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In February 2000 a member of the Local History Group suggested to Richard Bowers (who trades as Nomaz providing IT and other technical consultancy) that a Web site for the local area was needed.
Initial development (early 2001) saw the creation of a location map, a pictorial tour through the village (in which the user chooses the route), and summary information about various places of interest and organisations.
Much of the basic information on organisations was extracted from the then latest (January 2000) edition of the Village Directory, with the kind permission of the Village Diarist.
The site was publicised for local comment in the community newsletter - Roundabout - early in May 2001. Various improvements followed.
In 2001 localised email addresses were introduced.
During preparations for the Parish Plan the site hosted draft documents and other information for comment.
In August 2004 a Village Notice Board facility was introduced, including an event diary. These pages are easily edited "Wiki style" from any Internet browser by those authorised so to do.
In November 2012 the site was re-ordered to make the Diary the main focus, though with the "traditional" material still available.
The pages were (and still are) designed to load as quickly as possible and to work acceptably with slow speed Internet connections and with several generations of the most common "browser" programs. A screen resolution greater than 640x480 was originally recommended(!). The original site (these pages) is Java free, script free, and cookie free, even if not quite organic. ("PHP" server side scripting is used for the Diary etc. and Java Script may be used.) Any criticism for not using flashy gimmicks will be taken as a compliment.
Feedback on any difficulties experienced is welcome (but please check Known Problems first).
The site is intended to be useful, truthful and decent. Offers of content are welcome though Nomaz is in no way obliged to include all material offered, whether for payment or otherwise. The inclusion of advertisements of any kind (except in the events Diary) is not permitted.
The site was created and, subject to discussions with interested parties, is expected to be managed for the foreseeable future by Nomaz though taking account of wishes expressed by others in the community.
In the spirit of openness still evident in many parts of the Web, it is hoped to cooperate with other sites having overlapping or related coverage. Links to a number of such sites are included, and some have reciprocated.
Discussions with various local organisations and businesses regarding possible additional content atre welcomed. Note however that pop-up and other intrusive adverts will not be carried - users should choose what they view.
Replacement of some of the initial "tour" photographs (which were taken in Winter and often in poor light) is desirable. Offers of suitable images (in digital or print form) will be appreciated. (Authorship will be acknowledged though copyright must be reliquished.)
All costs to date have been borne by Nomaz, though it is hoped that some reimbursement for the work so far done and for future costs will be raised from advertising. Possible sponsors for further work are invited to get in touch, as are organisations requiring Web pages designed.
It is believed that none of the data on this site, or used in it's preparation, requires registration under the Data Protection Act 1998. However, if you have any concern over data displayed, or information which you believe may be held about you by Nomaz, please get in touch.
The HTML code is largely "hand crafted" with assistance originally from the LiquidFX® and HTMLPad 2000® editors. Latterly, Linux tools and "Free and Open Source" (FOSS) software is used exclusively.
The original tour photographs were taken using a very low-end (even then) digital camera, loaded into Serif® PhotoPlus® and "improved" using gamma, saturation, lightness and other adjustments as appropriate - such as toning down over obtrusive car paintwork. (The excellent free GIMP program is now used for image manipulation). "Under construction" pages are avoided.
The site is designed keeping in mind the adage "keep it simple, stupid!" (KISS), with the aim of minimising page load times. Photographs are optimised for file size (rather than quality) and for screen viewing (rather than printing), though they may be printed for personal use. Offers of additional and/or replacement photographs are welcome.
Viewing
The site is best viewed using a screen resolution greater than 640x480 (you get that on a phone now!) but if you are limited to this please use the full screen. In this case also hiding tool bars and status lines (probably via the View menu) will help improve your experience of the site. A resolutions of 1024x768 on a 15" or 17" screen is recommended.
(Note: Because the original site was designed at a time when 800x600 was a typical screen resolution some pages such as the Tour are best viewed "windowed" on most computers now.)
If you have reached this site (www.woodhouse-eaves.co.uk) through another, and there is not enough space left in the window to view these pages properly, please click here to re-enter this site in a new window.
These pages are hosted cheaply but it is hoped that performance is reasonable. Please do report any problems you have with availability or page load times, bearing in mind that problems may be elsewhere in "cyberspace".
Corrections for errors, ideas for improvement, relevant additional information or details of other Web sites that should be mentioned are welcome. Local organisations and businesses who have not been approached are invited to initiate discussion of their wishes.
Click here to send your comments or enquiries by email. Thank you.