The Dursley & Cam Society

The Dursley & Cam Society is a local history society which began after an open invitation in 1981 to local residents for anyone interested in the possibility of forming "A Civic Society for Cam and Dursley". Much interest was gathered and an inaugural meeting to discuss the proposals was held at Dursley Community Centre on March 3rd 1982. It was chaired by Ken Hall and the programme for the evening consisted of a slide show by David Evans entitled "Old Cam and Dursley Illustrated", a talk on how such a society could operate, given by Matt Welsh, and an open discussion on the general idea of forming a society. It was all agreed and the first committee came into being with David Evans as Chairman, Alan Pearce as Treasurer and Jill Davis as Secretary.

Since those early days the society has gone from strength to strength and in 2007 it celebrated its Silver Jubilee with a commemorative evening in the Town Hall. From September through to July the Society holds an illustrated talk on the second Tuesday of each month, at Dursley Methodist Church, starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome, members and visitors alike.

Programme of events for 2023

For further details of Society events or membership please see the Society Facebook page or email me.

Dursley & Cam Society project - recording the shops in Dursley town centre
Do you remember any of the old shops in Dursley town centre in days gone by? The Dursley & Cam Society is embarking on a project to record the change of use of the retail, business and public buildings in the town centre and is keen to hear from anyone who might have some information about shop and company names, owners and dates. If you do have something to share please do email me or perhaps join the forum to contribute to the project.

In 2004, the Society also began publishing its very successful annual journal, "The Dursley Lantern", a high quality publication containing articles of local interest. These are available free to members of the society and are also available for sale to everyone else. Previous editions of "The Dursley Lantern" are still available and a brief description of each is given below.

Copies of "The Dursley Lantern" can be purchased in the Dursley Heritage Centre or by post. Payment by cheque only and postage & packing charges are dependent on the quantity ordered. To order copies or enquire about postage charges, please email for further details.
.

	Picture Gallery (Click on picture for larger view)

			Dursley Lantern 2022 Contents: From Wales to Cam - A Blacksmith’s Life Story Memories of Matt Welsh and his contribution to Cam and Dursley Royal Artillery at Dursley, 1939-1940 Early Inhabitants of Dursley - A Conjecture A Study of Two Views of Cam Station Dursley, 17th Century Piracy and the Stockwell Millions Dursley Clothiers and their Mills, 1450-1600 Notes on the Exell Family Jessamine House - A Georgian Gem or an Awful Eyesore? The Foundation of the Dursley Union Workhouse A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2021 Contents: Woodmancote Court - A House Through Time Early Mawdsley's DC Generator Discovered 'Down-Under' The Early Workhouse in Dursley Staying in Tune - The Brass Bands of Dursley Robert Browning Lister (1894-1975) Stone Stiles around Cam and Beyond The Stinchcombe Heritage Trail - A Legacy of Lockdown Friends at Christmas A Look Back at the Newspapers A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2020 Contents: Starting Work at Cam Mills - The First Six Months A Shopping Trip in Parsonage Street in 1841 Early Childhood and Our Move to Dursley Memories of School Days at Dursley Grammar School A Look Back at the Newspapers Take a Step Back in Time to Saxon Dursley Memories of Growing Up in Cam and Dursley Tom Clarke, Railway Ganger B.G.A.S. Transactions from 1952 to 2008 My Memories of Cam A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2019 Contents: Lady Helena Gleichen OBE (1873 - 1947) A Wartime Experience - Memoirs of an American in Dursley A Look Back at the Newspapers - A lucky Escape for the Town Hall Notes on the Manor of Cam Daniels (Cam) Ltd, Fibreboard Manufacturers A Curious Tale from 17th Century Dursley A Visit to Dursley in 1886 - The Bristol and Gloucs. Arch. Society Comes to Town A Chance Encounter - From Dursley to a Life in the USA Dursley Gardeners A4, 40 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2018 Contents: A Plaque to Commemorate R.A. Lister & Co. Ltd Richard Hames Younghusband - A Flying Life and a Brief Encounter with Dursley Memories of my Early Life in Dursley A Visit to Dursley - A Reprint from an article in Shireways Betty Seabrook - My Time in Dursley and Cam Early Recollections of the Printing Trade in Dursley A Look Back at the Newspapers - A Mixed Bag of Local Stories A Perspective on the Local Area and Population in 1851 Of Coins and Tokens Looking Back at the Browns - Tales of a Coaley Family The Spanish Flu A4, 40 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2017 Contents: David Evans - Recollections of my life in Dursley From Coffee Tavern to Cinema A Projectionist at the Regal Cinema ...also, Doris Mary Wyatt A Look Back at the Newspapers - Trading in the Town Memories of a Giant - Recollections of one man's time at Bymacks The Story of My Life - Growing Up in Dursley Revd George Adsley Piper - Cam's Chaplain in the First World War All Change! - Site of the Bell & Castle Hotel A4, 40 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2016 Contents: Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmetic The Summers of 1975 and 1976 and the 16 Month Drought Dursley and the Tent Methodists Dick Barton - Special Agent A Face from the Past Before and After Mervyn Dennis Haddrell and The Lions Club International The Twemlow Trust - A Living Legacy 'Jack' Johnson and the Charfield Railway Crash of 1928 A4, 40 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2015 Contents: Memories of World War Two I Remember the Winterbotham Memorial Gardens Grief and Gratitude - WW1 Memorials in the Dursley Area The Purnells and a Ghost Story Dick King of Cam - An Epic Ride In Memoriam - A tribute to Mary Clark A Christmas Letter from Dursley - December 1915 The Old Bell Hotel, Dursley William Tyndale 1494-1536 Reporting on the Weather - A Look Back through the Newspapers Basil Woodward - Prisoner of War A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2014 Contents: Mary Clark - Reflections on Moving to Dursley Dursley - Ivor Gurney and Shakespeare The Postman's Snuffbox Some Dates in the History of Dursley Knight of the Shire Elections, 1867 One Way Ticket to Dursley Reminiscences of Dursley and Cam Cam's Welcome House Snowball the War Horse Water Supply in the Dursley Area, 1890-1974 A Schoolboy's View of World War Two The Dursley Mummers are out tonight A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2013 Contents: Lionel Ayliffe, 1917-2013 - A Tribute Happy New Year - Now That's What You Call a Celebration The Little Lighter called Cam Reverend Norman Crossman of Lower Cam Buses in Dursley Dursley Secondary School's 'HMS Pinafore' Dursley Church Clock Dursley Ladies in the News A Budding Genius Visit of Pedersen Cyclists, 19th - 22nd September 2013 Every Step a Memory - Wartime Childhood Memories from the Dursley Area A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2012 Contents: Miss Joan Kingham - Memories of a Wonderful Life Church Bellringing in Dursley A Brief History of Travel and Transportation in the Dursley Area The Boy Racers of 1908 Tree Planting for the Coronation of King George VI Children’s Saturday Morning Cinema Club The Vizards of Dursley A4, 44 pages - £5 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2011 Contents: Notes from the Past, Memories of Dursley's History Edmund Woodward and One Tree Hill The Tale of a Tower - Fact or Fiction My Life Story A Look at Dursley’s Listed Buildings News from the Parish The Hurndalls of Dursley An Ingenious Town Sporting Days in Dursley and Cam Memories of Cam Peak A4, 40 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2010 Contents: A Dursley Milkman's Day Reminiscences of Dursley Parish Church Choir, 1943-1952 Charles Lister, CBE JP, 1872-1965 The Story of Allastair and Hilda The International Friendship League - Dursley Branch More on the Adoption of HMS Trident in 1942 The Rise and Fall of the Severn Railway Bridge Wartime Rationing, 1939-1945 Further Memories from Berkeley Road WW1 Changed Dursley Forever 19th Century Crime in Dursley A4, 40 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2009 Contents: William and Sarah Harrold of Dursley Sharpness and D-Day Dursley's Old Time Constable Mikael and Me Captain George Augustus Graham and Rednock News from the Parish Industrial Transport - A Pictorial View 100 Years Not Out The Hopton Oak An Old Gloucestershire Lantern A4, 44 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2008 Contents: The Dursley Field Gun Pages of the Past Memories of Kingshill Road in World War II News from the Parish The Saga of Dursley Swimming Pool Make Pumps Fifteen! Memories of the 'Prince of Wales' and Berkeley Road The Dursley Saddlers Forgotten - Dursley's 'Saint George' Draycott Mill, Cam - A Pictorial View Reminiscence of the 41st A4, 44 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2007 Contents: King’s Hill Dursley Parish Church Memories of Dursley and Cam Cold War Cam and Dursley A Memory of Castle Farm Dursley Town Centre Newsagents HMS Dursley Galley One Lamp Cam Cam - Then and Now Turnpike Trusts in the Dursley Area A4, 44 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2006 Contents: Dursley goes International The Stiff Families of Dursley and Cam Memories of Life in Lister’s Foundry 70 Years Ago A Boat named Dursley The Curate and the Battle of the Balls A Tour of Dursley in 1883 Dursley's Adopted Warship - HMS Trident The Bailiffs of Dursley The Summer of 1976 Remembered 'Almost a Centenarian' - Ignatius Dark and the Cam National School A4, 44 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2005 Contents: Rope Making in Dursley Aircraft Down! Tales of Crashes in Cam and Dursley The Fire Bell on Dursley Town Hall Dursley - Then and Now Coal Gas in Dursley A Look through the Log Books - School Life in late Victorian Days Dursley Lanterns The Gazette - Part of the Community The Past in Pictures - Station Road, Cam The Curious Case of John Venn Night Out for Ninepence - Memories of Picturegoing in Dursley A4, 40 pages - £4 + P&P

			Dursley Lantern 2004 Contents: Cruelty at Dursley Union Workhouse The Rangers House Racing Horses on Stinchcombe Hill The War Memorial Gates and the Story of Dursley's VC Early Advertising in Dursley Destination Dursley - Wartime Evacuation to a Cotswold Town Climbing Boys Temperance in Cam and Dursley Reminiscences of Dursley and Cam A4, 32 pages - £4 + P&P