Flying the Vulcan Bomber – a personal perspective 8pm Wed 21st April 2022

“Flying the Vulcan bomber.” Wed April 21, 2022, 8 PM St. Paul’s Church, The Green, Tadley Join us for a fascinating  online talk on the Vulcan bomber by Squadron Leader Joe Marsden, Joe’s talk will concentrate on the Vulcan – illustrated by photos and film clips to show […]

Memsahibs and their Servants – 8pm 18th May 2022

A TADS talk by Jenny Malin Join us to discover the very first memsahibs to set foot into India in 1617 and how a fair amount of hoodwinking by these ladies enabled them to travel out to the East Indies at a time when the East India Company […]

From Belgium to Basingstoke – World War I Medical Services – 8pm 15th June 2022

In 2014 TADS presented an exhibition on the men whose names were inscribed on Tadley War Memorial. From the research for that exhibition TADS Project Group has produced a presentation on the background of medical procedures at the front and the long and often tortuous route back to […]

Animals in the Lives of Famous People -TADS Wed 16 March 2022

Susan Howe – “Animals in the lives of their famous owners.” While in Athens in 1850, Florence Nightingale saw some boys playing with a ball of fluff, which turned out to be a baby owl. She rescued the owlet, named Athena, and hand-reared her, carrying her around in […]

The Wren Churches of London – Lance Whitehouse 8pm 16th Feb 2022

Join us for a fascinating talk: a tour of the Wren Churches in the City given by Lance Whitehouse, Clerk to the Worshipful Company of Bakers. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Christopher Wren was instructed to design and rebuild 51 churches in the city. He […]

Twyford Waterworks – 8pm 20th July 2022

Join us for a TADS talk by Matthew Feldwick Twyford Waterworks is an Edwardian pumping station containing a unique selection of buildings and machinery within a rural downland setting in the heart of Hampshire. The site was given the status of a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1973 and […]

Over and Under Railway Bridges and Tunnels 8pm Wed 19th January

Over and Under – Railway Bridges and Tunnels on postcards By John Holland (Associate of the Willis Museum)   One of the reasons we reverted to this talk being done on Zoom, was that John was recently home from a hospital operation and grateful to give the talk […]

Kings, Boxes and Dots – 8pm 17th Nov 2021

Join us for a lively and concise history of Royal Mail and 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 […]

Arson in His Majesty’s Dockyard – 8pm Wed 20th October 2021

James Aitken, oft times known as John The Painter: the First Modern Terrorist. By Alan Turton. Hurrah! Our first live talk for many a long month. In the good old days of yesteryear we tend to think of baddies as highwaymen, footpads or pirates. To have our own […]

‘The History of Houses’ – 8 pm Wed 15th Sept 2021

The History of Houses by Trevor Ottlewski Trevor is Chairman of the Wokingham History Group and has a special interest in the area’s historic buildings. He gave a chronological review of houses from pre-Roman to the present, with very good illustrations from real buildings. His first point was […]

The Pursuit and Sinking of Bismarck – 8pm Wed 21st July 2021 (ZOOM)

The Pursuit and Sinking of the Bismarck By David Bickerton David related the tale of the sinking of German battleship Bismarck which was a dramatic episode of World War II. His great interest is because his father was serving on one of the Royal Navy ships. The end […]

1752 and All That: the derivation of the modern calendar – 8pm 19th May 2021

A Talk by Mark Bowman Why 1752? Well that was the year that Britain changed its calendar system and famously lost eleven days. The title of the talk is a play on ‘1066 and all that’ the hilarious book from the 1930s by Sellars and Yeatman which treats […]

Journey from Sandhurst to Sandhurst – 8pm 16th June 2021

The Great Sandhurst to Sandhurst Walk, via Sandhurst by Graham Harding (assisted by Helen) Graham and Helen moved to Sandhurst, Berkshire in 2004. Through misdirected post they rapidly found out there are two other Sandhursts in southern England and so was born the project to walk from the […]

Smelly Alley in Reading – 8pm 17th March 2021

Union Street, also known locally as Smelly Alley, is a pedestrian alley in the centre of the English town of Reading. It is lined with small shops and other retail outlets, and connects Broad Street and Friar Street. The name Smelly Alley came about in the 1940s, as […]

Humour in Genealogy – 8pm April 21st 2021

A talk by Chris Broom 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 records. Humour in Genealogy – A talk […]