Events - Autumn 2024
To book places for any of these events, email info@friendsofguildfordmuseum.org.uk
Wednesday 18 September 2024 - CANCELLED - due to illness of speaker
“The Potters Who Made History" by Tim Clark
It started in Staffordshire, in the early nineteenth century, when potters began to produce ceramic figures that chronicled all the important characters and events of the day. They recorded royal and military figures at significant moments in their lives. They commemorated performers, politicians, clerics, sportsmen, explorers, criminals and other folk heroes of the day. Each piece told a story and decorated the mantelpieces of the masses who couldn’t afford the ostentatious porcelain figures coveted by the wealthy. These anonymous potters recorded the history of Victorian England in clay, and they created a unique form of tribal art. Tim’s talk will draw on his collection and will feature some actual examples to illustrate what can only be appreciated first-hand.
St Catherine’s Village Hall, Chestnut Avenue, Guildford, GU2 4HF at 2.30 pm Entry £7
Tuesday 15 October 2024
“Messing About on the Wey” by Malcolm Watson
This talk will take us along the banks of the River Wey in Guildford, tracing the history of pleasure boating from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. We will look at historic images and see how the river has changed but also that much is the same.
Malcolm has been a member of the Friends since 2020. He has been involved as a museum volunteer for some years before that. He is a town guide and he and Melanie Holliker came up with the idea for the Messing About on the Wey guided walk that linked to the museum's exhibition last year.
St Catherine’s Village Hall, Chestnut Avenue, Guildford, GU2 4HF at 2.30 pm Entry £7
Thursday 21 November 2024
“West Horsley Place” - by Ed Criswick
West Horsley Place has a fascinating history, and more is being discovered each year as the house is being restored. The house has a rich and varied past, having connections with Henry VIII, Carew Raleigh, the son of Sir Walter Raleigh, the Nicholas and Weston families and Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald, the ‘Fair Geraldine’ of the Earl of Surrey’s Sonnets. It is also known as a film location these days and a place to hear opera. Ed, who is a volunteer with the West Horsley Place Trust, will have plenty of interest to talk about.
St Catherine’s Village Hall, Chestnut Avenue, Guildford, GU2 4HF at 2.30 pm Entry £7
Thursday 12 December 2024
“The English Dictionary” - by Susan Purcell
Virtually every household has at least one dictionary, but we take dictionaries very much for granted. We talk of the dictionary, as we talk of the Bible, as if there were only one, but, in fact, dictionaries do differ. In this light-hearted and entertaining talk, Susan will consider some of the great names in dictionary-making and will show how dictionaries have changed over time.
Susan Purcell is the author of a number of children’s dictionaries and thesauruses and is co-editor of the Puzzler Crossword Solver’s Dictionary, published by Penguin. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguists and the author of several foreign language coursebooks and grammar books, having begun her career as a teacher of modern languages.
St Catherine’s Village Hall, Chestnut Avenue, Guildford, GU2 4HF at 2.30 pm Entry £7