HISTORY came alive at the weekend during an exhibition documenting Ramsden Bellhouse since the Roman ages.
The display, at the village hall in Church Road, has been exhibited annually for 25 years but began in the spare room of organiser Isabel Johnson, who has lived in the village all her life.
Photographs, maps, and newspaper cuttings were laid out across tables in the main hall, where visitors flicked through books about Ramsden Bellhouse, Ramsden Heath and Wickford.
"I think I have found the earliest record of the area, which was a Roman coffin – I found it in one of the reference books," said Ms Johnson, 86, of Orchard Avenue.
"I even managed to locate exactly where it was by asking a local farmer what field would have been known as Stoney Field.
"My father used to have a history book about Ramsden Bellhouse on our bookcase and because I read every book on there, even the things I shouldn't have, I became fascinated by our village's history.
"I think it is the people that fascinate me the most – I like to learn about how people used to live.
"I only wanted to show a few members of the Women's Institute the photos because they came to my house for a coffee morning, and it just grew from there.
"In the past there have been people coming from Bristol and Hastings who have connections with the village – this event used to be like a reunion for people around the country."
Ms Johnson said that one man had come to this year's exhibition on both Saturday and Sunday in the hope of meeting someone from his old school in Ramsden Bellhouse.
"He came on the first day and sat here the whole day hoping to see someone he knew, but no one came," said Ms Johnson, a former teacher at Wickford C of E Infant School.
"The next morning he came and waited a few hours and he finally saw someone he knew – it was such an emotional moment, he clutched my hands and had tears down his face.
"It makes all my hard work worthwhile for that moment.
"I only started doing all this research when I retired at 55. I have visited the Essex Record Office, people's houses and gone through the parish records to collect all this information.
"Ramsden Bellhouse nowadays is probably known for being an expensive place to live, but years ago it was full of farms – there were chicken farms, pig farms, all through the Second World War."
On the refreshment stall was Pat Sparke, 77, who moved to Ramsden Bellhouse with her husband in 1960.
She said: "My children were both born here – our whole lives have been here and looking through the photos is surreal because you suddenly see everything like it was before.
"A man I haven't seen in 18 years walked in and it took us a second to recognise each other but that is why these events are so important, it helps maintain a connection to your home."
