In 1894, Queen Victoria was on the throne, Adolph Hitler was five years old, Winston Churchill was still a teenager and, for the first time, Coca Cola was sold in bottles. Blackpool Tower was opened to the public, and vehicles were allowed across Tower Bridge in London for the first time.

There were also three notable births that year; those of Edward VIII, Harold Macmillan and Rudolf Hess.

Closer to home, however, something much more momentous than all of these things was happening. Welburn Parish Council was holding its first meeting.

That was on December 4, 1894. And today the council celebrates a very special anniversary – its 500th meeting. Soon after that first-ever meeting more than 114 years ago, a young postman named Thomas Thompson was elected parish council chairman. Thomas, who is shown in our main photo, was just 27.

Mr Thompson went on to become a grocer, and ran a bakery with his wife. In later life he took on a smallholding that he and his descendants turned into a thriving farming business.

Today, in a wonderful example of continuity, his great grandson Ian Thompson, who lives with his family in Welburn and still farms there, is still serving on the same council more than 114 years after his ancestor became chairman.

There are other things that haven’t changed much, too. Among the matters discussed during the early days of the parish council was the excessive speed of motor vehicles passing through the village.

Speeding motorists?

That’s one we haven’t heard before.

- Richard Stansfield