The Launch of a New Book About Syston in the 20th Century

The launch of this wonderful new local history book was held in the Parish Church on 6th November and revealed to a large audience who attended the event. Syston’s newly ordained Curate, Mrs. Biddy Saunders welcomed everyone to the church then handed over to Tim Garner, Chairman of the Syston Local History group.
Tim had the unwelcome job of telling everyone there, that unfortunately the book was not available to buy yet, due to a hold-up at the printers. So we actually had a book launch with only a few sample books to browse through. The launch had been widely advertised, including in this paper and there was no way of letting all the readers of Stn know about the situation, consequently the authors and the history group decided not to cancel the event.
Author Felicity Austen followed Tim and said she hoped everyone would enjoy the occasion even if the main reason it was planned ‘the book’ was not available for sale on the day. She apologised for any disappointment but confirmed the book will be available by the end of November at ten local Syston shops and that each of those shops will display a poster in their window, see image left. What was available on the day however was three sample books for everyone to browse through and lists of the shops that would be selling the book were handed out to all wishing to purchase one.
Felicity then introduced Edward Argar, member of parliament for Syston, who formally opened the proceedings. As someone with an interest in history he appreciated the value of the material included in the book and the story it told of how Syston evolved from a village into the town we have today. After his address he joined the many people viewing the sample books; the displays put on by the Syston Local History Group and a photographic film show of Syston in the past.
A considerable number of people attended the launch, many of them staying the full two hours of the event talking to the organisers and each other, as well as enjoying the displays and the beautiful church interior.
In her introduction, Felicity Austen described how the idea of the book came about. It was following the Local History’s publication on WW2 of which she was also the author, when she realised there was a goldmine of memories telling the story of Syston in the 20th century. Shortly before the Covid pandemic erupted the History Group agreed to sponsor a new publication on the history of the town in the 20th century. Lockdown periods allowed members of the group time to carry out research and write down memoirs as their contributions to this latest book.
The final step of this challenging but so worthwhile project is almost here. Just watch out for the posters to appear in the participating shops and for anyone who would like their copy signed by the authors, they will be available to oblige on 11th December when the church will be holding a coffee morning.