Calling Old Elvingtonians - your village needs YOU. Or at least, your memories...

Elvington parish council has launched a new project to record the social history of the village.

Originally intended just to gather material to set up a 'village trail' complete with interpretation signs, the legacy project has now expanded into something much bigger.

The aim, says parish councillor Stuart Lloyd, is to gather together stories about village life now and in the past, together with old photographs and old letters and documents, so as to put together a village archive.

The plan will be to digitise the material - so original photos and documents can be returned to their owners, while the information in them can shared with everyone with an interest in the village.

The exact detail of just how the legacy project will shape up is still to be decided, admits Cllr Lloyd. The parish council has set up a working group to look into this. But the plan is to go ahead with that village trail - but to do something more as well, probably including a digitised web archive.

For now, however, the parish council is keen to start gathering as much material as possible.

"We want to hear from anyone with a connection to the village, past or present, who may have family memories, knowledge about events, or artefacts that may be relevant," Cllr Lloyd said.

“We have historical knowledge of the village but want to engage with as many people as possible, either residents now or who have lived or been involved in the village in the past.

"There must be lots of people with boxes or files, family photographs, or letters. And we're sure there will be people with good stories!

"We want to find a way of bringing all that to life, and sharing it with other people.

“We will look at all the material that is gathered and find ways to encompass the story of the village so that present and future generations can be well informed about the history and people of the parish."

One obvious source of stories, Cllr Lloyd says, will be the former RAF airfield - now the Yorkshire Air Museum, which opened to the public on May 31, 1986.

"The village once played host to a popular air show, and a number of other events still take place both at the museum and on the airfield, including numerous driving and sports activities," Cllr Lloyd said.

"As well as a thriving residential community, the village has a number of businesses and industries, a medical practice, a primary school and a church."

There are also more recent moments in the village's history that deserve to be recorded for posterity, he adds - such as the day the Tour de France came through in 2014.

Cllr Lloyd remembers that day very well. "It was raining!" he said. "I was standing out there a long time, and I got quite wet!"

So there should be plenty of material to go on, he says. "And we are confident there will be many as yet untold stories, that will be of interest.”

If you have stories about Elvington village life in times past, or other material such as old photos or documents that you would be prepared to share, get in touch with Cllr Lloyd at cllr.lloyd@elvington.net