CURIOUS villagers brought in some of their interesting finds for identification at an event organised by Bere Alston Local History Group last weekend.

The event, at Bere Alston Parish Hall, attracted more than 150 people to dig back into their past at a series of stands by history enthusiasts.

Among the stands was about Bere Alston Primary School, manned by history teacher Kate Blundy, and headteacher Gareth Bemister. They brought along old pictures of the school. Visitors also had a guessing game, trying to match names with faces in old photos.

Clive Charlton, history group chairman, said: ‘This was very well attended event, we were very pleased. It just shows how interested people are in their village heritage. This was a joint efforts with other groups and organisations. We had the railway people come with nostalgic look at steam, a royal visits stand and football teams. One of our local characters came and saw a photo of himself in one of the football teams in 1946. He was delighted and lots of people wanted to chat with him about his life.’

The Britain In Bloom winning team, led by Frances Howard, also presented a history of horticulture with a display of old plant baskets and flowers.

A popular attraction was, in Antiques Roadshow style, an invitation to ‘bring along a find’. This encouraged people to take artefacts for possible identification by archaeologist Chris Smart, who worked on the Calstock Roman finds. Items he was asked to identify included clay pipes, a cannon ball or ore crusher, a miners lamp and pieces of china.