562 - for village organisations.

WHEN THE VILLAGE WAS HALF THE SIZE IT IS TODAY - 02 March 2023
... but was self sufficient with its baker, grocer, draper, blacksmith, etc.

TURBINE WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO AND A HALF TIMES THE HEIGHT OF NELSON'S COLUMN - 24 February 2023
The village unites to see off the proposed wind turbine.

A SECOND WORLD - 17 February 2023
Joan McCann recalls her happy days in Helmdon.

FOUNDER MEMBERS ATTEND 35TH ANNIVERSARY - 10 February 2023
The anniversary in 2005 being that of the Women's Club, which has lately changed its name into Helmdon Together.

THE TIME WHEN HELMDON HAD TWO TRAIN STATIONS - 03 February 2023
The memories of Elizabeth Kirwan (nee Monck)

MEMORY CORNER - 27 January 2023
A press cutting from 1953 which instances the village in 1871 as having 656 inhabitants.