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2020 PROGRAMME
2020, January 15th
Henry Greathead, designer of the first lifeboat – the Zetland
Martyn Johnson from the Zetland Museum, Redcar
Henry Greathead was born in Richmond in 1757, he moved to South Shields to devote his life to building a series of 31 innovative lifeboats, of which “Zetland” was number 11 and which, more than two centuries later, is the only survivor. The Redcar lifeboat saved 500 mariners, and the talk will be introduced by Mark Dundas the 4th Marquess of Zetland.
2020, February 5th
Josephine Butler - Patron Saint of Prostitutes
Dr Helen Mathers
Josephine Butler, born 1828, was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, against child prostitution, the Contagious Diseases Act and government-sponsored brothels in India. Josephine was instrumental in raising the age of consent from 13 to 16. Dr Helen Mathers of Sheffield University tells a compelling and unforgettable story
2020, March 4th
Binchester
David Mason – Durham County Archaeologist
Binchester (Vinovia) was founded around 80 AD and for a time was one of the largest Roman military installations in the whole of Northern Britain. The fort was accompanied by a large civil settlement around it. The site has been the subject of an extensive excavation under the Durham County Council Archaeology Section,
2020, April 1st
Ed Kluz
Local artist Ed Kluz, having grown up in Swaledale, developed a fascination for the sites of old lost buildings. Over the years, once-celebrated grand country houses that were abandoned to ruin, burned or deliberately destroyed have become the haunting subject matter of his distinctive collages. In this fascinating talk he will delve into the architecture and history of several of the lost buildings that once graced England and particularly Richmond and the local area.
2020, May 6th
Nancy Stedman
The extensive networks of drystone walls combined with field barns are some of the most distinctive features of the Dales, recognised internationally as significant historic landscapes. The conservation of these barns is particularly difficult, and the recently adopted Local Plan now permits the conversion of barns to dwellings for local occupancy or holiday lets. What are the implications of this change in policy?
2020, June 3rd
Richmond's Abbeys, Priories, Monasteries
Mike Wood
As a local historian, Mike Wood is passionate about the history of the town and Swaledale. He is currently an Honorary Director of the Richmondshire Museum. Over the years he has amassed a vast collection of local images and historic documents. He will draw on these to trace the rise and fall of our local monasteries from Marrick to Easby and has come across some interesting revelations.
2020, April 30th
Shibden Hall in Halifax, home of Anne Lister.
Society Trip
2020, July 16th
Trip: Binchester and Auckland Castle
Society Trip
2020, August
Another view - Mike shares some of the many pictures and slide he has of old Richmond
Mike Wood
2020, September 2nd
North Yorks Moors National Park Land of Iron Project
Tom Mutton
150 years ago many parts of the North York Moors looked very different to the present day – the valleys and hills were filled with fire, smoke and noise as they helped fuel the industrial revolution. A short but intense period of ironstone mining and railway construction left a huge impact on the landscape and its communities that can still be seen today. The Land of Iron project tells the fascinating story of this trailblazing period of industrial growth and exploitation.
2020, October 7th
Quaker Origins of the Abolishment of Slavery
Professor James Walvin
Slavery has become a topic of pressing contemporary concern: the Windrush scandal, the question of reparations - these and more take us back to the story of slavery. This lecture will try to explain the way the massive Atlantic slave trade made possible the opening of the Americas and the enhancement of western wealth - but laid the basis for a host of modern problems.
2020, November 4th
Joan Walker
The Wensleydale Railway’s Heritage Education Team, based at Scruton Station, will give a talk about the restoration of the once derelict building into a beautifully restored award-winning Station. The team will also talk about the national award-winning Heritage Education Programme for Schools which they have been running at Scruton Station for the past 4 years.
2020, December
Annual General Meeting & Richmond Castle Celebrations