Historian
Dedicated to the memory of Philip Eastburn, who died suddenly in August 2015.
Philip left a large body of pictures, maps, plans, articles, documents, presentations, recordings which were bequeathed to the Radlett Society and Green Belt Association, successors of the Radlett Local History Society, of which he was a founder member. Philip's death in 2015 triggered the formation of the Radlett Archives Group, from which emerged the Radlett & District Museum in 2020.
The Museum acquired all Philip's material including, some 18 months after his death, a memory stick with 19 Gigabytes of priceless data from his computer. This comprised over 8000 computer files in 584 folders, with documents, spreadsheets and photographs, relating to his life's historical work and wide interests in the local history of Radlett & Aldenham.
He was the authority on 'all things Radlett' and shortly before his death he was actively pursuing a site for a local museum. His vision was of a building in which his and others' archives could be stored and displayed. Now this has become a reality.
Philip has left us with a collection that represents very much 'work-in-progress' and we are endeavouring to understand and collate his records by cataloguing them into a searchable database. In the coming months and years, we will unearth, no doubt, many more hidden gems for public display or to be shared in uploads to this web-site.
This web-site, with the addition of some archive pictures, courtesy of the Radlett Society, will build on Philip's collection and display his wide interest in all things Radlett & Aldenham.
John Apthorp, CBE 1935-2024
John Apthorp was a self-made businessman and philanthropist.
In 1968, he founded the frozen food chain Bejam, which in 1989 he sold to Iceland Foods, leaving him owner of Wizard Wine which, through mergers, became Majestic Wine.
He moved to Radlett in 1964 and, in 2018, received the Freedom of the Parish of Aldenham in recognition of his charitable giving to many local charities and other groups over many years.
He said: "I have been very successful in business and have used the funds to give something back to the community helping small charities in the local area. I have given lump sums to struggling charities and grants to help new organisations get off the ground".
He was the first President of this Museum, and the Trustees remain very grateful for his support, which continued until the end of his life. Without it, we would not be where we are today.
John Apthorp was a self-made businessman and philanthropist. In 1968, he founded the frozen food chain Bejam, which in 1989 he sold to Iceland Foods, leaving him owner of Wizard Wine which, through mergers, became Majestic Wine.
He moved to Radlett in 1964, and in 2018 received the Freedom of the Parish of Aldenham in recognition of his charitable giving to many local charities and other groups over many years.
He said: "I have been very successful in business and have used the funds to give something back to the community helping small charities in the local area. I have given lump sums to struggling charities and grants to help new organisations get off the ground".
He was the first President of this Museum, and the Trustees remain very grateful for his support, which continued until the end of his life. Without it, we would not be where we are today.
His philanthropy will be remembered with gratitude by all of those involved in the Museum, some of whom also counted him as a personal friend.