Talks 2024 - 25
Wednesday 25th September 2024
Garden Visiting – A Very British Tradition
Margie Hoffnung
Horticulturalist, garden historian and Conservation Officer for The Gardens Trust, Margie Hoffnung takes a light-hearted look at the many aspects of gardens through the ages which might tempt people to visit them, taking in everything from classic English parklands by Capability Brown and Repton, to gnomes, hermits, giant veg, flower shows and lawn mower racing.
Wednesday 30th October 2024
John Nevil Maskelyne – Gloucestershire’s Master of Magic and Mystery
Andy Meller
Born in Cheltenham in 1839, John Nevil Maskelyne was a magician, showman, author and inventor who is honoured to this day by the Magic Circle, which presents an annual Maskelyne Award for services to British magic. Andy Meller will delve into the life of this fascinating man and will include one or two magic tricks along the way.
Wednesday 27th November 2024
From Romans to the Medieval –
New archaeological sites in Gloucestershire revealed by
Public Access Archaeology
Tony Roberts
Through his company, Archeoscan, Tony Roberts provides
opportunities for public involvement in archaeology, with the most popular activity being the chance to participate in excavations at exciting sites in the Cotswolds. Tony will give us an update about his recent excavations in the area.
Wednesday 22nd January 2025
My Life on the River Severn
Chris Witts
Chris Witts talks about his experiences working on the river Severn. He joined John Harker Ltd as a lad of 16 and soon found it was a rough life on the oil tanker barges, working night and day, having to grab sleep when you could. His work took him along the Bristol Channel down to Swansea and as far inland as Worcester, with smaller barges working between Avonmouth and Stourport-on-Severn.
Wednesday 26th February 2025
Along the Line: My Life in Archaeology
Phil Harding
The Annual Croome Lecture
PARISH CHURCH, 7.30pm
Phil Harding, known for his television work in programmes such as Time Team, will talk about the highlights of his 50-year career in archaeology.
Wednesday 26th March 2025
Men Behaving Badly
Ian Mackintosh
Ian Mackintosh will lead us through 500 years of misdemeanours, from selling rotten meat to infringements on the common and collective action in times of hardship, also exploring how these offences were processed through different courts.
Wednesday 23rd April 2025
Casting Stones at Napier’s Bones
Malcolm J Watkins
A joint meeting with Cirencester Science and Technology Society at the Ashcroft Centre. In the late 16th and 17th centuries the advancement of mathematical thinking and ideas was phenomenal, with many new ideas and techniques being published and invented. This illustrated talk explores the story from Napier’s Bones to the Pascaline (the first commercial mechanical calculator) looking at slide rules and other tools used.
You do not need to be mathematically minded to enjoy this talk!
Wednesday 28th May 2025
Annual General Meeting followed by
Archaeology of the ‘Missing Link’
Kinga Werner
Kinga Werner of Cotswold Archaeology will take us through the latest discoveries on the route of the A417 ‘missing link’. The site has unearthed a wealth of remarkable artefacts spanning various historical
periods, from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age to the Roman eras, and even artefacts from the Second World War.