Meetings are held in Gaskell Hall, 17 Emesgate Lane, Silverdale, LA5 0RA at 7.30 pm unless otherwise stated. Our talks generally finish by 9 pm
Come and join us, as a member or as a visitor:
- Annual membership, Single – £10
- Annual membership, Couple – £18
- Visitors to a single meeting – £2
Wed 30th September 2026 – A Virtual Tour of Medieval Lancaster – Dr Chris Tinmouth
This talk will illuminate Lancaster’s medieval heritage ‘beyond the castle’ and take you into the streets, yards and houses of Lancaster through the map of John Speed (1610).
Wed 28th October 2026 – Muncaster Castle’s Wartime Secret Dr Rob David
Between 1939 and 1945 a significant proportion of Britain’s national collection of Modern Art from the Tate Gallery in London was brought to Muncaster Castle to save it from destruction from bombing.
Wed 25th November 2026 – Field Names in the North West of England – Prof Angus Winchester
The names of fields, those most minor of place names, provide a richness in detail, bringing alive past environments and the history of the farming landscape.
Wed 16th December 2026 – Brockhole 125 A Pictorial History of a House and Garden – Kevin Grice
The talk traces the history of Brockhole from its construction in 1900 up to the present day. It draws on rare photographs of the house and grounds as well as archives and other documentation.
Wed 27th January 2027 – The History of Coniston Copper Mines – Mark Hatton
An illustrated talk of the mines and the story of the men, women and children, who for three centuries mined copper ore from here from a depth of upto 1500 feet.
Wed 24th February 2027 – Lancaster Quakers and Slave Ownership – Dr Ann Morgan
A talk about a group of Lancaster Quakers involved in slave ownership and how this fitted the accepted social, political and moral attitudes of the 17th and 18th centuries towards the enslavement of Africans.
Wed 31st March 2027 – Home Sweet Home – Ambleside Oral History Group Judith Shingler and Will Steele
Home sweet home explores the changes in people’s expectations regarding housing over the hundred years covered by AOHG archives.
Wed 28th April 2027 – The Secrets of Sizergh Castle Mrs Janice Wilson
The secret of Sizergh explores and unravels Sizergh, the people and places uncovering fascinating facts and including the legacy and impact of the Strickland family on Britain at war.