The Sawtry Camera Club has had a somewhat chequered history. It was originally started in 1988 when the Chairman was long standing resident of Sawtry, Mr. Tony Abbott. Supporting him were Margaret Duncan Treasurer, with Sue & Trevor Taylor-Peach, as joint secretaries.

The Club’s inaugural meeting was held in the Ex-Servicemen’s Club in Gidding Road, but after only four meetings the Club moved to the village Fire Station, where the membership met on a regular basis for many years. One of those early members was Mr. Harry Milford, who until recently was our Club Chairman.

Among the many activities of the Club in those early years, was a visit by members to the Hamerton Wildlife Centre for a camera shoot (Today Centre has changed to Park). At a subsequent meeting the photographs were judged by Mrs Sally Swales from the HWC, who also gave a talk about the animals in the Centre.

In the late 1990‘s the membership started to dwindle, and the Club went into suspension for a while, but was reformed in 1999 by Bernard Dean, Harry Milford, and Bill Allport. During 1999, the membership grew quite substantially, with several members from nearby Alconbury Air Base, but by 2002 most of them had been posted to different parts of the world, and several local members moved away from the village, leaving only a handful of members. At a make or break meeting the committee decided to continue with the few members left, rather than suspend the Club again.

Although not related, Harry Milford has left the Club and moved away from the village, and our new Chairman is Stan Longshaw. Membership is now on the increase once more, and the Club Activities are becoming quite popular. Take a look at the meetings page, where you will find the dates and times the Clubs meets.