Sandbach’s Heritage – September 2026

By Stewart Green

Formed on the 28 September 1976 when an inaugural meeting took place at St Mary’s Church Hall to discuss the formation of the society with the following committee President Lawrence Massey, Vice President J Rigby and Chairman Cllr Don Broad. In 1978 the Sandbach History Society was founded officially in memory of Cyril Massey who wrote the book “History of Sandbach” and at the first meeting 70 people turned up to join the society. Lawrence Massey continued as President and Dr Randle Bennett as Vice President with meetings at the Marriott Room within Sandbach Library. One of their first independent publications of the society was a recipe book compiled by Mrs Elizabeth B Bayley and Miss E C Bayley costing 50p. In March 1981 they produced a Sandbach History Trail leaflet by Elizabeth Malborn.

The history society was responsible for having records and resource material available in Sandbach Library in the form of microfilm and fiche of the census and parish records for local history enthusiasts to use before they were put onto the internet.

The society over the years have been responsible to the Sandbach Town Council to supply basic histories of the town for the various guide books they have produced in 1986, 1988, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014. The history society has over the years also produced a number of Calendars of archive pictures including the following dates with Bygone Sandbach in 1995 launched in the press by Town Crier Dennis Robinson as well as 1996 and 1998.

In the 1990’s Beryl Evans at Sandbach Library started events in the Marriott Room to promote local groups who used the library. The events took place on a Friday afternoon and evening in September with Sandbach Arts, The Ladies Association, Photographic Society, Bert Gill’s First Aiders and the Sandbach History Society taking part along with John Bowles who used to do sketches. Congleton Borough’s Arts officer Carol McGregor, Cllr Dorothy Flint (Chairman of the Town Council) and Town Clerk Mike Garratt decided to expand this idea and created the Sandbach Today event in 1997 on a Friday night at the Sandbach Town Hall. The History society was one of the groups that took part and continued to appear at every event since that date.

On the 14 May 1994 the History Society held an ‘At home’ event at St Mary’s Church Hall with the Cheshire Community Council and included a number of talks on the town’s history. On the 26 October 1999 the History Society celebrated its 21st Anniversary with a lunch at the Saxon Cross Motel with guest speaker Dr Philip Morgan of Keele University and a talk on ‘The past and future of Local History’.

In 2019 Sandbach Town Council produced a Town Trail leaflet with the footpath group.

On Saturday the 19 May 2001 the History Society and the Cheshire Local History Association held another ‘At Home’ event at the Sandbach Literary Institution with various talks over the day including the history of the building and closing remarks by the Chairman of the Sandbach History Society Mr John Owen.

On the 21 October 2003 the society celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a lunch at the Saxon Cross Motel. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month between September and May each year. They have various talks on local subjects with some popular speakers and talks including Sandbach Then and Now by Mr Colin McLean, Witchcraft by Raymond Rush, Roman Middlewich by Tim Strickland MBE, Bygone Sandbach by Pauline and Stephen Minshull, A factory Girl – The Life of Ada Nield by Graham Dodd, John Whitehurst and 18th Century Polymath by Ian Doughty, Those who died from Sandbach Heath in World War Two and the history of St Mary’s Church Sandbach by John Higgins and Cath Jones and the Musical Ford Family of Sandbach by Olivia Smedley.

Starting in December 2021 Covid hit Britain and the society continued to do talks but via Zoom staging the next three month’s meetings that way before the society was allowed to mix again until December 2022 when it hit again and it was back to Zoom.

After 50 years since the original group it doesn’t look like the History Society has lost its appeal and as the Cheshire Archive moves to Crewe as well as Chester there are more opportunities to keep the history of Sandbach alive through the society.