A VILLAGE history book which made nearly £5,000 for Belstone Village Hall has hit the presses once more — and this time, there is video to accompany the publication.
Chris Walpole and his wife originally published The Book of Belstone in October 2002, with the help of a Millennium year grant from Help the Aged to cover the costs.
Chris said: 'We managed to sell all these from our front room, through word of mouth locally. They were virtually all spoken for by the time it was published.'
Chris said they decided to re-print the book as it had been so popular and to go with it, Chris has compiled a new, two hour, 40 minute video comprising around 30 years worth of cine and video footage
'It's always been my main hobby, first with Super 8 cine film and then with video. I've always made records of village life and we though it would be nice to do something different and make it part of a package,' he said.
The video features a wide variety of events, such as the old tradition of beating the bounds, village fetes and pantomimes, the 'big freeze' of 1978 and more modern events, such as the shocking effect of the foot and mouth epidemic three years ago.
'It's quite a snappy montage of a slice of village life really — and everyone likes picking themselves out in this sort of thing,' said Chris.
Profits from the book, once printing costs have been covered, will once again benefit the village hall, as will the profits from the video.
He said if all 300 copies of the book sell, the hall could benefit to the tune of £2-3,000 — the video sales will be particularly profitable, as Chris is making the copies himself.
Anyone who would like a copy of The Book of Belstone, or the video or the complete package should call Chris Walpole on 01837 840498.