Humour in Genealogy a  talk by Chris Broom 8pm April 21st 2021 As the title suggests, his talk “Humour in Genealogy” uses a number of light-hearted examples to demonstrate the advantages of scrutinising original documents in family-history research, many of which contain additional information not included in online […]

 Join us at online for a great talk by Kevin Little on the History of Smelly Alley in Reading; a tale of fish and the decline of fishmongers! Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83583236225?pwd=aFhvOGE1b0drYmdxbmZ1WndMYjdSUT09 Meeting ID: 835 8323 6225 Passcode: 629523 Union Street, also known locally as Smelly Alley, is […]

Come along  to a fascinating talk by Mark Bowman. In England and Wales, the legal year 1751 was a short year of 282 days, running from 25 March to 31 December. 1752 began on 1 January. To align the calendar in use in England to that on the […]

Join us for an online talk by Graham Harding about the great Sandhurst  route:  Sandhurst (Gloucestershire) to Sandhurst (Kent) via Sandhurst (Berkshire). A 180-mile walk across the whole of southern England, along Roman roads, ancient trackways, and long distance paths, including historic sights and interesting places, with an […]

Join us for an online talk by David Bickerton The pursuit and sinking of Bismarck is one of the enduring stories of WW2 which continues to fascinate. More than a hundred British warships were involved in the 5 day, 1,750 mile hunt. The British battlecruiser, HMS Hood was […]

Join us for an interesting talk by Trevor Ottlewski,  concerning the history of houses.   In the 19th century many town and city workers were housed in squalid and insanitary tenement buildings. These were often back to back blocks with no running water, no lighting, no main drainage, […]

Join us for  a talk by Alan Turton  about the life of James Aitken (28 September 1752 – 10 March 1777), also known as John the Painter, was a mercenary who committed acts of sabotage in Royal Navy naval dockyards during the American Revolutionary War in 1776–77. Upon leaving school at age 14, he tried his hand at […]

Join us for a lively and concise history of Rail Mail the Post Office  from the beginning to the present day given by John Rogers. In 1840 Uniform Penny Post was launched marking a revolution in the way the postal system could be used. Rowland Hill’s postal reforms […]