‘Brocket’ is a fine arts and crafts house in Boyn Hill Avenue which belongs to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which is considering the future use of this listed building.  As part of its consultation process, the council is opening Brocket to the public on Saturday 11th February between 11am and 3pm.  We would recommend this visit to anybody who is interested in architecture and interior design and is concerned with the future of one of Maidenhead’s finest buildings.  Perhaps you will be able to suggest a suitable new use for the house.which has impressive interiors on the ground floor.  It was designed by a local architect and built by a local builder.  The biographer Michael Holroyd grew up at Brocket.

Mary Ellis, one of Air Transport Auxiliary’s most accomplished female pilots, celebrated her 100th birthday on February 2nd.   Mary was born at Leafield near Fairford in Gloucestershire and not a million miles from RAF Brize Norton.  She joined ATA in October 1941 and served until the end of December 1945.  For almost all that time she was based at No.15 Ferry Pool at Hamble, one of two ATA bases staffed entirely by women.  With the Supermarine factory just round the corner in Southampton, Spitfire deliveries were the bread and butter of Hamble pilots.  Mary ferried 403 Spitfires, including 70 out of Eastleigh airfield.  She qualified as a First Officer and was authorised to fly all aircraft types up to Class 4 operational twin engined planes such as the Mosquto and the Wellington, which ATA pilots flew solo.    On one occasion she delivered a Wellington and the ground crew would not believe she was the pilot until they searched the aircraft from one end to the other.  Mary has just published her autobiography “A Spitfire Girl” in which she describes her action-packed career which spans almost a century of aviation.  From Tiger Moths to Hurricanes and Spitfires, from Wellington Bombers to post-war jets, Mary’s desire to take to the skies has never faltered.  “A Spitfire Girl” is available from the Maidenhead Heritage Centre shop on  http://maidenheadheritage.org.uk/shop/     It is a great read and if you buy the book from us you will supporting our work to preserve the ATA story for future generations.

The AGM of Maidenhead Heritage Trust was held on 28 September.  Trustee Harry Wale deputised for Chairman Richard Poad and reported a year of substantial progress.  On the all-important financial front, income and expenditure, and the balance sheet were all in good shape. Curator Nick Forder’s report showed good progress towards having our Accreditation status renewed by Arts Council England and told us that the Heritage Centre includes over 6000 accessioned objects on our database. The Education Officer Jon Dance-Groom reported increases in our schools, families and youth groups programmes, with 35 school sessions delivered in 2015/16.   The ATA Gallery meanwhile has seen growth in visitors and income, and  competitive Spitfire simulator events are being introduced for corporate and private groups.

Looking ahead, the York Road development scheme gives us the prospect of a substantial increase in floor space, in a newly constructed building. Initial thoughts on the vision for our new Centre call for an expansion of our current Maidenhead Timeline exhibition, plus a themed Transport and Maidenhead displays. These could cover the River Thames and the town’s origin as Maiden Hythe; rail with the links to the bridge, Brunel and the GWR; road with the stage coach station, the Vanwall racing car and other cars made in Maidenhead; plus, of course flight, with our Air Transport Auxiliary and White Waltham links and the Spitfire simulator. Plans are underway to develop this vision both in written and concept design form to further our discussions on the York Road scheme with the Borough and its 5 short-listed development partners.

Christopher Hobbs was elected as a new Trustee. Christopher has a background in marketing and is a keen car enthusiast. He owns several classic cars and was one of the people who curated our popular exhibition about Maidenhead’s Motor Industry in 2014.  The photo shows him at the wheel of the 1930s car the Crossley Burney, based on the Maidenhead built Burney Streamline.

Warmest congratulations to all the Maidenhead athletes who took part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games at Rio – and brought home an amazing haul of medals.

In the Olympic Games, Helen Richardson-Walsh, Kate Richardson-Walsh and Hannah MacLeod took Gold in the Women’s Hockey. On the water, Helen Glover took Gold in the coxless pairs with Heather Stanning and Liam Heath won gold in the men’s 200m canoe sprint.  Liam also took silver with Jon Schofield in the men’s K2 200m and Katherine Grainger, rowing in her fifth successive Olympic Games, took Silver in the women’s Double Sculls with Victoria Thornley.

In the inspiring Paralympic Games, golden success came for dressage rider Sophie Christiansen (winning THREE golds)) and canoeist Jeanette Chippington (participating in her sixth Paralympics at the age of 46)), while single sculler Tom Aggar won a bronze medal in the ASM1x single sculls.  On wheels, Katie-George Dunleavy, who competed for Ireland but lives in Maidenhead and is visually impaired, won gold in the women’s B 30km tandem road trial alongside pilot Eve McCrystal and silver in the women’s B 1000km tandem road time trial.

That’s an awful lot of medals for a single town!  Let’s hope the Mayor gives all the athletes a civic reception at the Town Hall.