Speaker Events

The History of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance

– Volunteer

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance was founded in 2000 and is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year.

The Mission Statement is to provide, deliver with integrity, transparency and pride, state-of-the-art emergency response air ambulances for the protection of human life across Yorkshire and its environs.

Our Host Volunteer will speak about all things Yorkshire Air Ambulance, including our History, Fundraising and our Helicopters.

1788 And All That

– Michael Crowley

In May of 1787, eleven ships left Portsmouth on a 15,000-mile journey bound for Botany Bay on the south eastern coast of what was then called New Holland. Their cargo was eight hundred convicts and a year’s worth of supplies. Between 1787 and 1850, over 160,000 convicts were sent from Britain to penal colonies in Australia. The first of these colonies was established at Sydney Cove in January 1788. Michael tells us who the convicts, officers, and marines were, what the rationale of the far-flung settlement was, the conditions encountered and created, and how the colony survived the early “starvation years.”

Michael is an author and dramatist. He has written two books about early Australia, First Fleet and The Stony Ground, as well as several other publications, including fiction, non-fiction, and numerous plays. He is a founding member of Researching Heptonstall, a volunteer group dedicated to investigating the history of the ancient village of Heptonstall in West Yorkshire.

Trouble at T’Mill

– Kate Sherry

Kate describes the history of a typical 19th-century cotton mill using a variety of records, including a mill diary, and provides an insight into life in a cotton mill from both a worker’s and an owner’s perspective.

Kate is a professional genealogist, AGRA member and local historian. Kate grew up and lives in East Lancashire and many of her ancestors worked in the cotton mills. Her 4 x Great Grandfather established a cotton mill in Padiham, Lancashire on which her talk is based. She recently appeared on WDYTYA (Claire Foy episode).

The Peterloo Massacre

– Mike Brennan

The talk considers the events of 1819 from the angle of the impact in the north of Manchester, looked at from the side of the participants and from the side of the authorities, both local and National.

Mike was a teacher of History in Secondary schools for 35 years, the last 20 of which he was a Deputy Head, then a Head in the Rossendale Valley. He retired in 2008 and returned to Leeds University for five years to study for a PhD in early 19th-century local politics, focusing on the north of England. He graduated in 2013 and since then has given talks and lectures.

Magic of the Musicals

– Marilyn Shalks

An interesting and light-hearted talk about our favourite Musicals with interesting facts that you probably don’t know.

Marilyn is a passionate theatre historian. She is a volunteer at Manchester Central Library responsible for archiving theatre programmes going back to the 1800s.

Life on the Stage – The Story of Sam Ranson and Blanche Slater

– Anne Mealia

Michael Connor, an apprentice sawyer from Leeds, left it all behind and, as Sam Ranson, toured the country as a music hall artiste with his wife Blanche Slater. This talk is about their careers, the theatres they performed in and what life was like as a music hall artiste in the 1870s and 1880s. Ultimately, there was a much less glamorous side to this life and a sad ending for the couple. It will also explore how to find out more about music hall performers and their lives.

Anne is a professional genealogist and historical researcher and has been running her own business, Evergreen Ancestry, for over ten years. She is a member of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives and has carried out research for Who Do You Think You Are and was Archives Researcher for the Channel 4 documentary The Queen’s lost family. She is a guide with Calderdale Heritage Walks and regularly leads walks in the Todmorden area.

Donald Campbell

– Brian Furness

Brian takes a look at the life and achievements of this often misunderstood and complex character who was nevertheless a true patriot. Campbell’s often quoted mantra ” … to be born British is to win the first prize in life” reflects the man’s love of his country.

After a working lifetime in the manufacturing industry, in retirement Brian turned his attention to the recording and archiving aspects of local history. Amongst other positions he holds, he is chairman of Whitworth Historical Society & Museum.

TBC

– Tbc

This talk on Tuesday 20th January 2026 is currently still yet to be confirmed…

250 Years of Hare Hill House, Littleborough

– Iain Bowden

The talk covers Hare Hill House from the purchase of the land in 1774 until the present day. It tells the story of the four generations of the Newall family who lived there, detailing their lives and accomplishments. It also covers the occupation by Littleborough Urban District Council and, of course, our time there. The talk also gives a few hints about some of the interesting things we have uncovered whilst working on the building.

Iain’s family come from Littleborough and in the 1800s were dyers owning two mills in Littleborough. He became involved with a group trying to save a former manor house called Hare Hill, set in Hare Hill Park, in 2012. The House is still officially owned by the Newall family who were one of the area’s main landowners and employers for 450 years. The House later became the town hall and council offices for Littleborough LUDC, and after became offices for Rochdale BC. Iain is Chairman of the group and also the House Historian.

John Smeaton – The Making of an Engineering Genius 1724-1792

– Julia Elton

John Smeaton was the founder of the British engineering profession, conferring upon a hitherto disparate group of practitioners an identity and a status which has lasted to this day. His career covered an extraordinarily wide range of projects, greater than any of his contemporaries, and included lighthouses, canals and river training, docks and harbours, fen drainage and bridge building. In all these fields, he advanced the understanding of technical issues, moving towards improved manufacturing skills, well thought-out project management and economy of materials. These remain necessary attributes for engineers today. Uniquely, Smeaton was also an engineering scientist of great distinction and his work had a practical application, leading to considerable improvements in the efficiency of machines. This lecture considers the reasons for his pre-eminence and highlights some of his achievements.

Julia Elton FSA has spent a lifetime working with historic books and manuscripts on the history of engineering. She spent many years working as an antiquarian book dealer specialising in this subject, but nowadays is an independent historian. She wrote a number of entries to the Institution of Civil Engineers Biographical Dictionary on lighthouse and gas engineers and is currently working towards a PhD on the history of lighthouse illumination. She is a past president of the Newcomen Society for the History of Engineering and Technology, the only woman to have held this post.

The Role of Chaplains on the Front Line in WW11

– Natalie Gibbons

The Second World War was fought by those who signed up to do their bit. These brave fighting men were supported by a smaller group of men of faith who volunteered their skills as chaplains. Often found just behind the front lines (though occasionally right on the line) where the fighting was thickest, despite not having a weapon to defend themselves, the chaplains were always ready to aid the wounded, bury the dead and comfort those who survived. Unlike the medical and other support staff the chaplains often get overlooked in campaign histories which is a great disservice to the invaluable help they gave. Using first-hand accounts and their own words in the form of diaries and letters, I hope to retell their stories and shine a light on the bravery of these men and the work they did in every theatre of the war.

Natalie is an ordained priest currently working as a chaplain in the care sector. She has a particular interest in the Second World War and has been researching the topic for several years, as well as participating in living history demonstrations.

The Inn at the Top

– Neil Hanson

His talk “Inn & Out at the Top” is a laugh-a-minute tour of the quirks and foibles, highs and lows of his time running Britain’s highest inn back in the 1970s and 1980s, grappling with tight-fisted farmers, eccentric characters, bizarre local customs, naturist weekends, “lates and lock-ins”, police raids, rats in the attic, close encounters with magistrates and planners, and the shooting of a famous double-glazing commercial.

Neil is a hugely engaging storyteller, award-winning speaker, and author with over 70 books published to his name. As well as his own much-acclaimed work, he is also a “Ghost Writer”, his clients including many household names. He has entertained audiences at every type of occasion, both in the UK and abroad.

Secrets of Christ Church

– Sarah Browning

Join Sarah to learn about all the graves at Christ Church, Todmorden, that you might have missed while walking through. From plot markers, stones that tell you everything and stones that give away nothing until you start searching. Not all people here went peacefully to their graves, so you will also hear about suicides and murders.

Sarah is a library assistant at Todmorden Library and graveyard enthusiast who thinks that both locations are the perfect place to begin learning about a place’s history.

Funny You Should Say That

– Peter Watson

Everyday phrases which we all use. Where did they come from and what do they mean?

Peter has been a freelance lecturer and public speaker for 45 years.

AGM

– Exact date to be confirmed

The 2025-26 season concludes with our Annual General Meeting, all welcome.