THS
Cliff Burd
Tewkesbury Historical Society
THSCliff Burd |
Tewkesbury Historical Society |
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Cliff during his community work with Harry Workman in 1962
Cliff was an enforced immigrant to the Town from Barnsley when he arrived at Ashchurch to undergo National Service; it was evidently not too arduous because he met and married Pat Gibbard with whom he celebrated his Golden Wedding in 2004. In the early days, they endured outside toilets in Greens Buildings, Gravel Walk. He and Pat raised his family of two boys and 4 grand-children in Canterbury Leys.
Undeterred, he therefore gradually sank a deep tap root in Tewkesbury and succeeded in business as Personnel Manager at Dowty’s Staverton. He must have had an excellent secretary because of infamous diary management!
My own historical research has revealed that he played a big part in establishing Swifts Boys Club from which he moved in local politics rising to the honour of being the first Town Mayor after the re-organisation in 1974. However, as he was involved in the formation of the Civic Soc and was a member of their first committee, that must have been the basis of an interesting relationship with his Town Clerk, Ken Smale.
I first heard of Cliff as the Vice Chairman of Tewkesbury School Governors before meeting him as a formidable local historian.
Cliff became interested in the town after joining Tewkesbury Cricket Club in 1953: to be part of a club that was more the 100 years old fascinated him. Researching the Club’s history led him to the old Register Office in High Street, where he was showed the archives - in an old tea chest in the back room!
After that he read all he could find on the town, writing various articles, the first one for the old Town Crier, featuring the alleys! The History of the Alleys has become synonymous with Cliff’s name and he and photographer George Pearl have mounted a road-show that has clocked up 60 presentations.
His first publication was for a Dutch publisher and was the second edition of Tewkesbury in Old Picture Postcards, after Mr Hilton had passed away. Since then he has published several successful books: Tewkesbury in old Picture Postcards, Around Tewkesbury, Lost Alleys and Courts. He has also written, every year, enjoyable articles for the Historical Society Bulletins and has used his long experience to advise Oxford University Press on the re-issue of the Brensham Trilogy and Capella on the re-issue of Bennett’s History.
Society members know that he is a witty speaker, whose humour charms with the remnants of his Yorkshire brogue.
One of his most important challenges has been his chairmanship of the Trustees of the Museum, ensuring that the Museum has survived and was instrumental in obtaining funding for Chris Kirby a professional, if part-time, curator."then the great shift, the formation of the Historical Soc, I was thrilled to be at the inaugural meeting, and that gave me the impetus to search wider and deeper."
In his own words:
We have loved working with him over the past 15 years and his frequent memory lapses have contributed to our joi de vivre!
Thus far the committee has asked the Society to create Honorary Life Members when they retire from active involvement. However, this year, the committee spontaneously decided that we ought to consider those who had not retired. If one asks who has made ‘an outstanding contribution to the study of Local History over many years’, Cliff Burd clearly deserves this honour. In his own quaint phrase - his contribution has been considerably under-egged for many years. We just hope that, at 73, he will not now rest on his laurels and continue to inject, for the benefit of the Society and townspeople, his long experience, intimate knowledge and love of his adopted town.
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