23 – 24 Programme
Our next programme is on September 25 @ 8.00 pm
The Oxford of Inspector Morse
Alastair Lack
The Growth and History of Newbury
David Peacock
David Peacock is a well known local historian in Newbury and was the author of The Story of Newbury in 2011. This talk follows the history of Newbury from its Norman origins as a regional centre to its present situation as the administrative hub for West Berks and as the home of Vodafone and other high tech companies. Please see the poster below for full details.
Christian Missions to Victorian Cowley
Emily Greig
Our talk by Emily Greig in February broadly covers the rapid expansion of Cowley in the second half of the 19th century, the social upheavals it caused and the work of the clergy from several churches to offer spiritual and moral guidance as well as improve the conditions of the community, which often fell far short of ideal. See the poster below for more details of the talk.
Cowley Victorian evangelists poster rev 2
The January programme was a talk by Carl Champness of Oxford Archaeology on Oxford in 10 digs. This drew an audience of 40+, some from neighbouring societies. It was a most enjoyable canter through 10 of Oxford’s key digs in the last decade – it helped if you knew Oxford’s mediaeval street plan, as described in Septembers talk by Nick Millea.
Our November meeting was a talk by Judy Dewey, curator of Wallingford Museum, on ‘The life and times of Alfred the Great’. This is described in the poster below.
This was preceded by our AGM at 8.00 p.m. , which concluded in the record time of 7 minutes @ just 8.08 pm. The treasurer was rewarded by a round of applause – well earned.
Judy is a well known local historian and archaeologist with a special interest in Saxon England. The poster for the meeting is shown below, together with a review of the 21-22 events and the group’s current finances.
2022 AGM 8.00pm November 28th
The summary documents for the AGM are set out below – 1. Our very full programme for the 21-22 year 2. The financial summary for same period 3. A few photos illustrating our walks in that period.4. Minutes of the October 2022 AGM
Programme Report for 22-21mod3
The first programme for the new season was a privileged look at the creation of a major new historical map of Oxford in the Historic Towns maps series.
The talk was given by Nick Millea who has been Map Curator at the Bodleian Library since 1992. The title was From Agas to O.S.
The poster link is shown below:
October 24th Meeting
Mark Davies Dungeon or Dunghill – The story of Oxford Castle
This talk covered the history of Oxford from before its Norman re-foundation in 1071 – the approximate date of the main St Georges Tower.
Oxford Castle Mark Davies poster (1)
Mark Davies Poster
2021 – 2022 Programme
Walks for 2022
Three walks are now being offered to members and their friends during the summer; all are on Mondays and start in the early evening when the crowds are enjoying dinner and the traffic has hopefully become quieter. In Lower Radley the latter may not be such a problem but it should help in Oxford. These excursions are:
| Walk title | Content -& distance | Leader[s] | Start time | Cost |
| The Old Half Timbered Houses of Radley | A tour of Lower Radley’s collection of old dwellings and a visit to one of them – around a mile – flat | Richard Dudding
|
6.30pm
June 27th Lower Radley |
£10
NOW FULLY BOOKED |
| Oxford and the Civil War | A tour of the places of interest during the siege of the royal court in Oxford – up to 2 miles – flat | Stephen Barker | 6.30pm
July 25th St Giles Oxford |
£10 |
| The Architecture of Oxford | A historical review of key buildings in the centre of Oxford, both ancient and modern – up to 2 miles – flat | Victoria Bentata | 6.30pm
August 15th TBA Oxford |
£10
NOW FULLY BOOKED |
The note describing the walks in a little more detail can be downloaded by following this link:
Summer walks 2022 summary booking note
May Meeting May 23rd
Our final talk for the spring programme was by Liz Woolley on May 23rd when she described ‘Child Labour in 19th century Oxfordshire.’ The poster is shown below:
On April 25th Richard Dudding described the Half timbered cottages of Lower Radley and the lives of their inhabitants. This will link with a walk of the site on June 27th. The poster is shown below.
May 23rd Meeting
The programme from Terry Randall’s March 28th talk on the ‘Lost Manor of the Fitzwaryns’ is shown below.
Our next talk is on February 28th in the War Memorial Hall at 8.00pm. Wendy Morrison will be describing the Lidar Survey of Chiltern Hill Forts, which added considerably to the knowledge of these Iron Age remains. Visitors are welcome – charge £3 – masks remain an encouraged option in these libertarian days. Fuller details on the poster below:
The last talk, on Monday 24th January@ 8.00pm, was a History of Abingdon Station and its branch line 1856- 1984 , given by Ivan Cadge. . See the poster below:
Abingdon railway poster V2rev.
The last event, on Monday November 22nd, was ‘Oxfordshire on Canvas’, by Marie-Louise Kerr. This talk described the exploration of the county that is possible by viewing works of art, and details of some of the artists who have worked in the area. See the poster for this event below:
Marie Louise Kerr poster 1a
Our two earlier posters for the Autumn 2021 season are shown below:
Poster Brize Norton
September meeting Janice Kinory – Salt
-
2021 Spring Details of overall programme
-
Posters for individual programmes are set out below.
- Poster for Sex, Drink and Death in the 17th century – Tim Healey
- 23rd March Poster for Zoom meeting Tim Healey
- February 23rd : Motopolis : Lord Nuffield and the Transformation of Oxford
- February Zoom meeting Motopolis poster
- September 29th: Liz Woolley on “Local connections with the Spanish Civil War”.
- Spanish war liz woolley programme
- October 27th: “Test Pit Possibilities at home, and recent archaeology in the Vale”
- Test pits AGM and archaeology review 2020 rev2
- November 24th: “The river at War”, an account by Bill King of the River Thames as an important strategic feature and industrial contributor in the Second World War.
- November Zoom meeting Thames at war
- January 26th The Otmoor Riots in a wider context – Ciaran Walsh
- January Zoom meeting Otmoor
- OUR SPRING 2021SEASON : We did succeed in holding two ‘face to mask’ meetings before the lockdown forced us onto Zoom. The programme until May is shown above. This will continue on Zoom until we can use the village hall again.