The Talks programme for the current season is listed below, after some basic information.
Venue
These talks will be given at:
The Hastings Room
St Andrew's Church Centre
Roger's Lane
Stoke Poges,
SL2 4LN
There is a car park here and so parking should not be a problem. The Hastings Room is best accessed via the outer door by the sign "Lighthouse Cafe".
Day & Time
2nd Friday of the month Sep - Jun, 7.30pm.
(except where the 2nd Friday clashes with Good Friday).
Cost
Talks are free to members and £2 to visitors.
Previous talks
To get an idea of the range of talks we hear, Click here to see our previous talks.
Talks programme for the 2023/24 season are listed below.
Fri 8 Sep 2023, 7:30pm: Myths and Legends - Trinovatium, Merlin and Lud Colin Oakes
This talk looks at the myriad Myths and Legends involving London starting from the 12th Century Geoffrey of Monmouth. We will look at the pseudo history of Londons' foundation and of Kind Lud and the more famous Merlin, showing the capital as a place of place and Pomp.
Fri 13 Oct 2023, 7:30pm: The Great Escape John Edwards
The memorable 1963 film, The Great Escape, brought to light the story of the escape during World War II of seventy-three Allied airmen from Stalag Luft III. Did the film give an accurate account of what happened? What was the true story? What was the fate of those who made their dash to freedom? In addition, John will explain the role of a Policeman from Blackpool and his quest for truth regarding ‘The Great Escape’.
Fri 10 Nov 2023, 7:30pm: An Heir and a Spare Graham Horn
The stories of those princes and princesses who were heir to the throne yet never became Monarch...
Fri 8 Dec 2023, 7:30pm to 10:00pm. Christmas Social event.
A sharing buffet, quizzes, etc.?
Fri 12 Jan 2024, 7:30pm: The Really Great Escape Bernard Foot.
The story of a truly great Prisoner of War escape. But this is a story we do not hear about – it is not the story the famous film was made about. This is about a far larger and more successful escape, with 105 PoWs (mainly British and Commonwealth) escaping, with 99 making it safely home. It took place in the former Yugoslavia, and the real heroes were the Yugoslavian Partisans. The presentation gives a background to Yugoslavian history, describes the Partisans, and explains the German PoW camp system before talking about the escape.
Fri 9 Feb 2024, 7:30pm: The Rise & Fall of Skindles Nigel Smales.
Founded as The Orkney Arms in the 1730s, the iconic Skindles Hotel on the Taplow side of Maidenhead Bridge had a fascinating and notorious history until its closure in 1995. The author HG Wells observed that its "ruling interests are love - largely illicit - and persistent drinking". Music hall comedians asked "Are you married or do you live in Maidenhead?" And in the 1960s, Skindles became a must-play gig for any band with ambition. Then came dilapidation and decay, leaving only memories.
Fri 8 Mar 2024, 7:30pm: Two Mansions: Newland Park and Orchehill Denise Beddows
These would feature respectively a refuge for tortured women and an underground assassin's lair; and a dowry for an unsuitable marriage of a young woman who fled a royal scandal
Fri 12 Apr 2024, 7:30pm: Cornwall, Theatre, Community: Three Histories Professor Sally Mackey
A landscape long established as a site of gatherings in the open, this talk focusses on three Cornish ‘theatres’, looking at their close historical links with community: Plen an Gwarry, the Minack and Kneehigh.
Fri 10 May 2024, 7:30pm: Origins of Writing and Number - by many Hands Brian Withington
Notation for recording of property prompted the first markings and the ideas behind them. Multiple attempts from separate Levantine and nearby groups fused into widespread adoption of a complex Cuneiform script. Its domination lasted only until the arrival of first Semitic alphabets, (but it lived on for a further 2,000 years). Their limitations soon ironed out by creation of vowels by the Greeks, giving the West its simple, versatile systems of written records.
Fri 14 Jun 2024, 7:30pm: AGM 2024 followed by: A Talk TBA
Traditionally, after an AGM, we have a talk given by one of our members.