THE history of a Vale village has been revealed in a new book.

Villagers June Barnett and Val Svendsen have written Aston Somerville Through the Years, a factual and anecdotal history that goes right back to the Norman Conquest.

June said they were inspired to put pen to paper after hearing several humorous and interesting stories about the village at a WI dinner.

“We thought perhaps these should be written down before we forget them,” she said.

“The more we looked for information, the more questions we had, and what started as a fun thing to do grew into a serious project.”

After eight months of interviews, trawling through public records and finding photographs, they were finally ready to begin writing – a daunting task for both June and Val who had never written a book before.

To mark the launch of the book, there will be an exhibition of old pictures and documents at Aston Somerville Village Hall between noon and 4pm on Saturday and 2pm to 4pm on Sunday.

To order a copy of the book, call June on 01386 852464 or Val on 01386 859402.