EVENTS AND LECTURES 2019/20 Download our programme here
Our theme for the year is
"A Local View of the Late 18th and Early 19th Century"
The century before Queen Victoria acceded to the throne shaped the Britain we live in today. A time of great economic and social change that impacted greatly on our town and the people who lived here. In this year's varied programme we consider art, livelihoods and fashions in our region against the background of the wars and laws that affected the nation. In a full programme we also take time for a guided tour of the splendid Ely Cathedral and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Cinema and the role it has played in our community.
Wednesday. 11 September - Visit: ELY CATHEDRAL AND STAINED GLASS MUSEUM
(Depart 08.45 - return 17.30).
Known as "The Ship of the Fens", the spectacular Ely Cathedral is highly regarded by architects and historians all over the world. On the pre-cathedral site stood an abbey church founded in 672AD by St. Ethelreda, the wife of a Northumbrian King but, having flourished for 200 years, it was destroyed by the Danes. What followed was this remarkable example of Romanesque and Norman architecture which achieved cathedral status in 1109. Since then have been added the unique and astonishing Pentagon Tower plus the vast and light-filled Lady Chapel. Located in the South Nave Triforium is the newly restored Stained-Glass Museum displaying over 100 beautiful examples from the 13th century to the present day. All to be much enjoyed in a few hours!
Depart 08.45 by coach (with toilet) from Aldeburgh Church car park, arriving at the West Door about 11.00. A short welcome in the Refectory Cafe where refreshments can be purchased. We will then divide into two groups for separate guided tours of the Cathedral and the Stained-Glass Museum, switching over after a 90-minute lunch break. The Refectory Café offers a wide range of light lunches and snacks for purchase or bring your own if preferred. Close by are also several eating places .
Leave about 15.30, back in Aldeburgh about 17.30.
To Book you have three options:
Book online below (preferred)
Book by credit card over the phone – call Tony on 01728 452611
Send a cheque and fill in form below with SAE to Mike Macdowell, 20 Acheson Way, Aldeburgh IP15 5LR
Wed. 16 Oct:"A Portrait of the Artist: JMW Turner in East Anglia"
- Dr RICHARD HOGGETT
6:30pm at Aldeburgh Church Hall.
Richard Hoggett is an experienced writer and heritage expert with a particular specialism in heritage-based publications. Tonight his lecture examines a series of watercolours Turner made of sites along the East Anglian Coast including Great Yarmouth and Happisburgh. As well as being beautiful paintings in their own right these images tell us a great deal about fashions in the early 19th Century.
Wed. 13 Nov: "John Bright's Poacher (1804 -1891): Poaching and
the Politics of Corn Law Reform"
- Dr HARVEY OSBORNE
6.30pm at Aldeburgh Church Hall.
We are fortunate to welcome Dr Osborne, Course leader for History at the University of Suffolk, a social historian with a particular interest in the history of the countryside and rural society. Tonight, Harvey considers how organised opposition to the corn laws fused in the early decades of the nineteenth-century with long-standing hostility toward the game laws. He highlights the politics of Corn Law Reform through an examination of an alliance developed during the League's attack on landed privilege in the 1840s between the Quaker leader of the Anti-Corn Law League and a former smuggler and poacher active in Snape, Aldeburgh and Thorpeness.
Wed. 11 Dec: "Heroes of the Aldeburgh Cinema"
- DR SALLY IRVINE
As part of its 100-year celebrations we depart from this year's pre- Victorian theme to consider the influence and role of Aldeburgh Cinema in our community's history with Sally Irvine.
Sally is a former trustee of our cinema and author of "A story of heroes". She has a MA (Hons) in Historical Tripos from Cambridge and a PhD from UEA. Aldeburgh Cinema is one of the oldest independent cinemas to have been screening films continuously for a century and Sally will be lecturing on our heroes of the Cinema since its opening in 1919 and how that reflects the story of film and the community it has served. Her talk is based on research she undertook on behalf of the Cinema to create a permanent record of the history of this remarkable institution.
Wed. January 15, 2020: "Members Research Evening"
What interests you about the history of Aldeburgh and the local district?
What have you discovered that others might like to hear about? This popular evening is devoted to showcasing any topics researched by our members and remains open to accommodate short talks from them. All offers welcome! If needed help will be readily given in researching your subject or in preparing a presentation. Richard Marson will be talking on the local militia - the "Dad's Army" of Napoleonic times - keeping Aldeburgh safe from "Boney", and on the same theme Mike Macdowell will be considering the role of our Martello Tower and how ours differs from others. A proposed talk on the Pubs and Inns of Aldeburgh is being actively researched!
Wed. 19 February: "To be arranged"
Subject to be arranged in the light of this season's theme.
Wed. 11 March: Annual General Meeting, followed by Lecture:
"Aldeburgh Boats and Fishing".
- ROBERT SIMPER
6.30pm at ALDEBURGH COMMUNITY CENTRE (note venue change).
Robert will be known to many as the author and publisher of books recording his endless travelling, research and sailing on as many traditional
types of boats as possible. His books recapture an age when ships worked under sail and every port was alive with sailing ships. An estimated 300 beach fishing boats and 30 merchant ships operated from Aldeburgh and Slaughden in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and we are looking forward to hearing Robert's perspective on the sailing history of our own Town.
Aldeburgh Parish Church Hall
Aldeburgh Community Centre
Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall