Here you will find our current programme and programmes for the previous two years. Details of forthcoming talks are in our Events section. Anyone wishing to have contact details for speakers should contact us.
2025 talks
6 January at 3pm: Jonathan Holt. Somerset follies
3 February at 2.30pm: David Sutcliffe. Cecil Sharp: collector of folk songs and dances
3 March at 3pm: Brian Wright. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall: nursery rhymes – a hidden history
7 April: Robert Guyver. Lady Harriet Acland’s American adventure
12 May: David Nunn. Tolpuddle & its martyrs: radicals, revolutionaries & religion
2 June: Richard Kay. `A Garden is a Lovesome Thing: God Wot!`: Domestic British Gardens 1850-1910
1 September: Andrew Powell-Thomas. Castles in Somerset
2024 talks
8 January: Alan Stone. The Orchard Wassail
5 February: Andrew Powell-Thomas. Somerset during World War Two
4 March: Dr Mark Hutchinson. Bishops as Lords of Wells and their Palace c.909 – c.1860
8 April: Chris Hocking. History and traditions of Bridgwater Carnival
13 May: Richard Kay. Gaiety, piety and poverty: images of Victorian childhood
3 June: Brian Wright. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall: nursery rhymes – a hidden history
2 September: Chris Eldridge. The Normans in Somerset
7 October: Kathryn Brook. Life and death in Roman Somerton (followed by the AGM)
4 November: Charlotte Coles. The social history of clay pipes
2023 talks
9 January: Judith Teasdale. Behind the scenes at Lytes Cary Manor
6 February: Dawn Denton. South Africa: the 1820 settlers of Somerset
6 March: Dr Mark Hutchinson. Scandal at Glastonbury Abbey
3 April: Stephen Miles. Untold riches: the West Somerset oil shale affair
15 May: Brian Wright. Somerset dragons
5 June: Chris Eldridge. King Alfred the Great and the Somerset connection
4 September: David Sutcliffe. Winter customs
2 October: Janet Seaton & Barry Winetrobe. The Stuckeys and Stuckeys Bank (followed by the AGM)
6 November: Giles Bradford. Bradfords: 250 years as part of the Somerset community
2022 talks
10 January: Peter Lansdown. The Mary Rose: a sailor’s perspective
7 February: Barry Winetrobe & Janet Seaton. TWAMPS (They Were Also MPs)
7 March: John Cooper. Isambard Kingdom Brunel: I alone am hung in chains
4 April: Joseph Lewis. Finding the Barwick follies
9 May: Brian Wright. The story of the Green Man carvings
6 June: Andrew Knight. Morris dancing
5 September: Mary Chisholm. Graffiti at Montacute
3 October: Andrew Powell-Thomas. The West Country’s last line of defence: the Taunton Stop Line (followed by AGM)
7 November: Richard Kay. A masterpiece on your mantelpiece: images on Christmas cards
2021 talks
4 October: AGM, followed by An evening with Eliza Bagehot
1 November: Janet Seaton & Barry Winetrobe. Famous Langportians