At the June 2000 meeting of the Parish Council, members discussed projects to mark the Millennium. One of the suggestions was a book, in which village life in Cradley and Storridge in the year 2000, could be recorded.
Elizabeth Hunt volunteered to organise the project and a sub-committee of Fred Beard, John Rowe, David Creed-Newton and Diana Cale was appointed with Elizabeth.
The present format was selected after much discussion, having consulted the Hereford Archive office, the Police and the school so that the Data Protection Act was not breached and offence was not caused to people living in the villages.
Over 40 contacts wrote the headings for their own organisations, which were then typed by the Parish council's Clerk, Pat Courtney.
The organisers then took endless time and effort getting their members to sign the relevant pages and David Townsend, Headmaster of Cradley School, got all the children and staff in the school to sign their page.
Acid free paper and biro pens with archival ink were used for greater preservation.
Paul and Wynnell Hunt battled through the great floods of Autumn 2000 to visit a map shop in Upton-on-Severn to obtain several ordnance survey maps which they then joined together to enable the villages to be centralised on the map.
The resulting maps give a wonderful picture of both villages, their position, houses and roads.
Wynnell Hunt also wrote the history of the villages from pre-historic times to the present day.
John Drummond took the photographs, even going to a first floor bedroom of a house to get a better view! David Creed-Newton then printed off the photographs on his computer.
A truly communial effort from Cradley and Storridge residents to mark the Millenium