Upcoming Talks
Our monthly meetings take place at the Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road, and start at 7:30pm.
Below is a list of our upcoming talks, but for more information please contact: Mrs Sally James (Treasurer) on 01869 243804 or email: sallyjames46@hotmail.com
18th February 2019
Oxfordshire Mills
Elaine Steane
Elaine Steane, MBE and former nurse, now a keen Rambler, has researched some of the wide variety of mills in Oxfordshire for her latest walking guide Milestones to Millstones (www.milestonestomillstones.co.uk). The mills include windmills, water mills, a thriving roller mill producing locally sourced flour and a working steam mill. Milling idioms that are very much part of our language are included such as "Keep your nose to the grindstone" or "Come to a grinding halt".
18th March 2019
Common Right to Private Property: how enclosure shaped the Oxfordshire landscape
Deborah Hayter
This talk looks at how, why and when medieval field patterns, which had lasted in many places for a thousand years, were swept away to create a ‘mass-produced, drawing-board landscape.
17th June 2019
Oxford Past & Present
Janice Kinory
Janice explores the history of Oxford through photos from the HEIR (Historic Environment Image Resource) Project digital image archive at the Institute of Archaeology in Oxford.
15th July 2019
1066: Oxfordshire and the Norman Conquest
Julie Ann Godson
So many of the key events surrounding the Norman invasion of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066 took place in modern Oxfordshire. It was an event which changed the country forever. And from the birth of a prince to the formal surrender after the Battle of Hastings, Oxfordshire frequently provided the background for the board-room take-over which was the Norman Conquest of England. Enjoy a not-too-serious romp through the most tumultuous ever period of England's history.
16th September 2019
AGM followed by a talk by our chairman
Bob Hessian
Bob's topic is to be confirmed!
21st October 2019
Oxford's base and brickish skirt: the development of the suburbs 1850 - 1914
Liz Woolley
In 1850 Oxford was still contained largely within its mediaeval city walls. Just over sixty years later, on the eve of the First World War, its footprint had quadrupled, thousands of new brick terraced houses had been built and the suburbs had “grown up around Oxford on every side like a huge swelling which needs to be cured.” This talk examines why the suburbs grew so rapidly, what factors affected how they developed differently to the north, south, east and west of the city, and the effects that suburban growth had on Oxford and its residents.