Talks

An exploration of the persistence of the Marcher identity, 500 years since its official abolition. Mike is the author of All the Wide Border: Wales, England and the Places Between,...

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...

2025-02-01 14:00 -

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 -

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...

2025-03-29 10:00 -

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...

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...

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...