November Lecture - Monday 9 November 2026 at 7.30pm
Hawaii - David Edwards
David is a university tutor on renewable energy, past environmental change and geoscience hazards. He has vast experience around the world advising and leading expeditions exploring geological and scientific changes in the landscape.
This talk features Hawaii, one of the most intriguing places on the planet. Tropical islands with snow capped mountains that are part of the USA but don’t feel like it. Safe to live on but with continuous volcanic activity. A tropical island paradise which is also the seventh wettest place on Earth.
Join David in exploring this fascinating area, meet a survivor of Pearl Harbour, see its exciting volcanic activity and learn how its diversity and mix of cultures makes it so apart from mainstream America, enjoy the (endangered) wildlife and learn what it’s like to live in a place with a huge diversity of culture and geography.
Hawaii - David Edwards
David is a university tutor on renewable energy, past environmental change and geoscience hazards. He has vast experience around the world advising and leading expeditions exploring geological and scientific changes in the landscape.
This talk features Hawaii, one of the most intriguing places on the planet. Tropical islands with snow capped mountains that are part of the USA but don’t feel like it. Safe to live on but with continuous volcanic activity. A tropical island paradise which is also the seventh wettest place on Earth.
Join David in exploring this fascinating area, meet a survivor of Pearl Harbour, see its exciting volcanic activity and learn how its diversity and mix of cultures makes it so apart from mainstream America, enjoy the (endangered) wildlife and learn what it’s like to live in a place with a huge diversity of culture and geography.
December Lecture - Monday 7 December 2926 at 7.30pm
Hackfall - A landscape back from the brink - David Whinpenny
David worked for the Countryside Commission before setting up his own PR company. He has always been interested in gardens and the quirky side of architecture. David is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society and has written for the AA, BBC Countryfile magazine and impressively was a Mastermind finalist in 1999.
One of the great lost landscapes of England, Grade 1 listed, the very early romantic landscape of Hackfall was laid out in a wooded gorge of the River Nidd by the Aislabie family whose nearby Studley Royal Estate is world famous. Hackfall was just as renowned until the 1930’s when the estate was sold. It decayed for more than 50 years until this landscape of trees and water, dotted with follies and with a mysterious beauty was rescued with the help of the Woodland and the Landmark Trusts and its own Hackfall Trust. In 2011 it won a Europa Nostra Grand Prix for its restoration.
This talk sets Hackfall in its historical context and catalogues its decline and outlines the efforts to restore it to glory.
Hackfall - A landscape back from the brink - David Whinpenny
David worked for the Countryside Commission before setting up his own PR company. He has always been interested in gardens and the quirky side of architecture. David is an accredited lecturer for The Arts Society and has written for the AA, BBC Countryfile magazine and impressively was a Mastermind finalist in 1999.
One of the great lost landscapes of England, Grade 1 listed, the very early romantic landscape of Hackfall was laid out in a wooded gorge of the River Nidd by the Aislabie family whose nearby Studley Royal Estate is world famous. Hackfall was just as renowned until the 1930’s when the estate was sold. It decayed for more than 50 years until this landscape of trees and water, dotted with follies and with a mysterious beauty was rescued with the help of the Woodland and the Landmark Trusts and its own Hackfall Trust. In 2011 it won a Europa Nostra Grand Prix for its restoration.
This talk sets Hackfall in its historical context and catalogues its decline and outlines the efforts to restore it to glory.
January Lecture - Monday 11 January 2027 at 7.30pm
"Curiosities of London Streets" - Andrew Warde
Andrew is a retired Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and a qualified London Blue Badge Guide. He writes and presents walks and illustrated talks, highlighting historic buildings, and revealing interesting aspects of London’s past and its people.
London is like a free open-air museum and art gallery combined - when you know where to look. This talk is about the unusual, quirky or even odd things you can find on the streets of the city, showing where to see a nine-foot dragon, some grocers’ camels and a clock that once set time for the whole of Britain. In the words of Walter Beasant, “I’ve been walking about London for the last thirty years and I find something fresh in it every day"
"Curiosities of London Streets" - Andrew Warde
Andrew is a retired Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and a qualified London Blue Badge Guide. He writes and presents walks and illustrated talks, highlighting historic buildings, and revealing interesting aspects of London’s past and its people.
London is like a free open-air museum and art gallery combined - when you know where to look. This talk is about the unusual, quirky or even odd things you can find on the streets of the city, showing where to see a nine-foot dragon, some grocers’ camels and a clock that once set time for the whole of Britain. In the words of Walter Beasant, “I’ve been walking about London for the last thirty years and I find something fresh in it every day"
February Lecture - Monday 8 February 2027 at 7.30pm
"Nell Gwynne" - Lesley Smith
Nell Gwynne was the mistress of Charles II and many people believe that was all she was known for - other than selling oranges!
The real Nell Gwynne is a victory for English womanhood, showing great courage and against all the odds became a star of the London stage and beloved of the King of England.
You will have a chance to meet pretty, witty little Nell in a fantastic costume and have the chance to both laugh and cry with her.
She can be bawdy at times, so be prepared.
We have met Lesley before when she visited us as Mary, Queen of Scots so we know how excellently she steps into these rolls. She was curator of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire from 2000 to 2024 and is known for her dramatic, accurate portrayals of historical characters in full costume. She is a specialist in Tudor history but the full range includes characters from the first to the twentieth centuries. Lesley has been featured in many radio and television programmes and is the author of two novels set in Elizabethan England.
"Nell Gwynne" - Lesley Smith
Nell Gwynne was the mistress of Charles II and many people believe that was all she was known for - other than selling oranges!
The real Nell Gwynne is a victory for English womanhood, showing great courage and against all the odds became a star of the London stage and beloved of the King of England.
You will have a chance to meet pretty, witty little Nell in a fantastic costume and have the chance to both laugh and cry with her.
She can be bawdy at times, so be prepared.
We have met Lesley before when she visited us as Mary, Queen of Scots so we know how excellently she steps into these rolls. She was curator of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire from 2000 to 2024 and is known for her dramatic, accurate portrayals of historical characters in full costume. She is a specialist in Tudor history but the full range includes characters from the first to the twentieth centuries. Lesley has been featured in many radio and television programmes and is the author of two novels set in Elizabethan England.
March Lecture - Monday 8 March at 7.30pm
Meet the women of the War of Roses - Annie Garthwaite
Annie Garthwaite is the acclaimed author of two novels that bring the women of the Wars of the Roses to life.
“Cecily” was named a top pick by the Times and Sunday Times and has recently been optioned for television. The second book “The King’s Mother” was “Book of the Month” in 2024 by the Times. Although an almost local having grown up in Hartlepool she now lives in Shropshire, close to the Yorkist stronghold of Ludlow Castle.
Accounts of the Wars of the Roses are dominated by men - kings and kingmakers, traitors and tyrants. But they were equally shaped by women, driving the action and risking their lives to secure the throne for their sons. From Cecily Neville, matriarch of House York, to Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Tudor dynasty. Annie traces the risks they took and the prices they paid.
Meet the women of the War of Roses - Annie Garthwaite
Annie Garthwaite is the acclaimed author of two novels that bring the women of the Wars of the Roses to life.
“Cecily” was named a top pick by the Times and Sunday Times and has recently been optioned for television. The second book “The King’s Mother” was “Book of the Month” in 2024 by the Times. Although an almost local having grown up in Hartlepool she now lives in Shropshire, close to the Yorkist stronghold of Ludlow Castle.
Accounts of the Wars of the Roses are dominated by men - kings and kingmakers, traitors and tyrants. But they were equally shaped by women, driving the action and risking their lives to secure the throne for their sons. From Cecily Neville, matriarch of House York, to Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Tudor dynasty. Annie traces the risks they took and the prices they paid.
April Lecture - Monday 12 April 2027
(AGM at 6.45pm, Lecture at 7.30pm)
“Illuminating the word of God” The glory of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts - Professor Joyce Hill
Professor Hill was formerly Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds and is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Leeds. Her knowledge and expertise are widely acknowledged and respected.
Professor Hill’s research interests are chiefly in the Anglo-Saxon Benedictine Reform and its impact on ecclesiastical and cultural life.
Christianity came to England from Rome in 597 and with it came the art of making books. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon centuries styles changed, but the artistry remained exceptional and the surviving manuscripts are among the greatest of our national treasures. Professor Hill’s illustrated lecture introduces us to some of the most impressive of these works of art and draws our attention to the skill that went into making them.
(AGM at 6.45pm, Lecture at 7.30pm)
“Illuminating the word of God” The glory of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts - Professor Joyce Hill
Professor Hill was formerly Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds and is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Leeds. Her knowledge and expertise are widely acknowledged and respected.
Professor Hill’s research interests are chiefly in the Anglo-Saxon Benedictine Reform and its impact on ecclesiastical and cultural life.
Christianity came to England from Rome in 597 and with it came the art of making books. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon centuries styles changed, but the artistry remained exceptional and the surviving manuscripts are among the greatest of our national treasures. Professor Hill’s illustrated lecture introduces us to some of the most impressive of these works of art and draws our attention to the skill that went into making them.