Talks

Bertie Pearce: A Dickens of a Christmas -  and God bless us everyone!  Charles Dickens has often been proclaimed as “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and indeed on hearing that Dickens...

Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe. Recognise the Artist ?  When we receive a letter or a Christmas card from someone we know, we often recognise the handwriting straight away, and know who it’s...

2025-01-30 19:30 -

2025-02-15 14:30 -

2025-02-15 19:30 -

Gavin Plumley: John Singer Sargent - The Private Radical  Whether drawing duchesses or portraying princes, John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was high society’s leading portraitist. Flaunting a consummate technique, his luxurious canvases mirrored...

2025-02-21 19:30 -

2025-03-13 19:30 -

Ian Gledhill: Art and Illusion of Theatre Stage Design  The story of stage scenery from Sophocles to Spiderman!  Western style theatre was invented by the Greeks from the 5th century BC...

2025-04-09 19:30 -

2025-04-11 16:30 -

2025-04-13 16:30 -

Justin Reay: Light and Shade - the Persian Paradise Garden The formal ‘paradise gardens’ of Persia (Iran) are noted for their tranquillity and the respite they offer from the summer heat of...

2025-04-24 19:30 -

2025-05-15 19:30 -

David Worthington: Sculpture and Architecture  It is likely that the first architects were the stonemasons who built the temples and cathedrals. So sculptors were the architects. In the ancient world the...

2025-05-29 19:30 -

Steve Kershaw: The Minoans of Crete - the first Europeans At the start of the 20th century Arthur Evans unearthed an entire civilisation on the island of Crete. Its impressive public...

2025-06-19 19:30 -