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Final Presentation for 2024
November 27th
YULE BE SURPRISED! WHY CHRISTMAS IS CHRISTMAS
by Steve Dimmer
A sideways look at the traditions of Christmas that we take for granted.
Why a partridge in a pear tree? When did Santa first begin coming down the chimney?
And Christmas trees were not introduced by Prince Albert.
A fascinating and light-hearted journey through the festive season guaranteed to inform and delight!
This meeting is a Christmas Social and visitors are invited to join members in enjoying some festive cheer.
Presentations for 2025
February 26th AGM FOLLOWED BY
FROM FOLK REMEDIES TO PHARMACY
by Marie Fogg
The talk looks at a variety of folk remedies from Anglo Saxon times, medieval, Tudor, Victorian and up to modern day. Plus, how some of the 'oldest' remedies are now being used to develop new medicines.
April 23rd
THE MAN WHO MAPPED THE ARCTIC.
LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR GEORGE BACK (1796-1897)
by Nigel Metcalf
Family history research by the speaker Nigel Metcalfe discovered that his 4th great-grand uncle was Admirable Sir George Back. Back was a Royal Navy officer, explorer, cartographer and artist and was one of the first Europeans to systematically explore and map the Canadian Arctic Coast. Three expeditions were carried out in the company of another famous explorer Sir John Franklin and Back's last command was of HMS Terror, one of the two ship that subsequently disappeared in Franklin's doomed 1848 Arctic voyage. The talk looks firstly at Back's early life, including him becoming a prisoner-of-war of the French at the age of 12, and then describes his five Arctic expeditions by land and by sea and concludes by looking at his life at home and in public once his exploring days were over. The talk is illustrated with many of his own drawings and paintings.
June 25th
WEEPING ANGELS- INTERPRETING THE SYMBOLISM FOUND IN VICTORIAN CEMETRIES
by David Moore
Symbols are a language that can help us understand our past. As the saying goes, “a picture paints a thousand words”: but which words? Understanding our past determines actively, our ability to understand the present. We take a journey back in time to look at the symbolism found in Victorian cemeteries and try to understand what messages the living left, to tell the story of their dead loved ones.
August 27th
VULCAN’S TEMPLE
by Andrew Lound
The names of Matthew Boulton and James Watt are synonymous with the development of the Steam Engine. In 1795 they commissioned the construction of the Soho Foundry in order to build all the components of steam engines. The Soho Foundry became one of the great establishments of the industrial age building pumping engines, power engines and marine engines including the screw engine for Brunel’s ‘Great Eastern’. Over the decades the Foundry has evolved with the James Watt & Company maintaining a presence into the 20th century. In 1895 W & T Avery the great weighing machine company bought the site and transformed it. Since then, the foundry has grown coping with two wars, shipping disasters and changing technology. This presentation traces a remarkable and unique history of a legendary establishment. With stunning period images and evocative music Andrew resplendent in 18th century costume relives the history of Vulcan’s Temple.
October 22nd
LOST VOICES FROM THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR PERIOD
by Philip Yorke
Little is known about the turbulent years of the English Civil Wars (1642-51) – and the nine year period that followed.
Warwickshire played a significant role in the struggles between Parliament and Charles the First, with key people from the county taking up arms for the cause they believed in and important historical events taking place in the region, including:
- William Purefoy, the governor of Coventry, refusing Charles the First entry to the pro-Parliament city shortly before war was declared in August 1642.
- The Battle of Edgehill – fought to a stalemate in October 1642 – ignited the conflict, putting Warwickshire on the map and forcing the country to endure its most turbulent period in the last thousand years.
- Robert Greville rose in prominence during the early months of the war, becoming one of Parliament’s most senior figures and influential military leaders.
- Stratford Upon Avon was home to William Dobson, a man deemed to be “the most excellent painter that England had yet bred” – and one of the favourite artists of Charles the First.
- Coventry, the Parliamentarian stronghold, became one the land’s foremost royalist prisons, thereby ensuring the term “being sent to Coventry” would become a popular phrase for more than 370 years.
- And in 1651, the county played an important role in sheltering the future Charles the Second as he fled the disastrous Battle of Worcester in a bid to regroup his shattered forces and continue the fight against Oliver Cromwell and Parliament…
- Historical fiction author, Philip Yorke, discusses these points – and others – in a talk about the Lost Voices of the English Civil Wars in which he identifies the events that led to warfare and the important role Warwickshire played during 18 long and turbulent years (1642-60) that resulted in a king being beheaded and Britain becoming a republic for the only time in its long and illustrious history.
November 26th OUR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
IO SATURNALIA
by Guarderobe
Io Saturnalia! Stuck for ideas this Christmas? Well come along and find out how the Romans celebrated the midwinter feast of Saturnalia. Long before the Christians adopted this week long festival for their own purposes it was a time associated with much merrymaking, eating and drinking and of course gift giving! Candles and flames were a feature of mid-winter celebrations as in many cultures today. Social rules were relaxed and slaves were even allowed to exchange roles with their masters. Local Roman Geminus will be pleased to show how the household are making preparations for the feast and to share some of their favourite family recipes of the food that they have prepared especially for Saturnalia.
This meeting is a Christmas Social Evening and visitors are invited to join members in enjoying some festive cheer.
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