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2022
December 7th Helen Larner Christmas social
Christmas is coming.............
.......presents are wrapped, cards are written and chimneys swept. But who is coming down the chimney? Father Christmas or Santa Claus? We shall delve into the past to find out. Illustrated with pictures and music
Please note: with the move of meetings to the afternoon, the Trustees have decided that this meeting will be open to visitors.
Presentations for 2023
January 25th AGM FOLLOWED BY
ANOTHER ICARUS by ROY SMART
The rise and fall of Percy Pilcher and the Art of Flight
The tale of aviation pioneer Percy Sinclair Pilcher and his wonderful sister, Ella, whose noble quest for flight ended tragically at Stanford Hall, on the banks of Shakespeare’s Avon; the first Englishman to die in the cause of ‘the conquest of the air’ when on the cusp of becoming the most famous name in aviation history. Roy Smart presents this magnificent man, his flying machines - and the historic, but as yet unheralded achievements, of his wonderful sister, the redoubtable Ella Sophia Gertrude, probably the very first woman to fly ! - in a colourful context of music, poetry, Greek myth, art and the beginnings of flight.
February 22nd
THE WANDERING BUTLER AND THE LITTLE MAIDS
SERVANT LIFE AT BADDESLEY CLINTON1870-1923 by JILL KASHI
A look at life in domestic service at Baddesley Clinton. Covering a period from the 1880s to 1923, it traces the lives of some of the female servants who worked at Baddesley, most of whom were from the Harrison family, who had served the Ferrers family for generations. The butler is Charles Hancock and I shall be sharing something of his life and career. It ends with a modern-day reunion of two branches of the Harrison family. I consider the servants unsung heroes and heroines because little was known about them; I will say a little about how I discovered more about them - quite a lot of serendipity was involved!
April 26th
ROGUES, VILLANS AND THIEVES by VANESSA MORGAN
A selection of true stories of crime, and perhaps the odd murder, set in the area around Berkswell, taking in Solihull, Coventry and Leamington Spa. These short stories, set in the 1800’s, include narratives taken from local newspapers of the time.
June 28th
COVENTRY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR by DAVID FRY
Although Coventry was a rapidly growing city before the war, it was the war effort that turbocharged its growth. There was an influx of women workers in the munitions factories that gave a special character to the town. The factories themselves changed almost overnight from making domestic products to churning out aeroplanes, military vehicles, tanks and not least of all, munitions by the ton. Much of the activity was captured on postcards to send to family and friends, some of which have survived to help illustrate this talk
August 23rd
MERRY ENGLAND’S FOLKLORE CALENDER by RICHARD CHURCHLEY
In this talk Richard takes the audience through the year from January to December discussing folk customs and performing excerpts from mummer’s plays and songs and tunes from around the country but with a particular emphasis on the west midlands.
October 25th
POWDER TREASON by GUARDEROBE
In 2023 it will be 418 years since the discovery of the great ’Powder Treason’ and it is still Guy Fawkes’ name that is primarily linked with this historic event which had aimed to blow King James1 and Parliament to smithereens. Guy was only one of a band of fourteen Catholic plotters lead by the charismatic Robert Catesby. But, how did the persecution of Catholics by the state lead this band to this desperate act and why did they believe it was aided by God?
December
Date to be arranged
STEVE DIMMER…… YULE BE SURPRISED!
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