Wednesday April 9th 2008
Andy Patmore
The History of Salcey Forest
Andy Patmore has worked in the Forestry Commission and Salcey Forest for 30 years. He will tell us how natural and man-made events over 8,000 years have moulded the forest into the way it is today.
See: www.forestry.gov.uk/salceyforest

Wednesday May 14th 2008
Nick Hill
History and Restoration of Apethorpe Hall
Apethorpe Hall is a 500 year old Northamptonshire Country House in danger of total collapse and Nick Hill is the Director of an English Heritage project to save it. Apethorpe played an important role in entertaining Tudor and Stuart Royalty.
See: www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.10929

Wednesday June 11th 2008
Bill Griffiths
Milton Keynes Museum - its Role in the Community
Bill Griffiths is the Director of this local museum which started life with the birth of the new city of Milton Keynes as the Museum of Industry and Rural Life. He will describe the development of the museum and its future plans.
See: www.mkmuseum.org.uk/

Wednesday July 9th 2008
Open night
Members and visitors are invited to speak on projects and any aspect of local history. Admission is free and a relaxed social theme and historical quiz concludes with supper and a raffle.

Wednesday September 10th 2008
Rob Kendall
Restoration of 78 Derngate
Rob Kendall is the chairman of the "Friends of 78 Derngate", a unique house that was remodelled in 1916-17 by renowned Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh for Northampton businessman Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke. It was used by Northampton High School for Girls from 1964. Now it has been carefully restored and returned to its 1917 appearance, and the next door house transformed into an exhibition space and visitor centre.
See: www.78derngate.org.uk.

Wednesday October 8th 2008
Brian Jones
Celebrating the Tradition and Superstitions of Halloween
Brian Jones is a freelance social historian, a WEA tutor and a guide for Greater Peterborough. Hallowe'en Festival, celebrated on 31 October, was originally a pagan festival of the dead marking the end of the Celtic year. Attempts to Christianise the festival by making it the eve of All Hallows' Day, have failed to obliterate its essentially pagan character, emphasised by imagery of broom-stick-riding witches and grotesque masks fashioned from hollowed-out pumpkins that are meant to scare away demons and evil spirits.

Wednesday November 12th 2008
"Historic Haut Cuisine"
Napoleonic Cookery
Dressed in authentic costume, Historic Haut Cuisine will tell us about the food of the Napoleonic era including such delicacies as spotted dog, boiled baby and burgoo. They will bring along a range of Napoleonic artefacts including weaponry for us to look at and handle, and samples of food for us to taste.

Wednesday December 10th 2008
Christmas social evening
Our Christmas social evening will include readings and music, and the evening's entertainment will conclude with a shared supper and a raffle

Wednesday January 14th 2009
Iain Soden
Towcester Castle and other Mottes
Iain Soden was the Senior Project officer for the archaeological dig at Towcester Castle (Bury Mount) in 2007, during which he discovered a well preserved section of Norman wall. He will put the results of this dig into context, and will bring us up to date with the latest research.

Wednesday February 11th 2009
Syd Sharp
Black Boots and Short Trousers
Fegan's, founded in 1870, ran large orphanages (similar to Barnardo's) in various areas of London. It eventually replaced these large institutions with smaller homes. Our speaker was one of 200 boys at the institution in Stony Stratford, and will tell us about his life and about the connection with Canada.
See: http://clutch.open.ac.uk/schools/watlingway99/FeganLife.html

Wednesday March 11th 2009
AGM
The past and future year's aims and activities will be presented and discussed. The Annual General Meeting will be followed by a talk. The evening will conclude with a social gathering and refreshments.