The launch of a new book next month in Glenham will be a celebration of the area, its author says.
He had been working on Glenham and South Wyndham since the first lockdown in 2020, George Taylor said.
The 340-page book detailing the history of the area is finally finished and will be launched at the Glenham Community Centre on November 6, at 2pm.
‘‘There’ll be some thank-yous, a couple of speeches and I’ll be thanking the local community for all their help. It was because of their support that this book got done,’’ Mr Taylor said.
‘‘I hope it’s a celebration of the small rural community and the people that make it up, because they are absolute gold.’’
That was a sentiment he hoped to have captured in his book.
‘‘It’s not a book about farms, it’s a book about people.’’
Half the book is straight history, while the other half tells the stories of 120 families from the area.
Mr Taylor worked with the families to gather information and pictures, of which there were 720.
‘‘It was written and compiled by myself — I didn’t actually write the whole lot,’’ he said.
His aim was not to make money from the project, but because ‘‘it needed to be done’’.
‘‘To my knowledge, the other small districts around Wyndham and Edendale have all had their local histories recorded and Glenham and South Wyndham hadn’t.’’
After successfully writing a similar book on the history of his former home of Mokoreta, he had been confident he could do the same for Glenham and South Wyndham.
He asked some of the local people he knew and got their support to go ahead.
‘‘They’ve looked over the proof, mainly to pick up errors and omissions,’’ he said.
‘‘They were all very pleased with it and I think they will be proud. I think they will be surprised with the depth of history that is in it.’’
The hardcover book can be ordered online ahead of the launch event or by contacting Mr Taylor on 022 4053-080.
