Diary of Events
Programme of Talks for 2024
All our talks begin at 7.15 for 7.30 and take place in The Institute, The Green, East Adderbury. Visitors are always welcome, at a charge of £5 per person. Light refreshments are served at the start of the evening.
January 15th Memories of Banbury Cattle Market. Brian Pile
Brian worked in livestock markets at Henley in Arden, Banbury, and Northampton, and retired in 2019 after 50 years. He will be recalling his experiences at Banbury in what will be certain to be a fascinating talk.
February 19th J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S.Lewis at Oxford Alistair Lack
Alastair studied History at University College, Oxford and worked for over 27 years for the BBC – mainly for the World Service He returns for his third talk with us, this time discussing the early life and Oxford careers of the writers and academics Lewis and Tolkien, and their long-standing friendship and association with The Inklings.
March 18th The Oxfordshire Small Finds Service Edward Caswell
Edward, trained in Archaeology at the University of Durham, started as the Finds Liaison Officer for Oxfordshire in 2020. He is based at the Museum Resource Centre between Standlake and Witney but also visits museums across the county to put on “ finds surgeries!”. He will tell us about his work.
April 15th AGM + Banbury from St Mary’s Tower Barry Davis
Adderbury History Society member and Captain of St Mary’s bellringers in Banbury will take this opportunity to show you the view of Banbury from the 360 degree walkway around the church tower. Because of safety concerns this is a place from which very few people get to see the town.
May 20th Creative Women in Oxfordshire Katherine Bradley
This talk will focus on the multi-talented women who contributed to the Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds between the 1890s and the 1940s, including May Morris, Katherine Adams and Phyllis Baron
June 17th What a Liberty! Along Oxford’s Ancient Boundaries Mark Davis
Oxford local historian and guide, Mark Davies, returns to describe dramatic and amusing incidents from five centuries of ceremonial mayoral circuits of Oxford’s boundaries or “liberty”, mainly defined by the city’s waterways. Although serious in intent, numerous pub-stops, and the odd local grievance, often resulted in ‘high jinks’ and ‘irresponsible jollity’.
July 15th Six Warrior Women of the English Civil Wars 1642-1651 Stephen Barker
Civil War and military history specialist Stephen returns to remind us that during the English Civil Wars women were not meek bystanders but actively participated in a variety of ways. This talk looks briefly at six women who took part in the fighting, undertook spying missions and negotiated deals with politicians.
September 16th Parish Church Patrons in the Oxfordshire Area . Eleanor Townsend
A former V&A curator specialising in medieval art, Eleanor will focus on parish church patrons – who wished to support their church and save their souls at the same time. It will be a general survey, but will, of course, include Adderbury’s own William of Wykeham.
October 21st Cotswold Cornucopia Sean Callery
Qualified Blue Badge guide for the Cotswolds, Sean will tell us many of the stories that lie behind the scenic sites of an area which was once the heart of the English economy and will take us on a whirlwind tour with surprises waiting at every turn.
November 18th 1940s Girl Guides Brett and Karen Wiles
The WW2 historians and re-enactors return to tell us about the 750,000 Girl Guides who were volunteered for war work, the second largest all-female volunteering force ever. We will learn about their motivation, their uniform and the many roles they carried out.
December 16th Christmas Entertainment (Members only)
Details to be announced later