Upcoming Talks
Our meetings take place at the Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road, and start at 7:30pm. No meetings are held in January, July and August.
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
19th May 2025
Garden Archaeology - a different kind of digging
Dr Stephen Wass
For the past decade landscape archaeologist Dr. Stephen Wass has been working, mainly for the National Trust, developing a better understanding of some of our greatest historic gardens. Investigating properties ranging from the medieval park at Baddesley Clinton, through seventeenth-century gardens at Hanwell and Packwood to the great landscape garden at Stowe, Stephen has used the techniques of archaeology to gain a better understanding of their construction and development and will be sharing some thoughts on how garden archaeology can support our understanding of some key moments in history.
16th June 2025
Poverty, Pestilence & Public Health in Victorian Britain
Dr Simon Wenham
Britain may have been the ‘workshop of the world’ in the Victorian period, but the sceptre of poverty and pestilence loomed large over the lives of many of its citizens. A large proportion of people were not only close to the bread line, but repeated epidemics decimated whole swathes of the population. This talk explores the wealth and health of the British during the Victorian period and the State’s struggle to improve conditions.
16th February 2026
The Role of the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire
John May
As John May nears the end of his year as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, he will give us an insight into the oldest civil appointment in the country: there has been a High Sheriff in the county every year since before 1066. John's particular focus is: Hearing the Young Unheard – listening to children and teenagers who often feel overlooked, and helping to champion those who are doing amazing work with them across Oxfordshire. He will come dressed in his full regalia.
16th November 2026
1918 - Peace & Remembrance in Bicester
Nigel Walton
This talk will look at the events of 1918 leading up to the Armistice, and how the news of the end of the war was received in Bicester. It will consider the aftermath of the war and how Bicester decided to honour the returning soldiers and remember its fallen.