Medway's biggest ever history convention

The Royal Engineers museum hosted 25 different history groups to promote their findings and research.  Finn Macdiarmid reports.

Transcript

00:00From archaeology to archives, Kent has a lot of different historical societies.

00:04And the Royal Engineers Museum hosted their Medway History Showcase, where those societies

00:10could show their research activities and findings for free to the public. The event was started

00:14after Covid when these smaller groups believed they might not be able to survive due to their

00:19small funding and low member count. This is the third annual running of the event that aims to

00:25promote smaller societies and shed light on pieces of Kentish history you might not be aware of,

00:30like V1 rockets from World War II being found in the county.

00:35Hawkins, Cuxton and Hauling. Now these are small areas in Kent but they've got big history when it

00:41comes to the significance of the county. It's hard though when you're part of these smaller

00:46areas historical societies to not be overlooked, but having a table at an exhibition is one way

00:52to get your name out there. You also might not have known that the first aircraft factory in

00:57the country was in Sheppey, or that the Chatham Historical Society made an accurate recreation

01:03of a daily diary kept in the town during the Second World War. The Kent Defence Research Group,

01:09dedicated to finding, logging and preserving the architecture of British military sites,

01:14have been participating since the very first showcase. We're a group that looks at all of Kent

01:19architecture, military architecture over the years. We've been coming to this event for the

01:24last three years, this is the third year we're here, and it's just a Medway history showcase, so it shows

01:29all the different groups in the area come here and display their work.

01:35Also the members of the public can come and have a look at the museum on it, and it's free today,

01:41and it's very interesting because you network with people, you can meet people,

01:44people have oral history they can share with you. The event has grown across the three years

01:49with 300 people in attendance on the weekend. I think the sign that it is so large is because

01:57history is so healthy. I think that's what you can take about it, because a lot of people will say,

02:02oh well history's dead, all the books have been written, we know what there is about the First

02:06World War, we know what there is about the Second World War, we know what Oliver's Workhouse looked

02:12like, and all of this, and yet there is so much history. You chat to any table in this room today

02:20and I can guarantee you they've got at least three or four stories that you've never ever heard of.

02:25Well with more of Kent's history being dug up every day, the museum's focus will likely shift

02:30to next year, so for now the eye is on the future instead of the past. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Gillingham.