Welcome to the website of Chalford Parish Local History Group, which is designed to provide information on our meetings, on other local history events in the area and to be a source of general information about the history of the Chalford Parish.
The Group was formally constituted in September 2016 after a series of very successful meetings had been held beginning in May of that year. We currently have around 60 members and non-members are welcome at all our meetings.
We also have a Facebook Group here which anyone is welcome to join, with currently just under 700 members. This is a private Group so you will need to join it to see posts.
This website continues to evolve as we add new material so do keep returning or try following some of the links at the top of the page.
Next Meeting
21 May 2025 – Fore & Aft – The Purton Ships Graveyard, Paul Barnett
Purton on the River Severn is the unlikely resting place of one of Britain’s largest “graveyards” of nautical wrecks.
Paul Barnett, the third son of a merchant seaman, was brought up to love and respect the sea and served in both the Merchant and Royal Navies, finishing his career in 1999 as a hydrographic surveyor.
He then embarked on a course of private research into the forgotten shipwrecks of the River Severn that he had first come across in the 1970s as a boy. In this talk he will be detailing the story of the formation, development and eventual destruction of the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain. He is recognised as a leading authority on the subject having recently published a book, Lost Ships of the Severn Seas.
We meet monthly except August and December, normally on the third Wednesday of the month.
Our current programme is here and other local history events which may be of interest are here.