A Day in Arlesey with …
. . . Geoff Mitchell
Questions by Jodie Chillery
Geoff Mitchell, former teacher, amateur
dramatist and star of a new short film
about St Peter’s Church, lives with his
wife Gill, the church organist, in Arlesey.
He divides his time between supporting
local community activities and travelling
the world’s long distance train routes.
Having said that there are also many local things to see and do in the
immediate surroundings – Shuttleworth, Hatfied House, Knebworth, the
Barton Hills, Jordans Mill, Woburn etc.
We also have Arlesey itself. The history, the local walks, Henlow Lakes,
Glebe Meadows and the Hicca Way – a long list. But above all are the
people. The “Arlesey Remembers You” project was an inspiration for many
other communities and was put together by people of and from Arlesey.
Ordinary people, prepared to visit distant countries to pay respect and to say
“Thank You” to Arlesey people who died to protect their families back home.
That’s what I call a real community!
You’ve recently taken part in filming for a short film about St
Peter’s church what was that experience like, was it your first
time being filmed?
How long have you lived in Arlesey?
My wife Gill and I moved into Arlesey in 1979, with our 2 daughters Jackie
(then aged 4) and Heather (2). Originally we lived in Chase Hill Road, but
later moved to Old Oak Close, just in time for the opening of the new railway
station. For those with long memories, our family connections with Arlesey
actually started in 1969 when Gill started work as a class teacher (Miss
Kellett) at the old Arlesey County Primary School, under the headteacher
Mr Appleby.
I have been filmed before when performing in various plays and
pantomimes, but this is the first time I have sat in in chair looking straight
into the lens of a camera. To begin with it was quite intimidating and I felt
very uncomfortable, but once the conversation started and I started to
think about the questions I was being asked, the camera faded into the
background and it was just like an ordinary conversation with a friend or
colleague. I got to enjoy the chat so much I was quite disappointed when it
was over!
Who do you live with?
How do you hope the community will react to the St Peter’s film?
My wife Gill is a Letchworth girl – although
she was born in Beckenham. Her parents
soon moved locally, first to Baldock and then
to Letchworth.
What is a typical breakfast in the Mitchell
household?
Ideally, a good fry-up! However, in the
name of supporting local businesses (and
to help reduce my expanding waist-line!),
I normally have a bowl of Jordans granola
cereal, which we buy in bulk (you get a
good discount!) at their mill in Biggleswade,
with a little semi-skimmed milk! Plus, of
course, the obligatory mug of tea.
What’s the best thing about living in Arlesey?
From a practical point of view, Arlesey is a wonderful place to get
somewhere else! Connections to the motorway network are really good
and you can get to quite distant places within an hour, but where possible
I prefer to use the train. York in 2 hours, London in 35 minutes. If your
connections are good, you can even be in Paris in 3½ hours – we took our 9
year old grandson to Brussels for the day as a birthday treat.
8 |
March 2016
|
My main hope is that local people will stop seeing us as a self-serving little
group of people whose main aim is to lock ourselves into a building from
which they are excluded, while demanding money to keep it repaired.
I have been doing some family research and discovered towns where my
ancestors lived for generations. To visit those places and walk into the
local church is an amazing feeling. To touch the font in which they were
baptised, to stand at the altar rail where they were married, to stand by the
gravestones beneath which they are buried can be unbelievably emotional.
There is a sense of continuity and belonging which is hard to explain but
fills me with incredible joy, as well as a sadness that I never knew them
personally.
I hope that Arlesey residents will begin to come into the church to rediscover
and reclaim their own sense of heritage, that sense of belonging, as they
renew their understanding of what the church meant to their ancestors.
Looking back at the history of our town, it has had a very illustrious part to
play in the growth of Bedfordshire and indeed this whole area of Southern
England. Why else would we have a Royal Charter?
I also hope that it will encourage Arlesey people to want to share these roots
with the influx of newcomers that are due to arrive in the next few years. It
has been done in the past, for example when workers moved in to serve the
brickworks, and their descendants are now an integral part of the Arlesey
community, not just transient visitors. I know Arlesey will no longer be the
on the button, 32 Stotfold Road, Arlesey. Bedfordshire. SG15 6XT www.onthebuttonarlesey.co.uk