The sun shone on the great and good of Ingatestone last week, for the formal opening of the small, but perfectly formed, Ingatestone Museum.
The museum is situated in the tiny crossing gatehouse building at Ingatestone Station. Lord Petre, whose forebears granted the land on which the station was built, performed the opening ceremony and was able to describe visiting the last occupants of the gatehouse for afternoon tea in the 1950s.
What was once the living room of the gatehouse now houses various artefacts gathered from Ingatestone buildings and residents from Roman times to the twentieth century. As I said in my speech to the crowd who had gathered to celebrate the opening, Ingatestone first appears in the historical record in Domesday Book (written in 1086 for William the Conqueror) when it had 11 households and 500 pigs. Today we have rather more people but sadly fewer pigs.
From the history of Ingatestone, it was on to St Joseph The Worker School in Hutton to meet the children from Years 5 and 6, who posed some very thoughtful and considered questions about my work in Parliament, the laws they feel need to be made or repealed, and whether I had met the King, Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn. Yes, no and yes, if you need to know.
As always, I invited the children to come to visit Parliament. The Education Unit does amazing tours for young people, connected to the curriculum, so if your child’s school has never arranged a visit, let the teachers know they can get in touch with me to find the best way to book to see democracy at work.
